A new Kansas City-Italy Jazz project will launch in March 2025 with the Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra/Latin Jazz Institute and guest artist, Milan bassist Niccolò Faraci.
This cultural exchange will focus on an immersion into the history of jazz in Kansas City, rehearsal and recording sessions, and performances in the historic 18th & Vine Jazz District.
Two community presentations are planned with Artistic Director Pablo Sanhueza.
The event is supported by Alexanderplatz Jazz Club (Rome), Latin Jazz Institute (US/Chile), The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, Honorary Counsel of Italy, and Produced by Cynthia Ammerman.
Born in Legnano, in the province of Milan, in June 1979, Niccolò Faraci collaborates assiduously with the offices of the Italian Embassy, Italian Cultural Institutes network, the Dante Alighieri Society, UNESCO and Eunic since 2008, developing artistic projects in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, invited by major organizations, such as the prestigious BLUE NOTE clubs in Shanghai and Beijing, and UNESCO for the International Jazz Day, developing projects such as “On The Wings of Music” (Italian Embassy in Colombo, May 2024).
The Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra was co-founded and is led by Pablo Sanhueza, a Percussionist, Composer, and teaching Artist who also leads the Latin Jazz Institute in Chile. Mr. Sanhueza has a resume that includes appearing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Red Sea Jazz Festival in Holland, and Champs Elysees in Paris, France with Bobby Watson; serving as Artistic Director for Tito Puente Jr., International Jazz Day with Consulado de Mexico de Kansas City & the National Historic Landmark Mutual Musicians Foundation and as a featured performer for the Missouri BiCentennial Governor’s Concert representing Kansas City’s global jazz heritage (2021), American Corners Chile, the Bronx Music Heritage Center, and the Charles Mingus Hometown Centennial Jazz Festival in Nogales, Arizona (2022).