Winter may be howling at the door, but JCCC will be hosting four days of hot jazz during its second annual Jazz Winterlude Jan. 20-23, 2011, in Polsky Theatre and Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center.

This year’s festival features an all-new lineup of performers, including the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Ensemble and former Kansas drummer Todd Strait; jazz clinics for middle and high school students; and a free kick-off performance.

Tickets are $20 for Friday, $25 for Saturday, $30 Friday-Saturday, and $25 for Sunday brunch, available through the JCCC box office, 913-469-4445, or online at www.jccc.edu/JazzFestival.

Jazz Winterlude begins with a free performance by the New Order Jazz Band featuring Megan Birdsall from 7-8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, in the Polsky Theatre, followed by two full days of jazz Friday and Saturday, Jan. 21-22, and a Sunday brunch 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 23 with the Dan DeLuca Trio in the Capitol Federal Conference Center, Regnier Center.

And by the way, hot jazz (the blazing tempos and fiery improvisations popularized by Louis Armstrong) isn’t the only kind of jazz on the program. There’s also contemporary, swing, big band, bebop and vocal jazz.

“The difficulty is choosing the artists. Not because Kansas City doesn’t have professional jazz musicians, but because we have so many good ones,” said festival organizer Doreen Maronde.

Performing groups, all new except the Sunday brunch Dan DeLuca Trio, are mostly local, although some have asked Strait, now of Portland, to join them.

Raised in Topeka, Strait moved to the East coast in 1980, playing with groups like the Marian McPartland Trio and Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd. In 1990, he relocated to Kansas City where he began a string of important connections playing with Kevin Mahogany (1995-2000), Karrin Allyson (1995-2009) and Eldar (1999-2008). Recordings from this time received three Grammy nominations. In 2002, Strait moved to Portland and plays with local greats in Seattle and Portland. He continues to teach as an adjunct faculty at several jazz camps and Mount Hood Community College, Gresham, Ore.

The seven-piece Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Ensemble, an offshoot of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Washington, D.C., has been added to the schedule for school band workshops and a performance that includes tunes from the Smithsonian’s repertoire – the world’s most comprehensive set of jazz programs.

In particular, this performance will be a tribute to alto sax player Johnny Hodges, complete with a couple of Benny Goodman songs. The SJMO was founded in 1990 with an appropriation from Congress in recognition of the importance of jazz in American culture.

“I have been told that Jazz Winterlude features more groups in a single weekend than any other area festival. We have many opportunities for the public and students to hear top groups in all jazz formats,” Maronde said.

Food will be available on campus throughout the festival. Parking is free.

For more information about the Jazz Winterlude concerts, e-mail Doreen Maronde, dmaronde@jccc.edu. For more information about the middle  and high school band clinics, e-mail Ron Stinson, JCCC music professor.

The Jazz Winterlude program is:

Thursday, Jan. 20

7-8 p.m. New Order Jazz Band featuring Megan Birdsall

            Reception with musicians

            Polsky Theatre/lobby

            Free

Friday, Jan. 21

8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. School band clinics

            Polsky, Yardley, Recital Hall

3-4 p.m. Jazz as a Profession

            Panel discussion: Millie Edwards,

            Gerald Spaits, Todd Strait

            Recital Hall

4-5 p.m. Dan Thomas Quartet

            Polsky Theatre

            Kerry Strayer Dixieland Band

            Yardley Hall

5:30-6:30 p.m. Bram Wijnands Trio

            Polsky Theatre

            Angela Hagenbach Quartet

            Yardley Hall

6:30-8 p.m. Dinner break

8-9 p.m.  Westport Art Ensemble

            including Todd Strait

            Yardley Hall

9:15-10:15 p.m. Joe Cartwright Quartet

            featuring Kim Park

            Yardley Hall

Saturday, Jan. 22

8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. School band clinics

            Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks sessions

Polsky, Yardley, Recital Hall

3-4 p.m. What to Teach

            Panel discussion with Hermon Mehari, Joe Parisi, Todd Strait

Recital Hall

4-5 p.m. Diverse Trio

            Polsky Theatre

            Julie Turner/Tommy Ruskin Group

Yardley Hall

5:30-6:30 p.m. Dwight Foster Quartet

            Polsky Theatre

            Millie Edwards Quartet

            Yardley Hall

6:30-8 p.m. Dinner break

8-9 p.m. Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks

            Ensemble

            Yardley Hall

9:15-10:15 p.m. PBT featuring

            Todd Strait and Carol Comer

            Yardley Hall

Sunday, Jan. 23

11 a.m.-1 p.m. Jazz Brunch

            Dan DeLuca Trio

            Capitol Federal Conference Center, Regnier Center