The Keller Area Youth Jazz Orchestra (KAYJO) is a teenage all-star group of saxes, screaming brass, and a roaring rhythm section. KAYJO is on a mission to:
Members are selected by audition, or based on instructor recommendations and their All Region/All State standings. This process yields an elite lineup able to perform college-level and professional level repertoire.
Since inception KAYJO has performed in state-of-the-art auditoriums of local churches, and with guest artists from Lincoln Center, Stan Kenton, the US Naval School of Music, Blood Sweat & Tears, and Count Basie.
Listen to KAYJO play “Gonna Fly Now”, featuring Mike Williams, lead trumpet for Count Basie.
Listen to “The Best of KAYJO”.
KAYJO has been well-represented in Texas All State ensembles, and alumni have gone on to Juilliard, Eastman, Manhattan School of Music and Berklee. Several have stayed closer to home, continuing their studies at UTA, TCU and the prestigious jazz program at the University of North Texas. Nine KAYJO alumni have advanced to the world-renowned UNT One O’clock Lab Band.
Fourteen former players have been through the rigorous and competitive audition process to make elite military ensembles, including the US Army “Pershing’s Own,” the top band of the US Navy and the US Marine Drum & Bugle Corps.
One former member is now in the pit orchestra for the touring Broadway production of “The Prom,” one is a working rock’n’roll guitarist, and one former intern is in the Fort Worth Symphony
Not all our super achievers are professional musicians. Several ex-KAYJO members play recreationally while pursuing careers as engineers and accountants. Other distinguished alumni include a first grade teacher, a USAF fighter pilot, and the senior pastor of Lamar Baptist Church in Arlington.
Listen to KAYJO perform “From this Moment On”.
KAYJO has been well-represented in Texas All State ensembles, and alumni have gone on to Juilliard, Eastman, Manhattan School of Music and Berklee. Several have stayed closer to home, continuing their studies at UTA, TCU and the prestigious jazz program at the University of North Texas. Nine KAYJO alumni have advanced to the world-renowned UNT One O’clock Lab Band.
Fourteen former players have been through the rigorous and competitive audition process to make elite military ensembles, including the US Army “Pershing’s Own,” the top band of the US Navy and the US Marine Drum & Bugle Corps.
One former member is now in the pit orchestra for the touring Broadway production of “The Prom,” one is a working rock’n’roll guitarist, and one former intern is in the Fort Worth Symphony
Not all our super achievers are professional musicians. Several ex-KAYJO members play recreationally while pursuing careers as engineers and accountants. Other distinguished alumni include a first grade teacher, a USAF fighter pilot, and the senior pastor of Lamar Baptist Church in Arlington.
We frequently entertain at local senior living communities and nursing homes, as well as at car shows, water parks, fitness expos, the Farmer’s Market and the inaugural Keller Lights festival.
In addition to performing under the direction of a demanding jazz clinician, students enjoy one-on-one mentoring with college interns; and participate in master classes, improvisation labs and recording sessions.
The project was piloted in 2010 by Keller-based music teacher Gary Phillips, whose top trombone students had no place to play jazz during the summer. Phillips persuaded other private teachers and a few Keller band directors to refer their top students to staff that first, loosely organized project that summer.
The pilot project was funded solely by student tuition — barely enough to contract a college jazz professor to direct the band. A local church offered its facilities for rehearsals, and Phillips borrowed sheet music from a semi-professional band in the area. The band prepared enough crowd-pleasing music to wrap up that first summer with a one-hour program at Six Flags Over Texas. Six Flags invited the group back for Christmas. We experimented with a mini-session the weekend after Thanksgiving so we could respond to that request. And later determined it was feasible to meet for the kids who were home during Spring Break.
A grant from the Arts Council of Northeast Tarrant County (ArtsNet) allowed us to increase our number of meetings in 2011 without a significant spike in cost to our students.
Phillips recruited in Keller and the surrounding area, but by 2013 the word had leaked out that there was an all star band in Keller and applications came in from as far away as McKinney to Waxahachie, and from Mesquite to Weatherford. In 2014 there was sufficient enrollment for a second band, and in 2015 the premier ensemble was officially named for its hometown: the Keller Area Youth Jazz Orchestra.
Listen to KAYJO perform the US Armed Forces Medley.
Listen to KAYJO perform “Sleigh Ride” at Christmas in July 2019.
While the project had existed for 5 years, the band made its debut appearance as KAYJO at the Keller Summer Nights concert series in June 2015.
In 2016, we partnered with the Greater Keller Chamber of Commerce to bring in a guest artist from the legendary Count Basie Orchestra and performed for an audience of over 500 attendees. Support from the Chamber gave Phillips access to the business community, some of whom helped fund the public performance.
By now, several KAYJO alumni had become military musicians, garnering the attention of the US Naval School of Music. In July 2017 that school sent a guest clinician to be part of KAYJO’s “Salute to the Armed Forces.” That was the beginning of what continues to be a great partnership with the USMC music program, and since then our audiences have seen a USMC presence at many of our events.
In 2018, KAYJO honored the Keller Police Department for 50 years of service to Keller. We presented “Rhapsody in Blue” featuring an internationally acclaimed concert pianist with the band.
KAYJO has been asked to participate in Christmas programs, but December is the hardest month of the year to assemble 20 teenagers – so a holiday show in December is impossible. We presented “Christmas in July” in 2019.
Admission to KAYJO concerts is always free, but attendees were encouraged to bring a new unwrapped toy to the concert. Over 300 new toys were then delivered to The Community Storehouse to jump start their collection for Christmas of 2019.
We were delighted in 2021 to be invited to be the headline act at Keller’s inaugural Keller Lights & Fireworks Fest on July 4th weekend.
KAYJO performs at Northwood Church, and is partially funded by the City of Keller. Loyal KAYJO supporters include Community Waste Disposal, Tarrant County College, TCU and the US Marine Corps. In 2022 we were awarded a grant from the Roop Foundation.
Listen to KAYJO play at the 2021 Keller Lights & Fireworks Fest.