Back Where He Belongs Special to JAM by Alan Hoskins Jim Mair Just like the lead in "Hello Dolly," jazz saxophonist Jim Mair is glad to be "back where he belongs."A familiar figure on the Kansas City jazz scene while attending the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Mair left the area in 1995 to go into full-time teaching. Now he's back and is the new Director of Instrumental Music at Kansas City Kansas Community College where he succeeded veteran music educator, Marlin Cooper. Cooper's jazz bands won numerous awards during his 27 years at KCKCC. Mair is also back on the Kansas City jazz scene. He has been a featured artist at the Unity Temple Jazz series (with pianist Tim Whitmer) and appears at the Phoenix Piano Bar & Grill (downtown) as well as The Club at Plaza III. Jim has also been named director of the Kansas City Metro High School All-Star Band and has organized the KCKCC Community Jazz Ensemble made up of professionals and semi-professionals from the greater metro area. It's only fitting that Jim Mair should return to Kansas City. It was his love of Kansas City jazz that brought him here in the first place. Growing up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Mair fell in love with music at an early age. From junior high school on, he had his own band. "I always knew I wanted to be a music educator," he now says. "So, I was lucky in that regard." Because he discovered that most band directors in Canada were educated in the United States, Jim earned a degree in music education at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. "While I was wrapping up my degree there," Mair says, "I decided I wanted to go to graduate school in a large metropolitan area. I always loved Kansas City jazz, mostly from records of KC greats like Count Basie and Charlie Parker. So, I ended up at UMKC, which was a great place to break into Kansas City's jazz scene." While earning his master's degree at UMKC, Mair also served as a teaching assistant for two years. "After graduation in 1990," Jim recalls, "I wanted some full-time playing experience. So, for the next five years I worked steadily at the Phoenix." Mair was voted KC's Best Saxophone Player for 1991 in JAM, formed the Jim Mair Quintet, and has recorded three CDs. In 1995 Mair returned to the field of music education as the Director of Jazz Studies at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho. During his four years there, he took the college jazz band to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, started an annual three-day blues and jazz "summit" for elementary, middle and high school students, and began a new endowment program. A "Governor's Award" nominee in 1998, Mair and his wife were named the 1998 Twin Falls Chamber of Commerce "Persons of the Year." Mrs. Mair is the former Mary Shannon Brady, an Edwardsville native and Bonner Springs graduate who was the scholarship coordinator at Southern Idaho. At KCKCC, Mair is taking over an award-winning program. And he knows it. "I want to keep the momentum going," he says. "I realize I've got big shoes to fill, but there's a lot of talent in the Kansas City area. I'm really looking forward to getting out into the high schools, especially in Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties, getting to know the students and directors, and start recruiting." Mair also hopes to expand the current KCKCC jazz program. "I'd like to start a jazz camp at some point, and begin to explore the possibility of a degree program with a jazz emphasis. "But most of all, I'm very excited to be here at KCKCC. I feel we have a strong family of faculty and staff." Alan Hoskins is Public Information Supervisor at Kansas City Kansas Community College RETURN TO FEBRUARY 2000 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.