ARTIST SPOTLIGHTS

January 2021

Chalis o’neal

Chalis O'Neal is an artist and musician born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. O’Neal picked up the trumpet at the age of eleven and began studying music at Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts. Chalis majored in Jazz Studies with a minor in Classical Trumpet under the direction of Jazz legend Bobby Watson at the University of Missouri Kansas City. O’Neal’s main influences range from Wynton Marsalis, Miles Davis, Roy Hargrove, Harold O’Neal to Soul and R&B. His playing style creates a soulful and creative approach to improvisation, bringing a dynamic energy to each performance. O’Neal’s eclectic style ranges from jazz venues to theatre work with the New Theatre Restaurant performing and acting in the Broadway show of The Buddy Holly Story. O’Neal also has burlesque experience with Quixotic Cirque Nouveau. O’Neal has had the opportunity to perform with artists like Bobby Watson, Tivon Pennicott, Stephen Scott, Lewis Nash, Curtis Lundy, Harold O’Neal, Dan Thomas, Sullivan Fortner, Lisa Henry, and David Basse.

BRIAN WARD

Brian Ward is a jazz pianist, composer, and arranger from Portland, Oregon. He has performed with the Oregon Symphony, Bobby Torres, Shirley Nanette, Curtis Salgado, Obo Addy, Thara Memory, and many others. Ward appears on a variety of recordings and his works have been performed at jazz festivals and concert halls around the United States. “City of Roses,” one of the arrangements Ward helped create for Esperanza Spalding’s latest release, recently won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for Vocal Performance.

Ward currently lives in Pullman, Washington, where he is coordinator of Jazz Studies and instructor of Jazz Piano at Washington State University School of Music, teaching Jazz Piano, Jazz and Rock History, Jazz Arranging, Theory, and Ear Training. In addition, he performs with Jazz Northwest, Crosscurrent, and Nighthawk and works with student ensembles.

Ward received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1999 and Master of Science degree in Teaching Music in 2001 from Portland State University. Prior to his appointment at WSU, he was the combo coordinator and adjunct professor of Jazz Piano at PSU. Brian is currently completing his Doctorate in Music Composition at The University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS.) and has made himself a stalwart of the Kansas City jazz scene.

KEN LOVERN

Ken Lovern is the hammond organist and composer that drives the bus that is OJT. Ken was born in the Kansas City area on November 20, 1965, and he has been a professional musician most of his adult life. Even before graduating from the Conservatory of Music of the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1989, Ken went to work with Kansas City vocalist, Ida McBeth. Ken currently plays at the Green Lady Lounge most nights in any given week. OJT plays there every Wednesday and Saturday night.  Ken also performs with Matt Hopper's group, Agora, and vocalist Molly Hammer. Ken has performed with national jazz talents such as Les McCann, Kevin Mahogany, Cecil Payne, and Eric Alexander. 

Ken's fanatical dedication to the Hammond organ helps him bring a warm supporting sound to any band. Ken Lovern was the Keyboard Magazine "Unsigned Artist of the Month" for May 2006 You can read the review in the "press" section of this website and follow the link to the online version of Keyboard Mag.