I grew up in a family that had a tradition of music, but no professional musicians.  Consequently I had no critical ‘guidance’ regarding musical style and personalities.  My mother had albums by Herb Alpert, and Ray Charles.  Later she was into Kris Kristofferson, Neil Diamond, and Bobby Blue Bland.  She never really listened to these records on a regular basis, so listening was not really a big deal in my home.  She played piano in church when she was younger, and had a large collection of sheet music that I remember her playing occasionally.  She gave lessons on piano and guitar to earn extra money.  There was never any jazz playing in my home.

I took piano lessons in grade school.  I hated them.  In 1968 I began playing saxophone in the Antioch Elementary School band in Shawnee, KS.  It was a toss-up between saxophone and the euphonium.  Mom said Ray Charles used saxophones, and I loved his tune ‘Hit the Road, Jack,’ so there you go.  One of moms’ mandates was a requirement to be in band, and later choir as well, throughout my public school experience.  In 7th grade I began playing in the jazz ensemble at Trailridge Junior High in Lenexa, KS.  (I think this was 1973.)  I played baritone sax, and my band director, Bernie Young, had us playing the old stock arrangements of Glenn Miller tunes.  I remember ‘Pennsylvania 6500’ and ‘Tuxedo Junction.’  When I first started the baritone saxophone, I was so small I couldn’t reach the low note keys with my right hand, and the instrument was so heavy that I had to let it rest on the floor.  (Strangely enough, I played baritone sax all through college in 1987.)  During middle school I studied saxophone with my future high school band director, Lynn Harrington.  I hated to practice, and decided to begin studying the drums.  

At Shawnee Mission Northwest high school (1975-78) I played sax in the wind band and jazz ensemble, but yearned to play drums in a rock band.  It was during my junior year that I began meeting musicians that I thought were ‘cool.’  We had a student  teacher, Walter Bryant, who ‘knocked me out’ with his ability to play anything on piano that I could sing to him, on the first try.  Then, members of a group called ‘Justus’ began giving lessons at our school.  I took saxophone lessons with Bill Bergman (now in Los Angeles), and drum set lessons with Doug Auwarter. (Doug is still one of my favorite people on the planet.)  At this point I began to think music was OK.  I still couldn’t play worth a damn, and rarely practiced.  I just wanted to ‘party’  and get my easy ‘A’ in band.  

We received credit for attending concerts, so I went to every concert I could afford.  I was particularly interested in art-rock groups: Kansas; Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Ten Years After; the Beatles; Led Zeppelin; Jethro Tull; E.L.O.; King Crimson.  These musicians could really play, but there weren’t any horns.  I still thought the saxophone wasn’t too cool.  It was during the summers that the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department put on a series of free concerts during Sunday afternoons that things began to change.  I saw a concert with Chuck Mangione, and saw Chris Vadala play sax and flute. Wow!  The Pat Metheny Goup; the Jeff Lorber Fusion – featuring Kenny G.; Maynard Ferguson; Blood, Sweat, and Tears; Stan Getz; Art Farmer;  these are groups I remember hearing.  (I think Kansas City made a major mistake when they abandoned this concert series.)  Then  Grover Washington had a hit on ‘Mr. Magic,’ so I went a concert with my mother.  There were at least a thousand people on the floor of Kemper Arena dancing the ‘Bus-stop.’  I had discovered jazz-rock now, and this was my entry point into jazz.  

After graduating high school I went to the last Stan Kenton jazz campp at Drury College.  I met Dr. Tom Fergusen from Arizona there, and entered the Jazz Performance program at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, in 1978.  I had discovered David Sanborn, John Klemmer, Weather Report, Chick Corea and Return to Forever, Jean Luc Ponty, etc., but I still didn’t really get into ‘straight-ahead’ jazz.  I used to ’bum’ cigarettes off the Department Chairman, Dr. Robert Miller, and we would talk about music.  I really love this guy, and he has a way with students that is 'uncanny.'  Eventually he gave me the recording ‘Something Else’ by Cannonball Adderley.  I’ll never forget listening to the version of ‘Love for Sale.’  It was as though someone had suddenly turned on a light.  I had a complete epiphany.  For the next 10 years I became a jazz ‘fascist.’  I didn’t listen to popular music or even watch television from 1979 until about 1986, and became completely absorbed in jazz and art music as a career.  

The rest is history as they say.  In 1983 I graduated ASU.  I went back to Kansas City for a year, and then went down to Nacogdoches, TX to do a Masters in Music Theory and Composition at Stephen F. Austin State University.  From there I went to Greeley, CO in 1986 to the University of Northern Colorado to pursue doctoral studies.  That was my most significant college experience.  

I taught music in South Australia in 1988, and came back to Kansas City in late 1989.  I played for a time with Everett DeVan, before getting a gig with the Mike Harvey's KC Bottoms band at the Tuba on Southwest Boulevard.  That group was a cool R&B unit that lasted four and 1/2 years.  In 1992 I went back to the University of Kansas to finish the DMA.  I also began an association with the KC Jazz Ambassadors, and started playing with the Boulevard Big Band at that time.  In 1994 I opened a jazz club, the Drum Room in Westport, with my wife Patti.  That’s also when I started my own group,  Boko Maru.  By 1996 the Drum Room had run its course.  I taught saxophone and clarinet at the Toon Shop in Prairie Village, and continued playing gigs with Boko.  I taught music briefly at Paseo High School, Longview Community College, and Sumner Academy of Arts and Sciences. Not fun. I played with the Chiefs band for a couple of seasons, had two children Mason and Aubrey with my wife Patti, and when the interim job opened at Washburn University in 2000, I applied.  I began teaching at Washburn in 2001, and immediately returned to my studies at KU. At this time Boko Maru released Dreamland on FunPro Records. I'm proud of the project. It garnered minimal accolades.

By the summer of 2005, teaching full-time, working on my doctorate, and raising three kids was taking a toll on every aspect of my life.  As much as I enjoyed the position, I resigned from Washburn in order to concentrate on my studies, family, and performing. My top priority was finishing the degree. I finished the first of two music theory projects, and my music history comprehensive exams by the spring 2006.  My final project was a lecture-recital of the music of Frankie Trumbauer, and I graduated from the University of Kansas in Fall 2006 with a Doctor of Musical Arts in Saxophone Performance.

The next year was spent looking for a home in K.C. and getting over the doctoral hangover. During the interim I managed to do two terms as Artistic Director for the Coleman Hawkins Legacy Jazz Festival in Topeka, KS. Both years were a significant improvement over the previous.

Two years later I relocated to Overland Park. Patti and I wanted to be closer to the K.C. Metro area. We've remodeled a large repo house and I'm getting back into performing and writing again. I've just completed the recoring/rehearsal studio in my basement, so it should be much easier to rehearse and record. Of course I spent so much $ on the finish work that I don't have any $ for recording equipment.

We've purchased a farm in Waverly, KS. Spent the last year remodelling the house and now I'm taking care of 117 acres and a small lake. I taight part-time at K.U. the fall 2009, Practicing saxophone and playing with my quintet, the Goombahles, and a 10 piece band called 9+1.

Last Fall of 2010 I accepted a position as Director of Jazz Studies at Ottawa University in Ottawa, KS. This may be the most ambitious project yet. Building a jazz studies program from complete scratch. Program, facilities, faculty, students, and acceptance, we have none of these at OU. We shall see. For now lets recruit and build a local jazz family.

-- 

Todd Wilkinson

Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Teacher, Saxophonist, Friend