Calling all jazz enthusiasts!
March 7 and 8, the Midwest Trust Center (MTC) at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) will host the Winterlude Jazz Festival—two days of live jazz performances and lectures.
Winterlude Jazz Festival lineup
Every jazz artist builds on something—chords, forms, structures, or traditions. But what happens when the lines are “redrawn”? When the foundational blueprints of jazz are reshaped and reinterpreted to create personal expression through form?
The 2026 annual Winterlude Jazz Festival examines the “Blueprints of Jazz,” with the Trent Austin Quartet, Sons of Brasil, Eclipse Trio, and concludes with a headline performance from eight-time Grammy award winner Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.
The full weekend schedule is below:
Saturday, March 7
- 2 p.m. – Guest lecture by Pulitzer-winning photographer Dan White
- 3 p.m. – Stephen Martin Quartet
- 4 p.m. – Gerald Spaits Quintet
- 5 p.m. – Chris Hazelton Quartet
- 7 p.m. – Trent Austin Quartet
Sunday, March 8
- 2 p.m. – Guest lecture by author Carolyn Brewer
- 3 p.m. – Sons of Brasil
- 4 p.m. – JCCC Jazz Band, directed by Ryan Heinlein
- 5 p.m. – Eclipse Trio
- Headliner: 7 p.m. – Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Learn more online about each lecturer and performance.
Arturo O’Farrill
Arturo O’Farrill (pianist, composer, and educator) was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. O’Farrill’s professional career began with the Carla Bley Band and continued as a solo artist, performing with a wide range of artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte.
His well-reviewed and highly praised “Afro-Latin Jazz Suite” from the album “CUBA: The Conversation Continues” (Motéma) took the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition and the 2016 Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. His powerful “Three Revolutions” from the album “Familia-Tribute to Chico and Bebo” was the 2018 Grammy Award (his sixth) winner for Best Instrumental Composition. His album “Four Questions” (ZOHO) is the first to embody all original compositions, including the title track, which features the brilliant orator Dr. Cornel West. This album won a Grammy in 2021.
He has performed with orchestras and bands, including his own Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and Arturo O’Farrill Sextet, as well as other orchestras and intimate ensembles in the U.S., Europe, Russia, Australia, and South America. He is Professor of Global Jazz Studies and Assistant Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been honored as a Steinway Artist for many years, and is now a Blue Note Records Recording Artist.
The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra & Ensemble
Led by O’Farrill for nearly two decades, the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra has shared a unique combination of big-band jazz and Latin music through the talent and virtuosity of its 18 solo musicians. As a smaller version of the orchestra, the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble is a prodigious octet, also led by O’Farrill as musical director. The Ensemble’s repertoire includes material performed by the orchestra, as well as pieces composed for a smaller format.
The Grammy Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra has enamored international audiences with its creative performances of music by Latin jazz legends, such as Tito Puente, Frank “Machito” Grillo, and Chico O’Farrill, as well as new pieces from some of the most accomplished composers and arrangers in Latin music.
With programs that showcase its versatility, the orchestra has pushed the boundaries of the genre with daring interpretations, performing and commissioning innovative compositions and big band arrangements.
Additional information about Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra & Ensemble is available online in both English and Spanish.
Learn more
The standard general admission two-day pass for the Winterlude Jazz Festival is $50, and the premium two-day pass (which includes tickets to Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, plus a swag bag) is $80. JCCC student tickets are $5.
Individual adult tickets to Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra start at $25.
Tickets can be purchased online, in person at the MTC Box Office, or by phone at 913-469-4445.
Learn more at jccc.edu/mtc.
