It’s 30 minutes until showtime on a Friday night and members of LBCC’s Daytime and Evening Big Bands mill about the temporary trailers where the music department is housed at LAC.
Sitting among them as they chat excitedly and crack jokes is Kirsten Edkins, a well-renowned jazz saxophonist, educator and recording artist.
Edkins, who is a special guest set to perform with the band for the school’s end of the year jazz concert, speaks to the students with a warm sincerity.
As an educator, Edkins places importance on encouraging students to enjoy the process of learning music and staying true to themselves.
“When I’m working with students,” Edkins said. “I encourage them to remember who they are behind their instruments.”
Behind her instrument, Edkins is something of an industry trailblazer having been the first woman ever to perform in Bill Holman’s Big Band.
She’s also performed with several other grammy award winning bands such as John Beasley’s MONK’estra and has recorded two albums.
“She has one of the best tones I have ever heard,” said longtime friend and bandmate Chris Wabich. “It’s authoritative and classic. You can just hear when someone loves their instrument. That’s Kirsten.”
Her signature sound comes from years of practice, having started at a young age during which Edkins was privately taught by some of the best in the business.
“My older brother played the trumpet,” Edkins said. “And I just thought it was so cool.”
Even though she did learn piano, saxophone had her heart from the beginning.
Early on, Edkins gravitated toward jazz music with one of her biggest influences being John Coltrane.
“I love how ornate and complicated his sound is,” Edkins said. “It’s so raw.”
Coming up in the industry, Edkins faced her fair share of struggles (along with plenty of positive experiences) in the boy’s club that jazz music can sometimes be.
She considers herself fortunate to now be in a position to give back by educating others, especially other aspiring female musicians.
“When you study with Kirsten, the feeling is definitely safe and nurturing,” said former student Kaela Seltzer who was taught by Edkins over seven years ago.
“It’s rare that you meet someone and feel like they’re totally on your side,” Seltzer said. “She meets you where you are and she’ll keep trying, changing her approach if she has to, to make sure you’re getting it.”
For the jazz concert at LBCC on Friday, Edkins was joined by a member of the Daytime Big Band, Daphne Gilwedel, for a saxophone solo.
Trading quick smiles in between breaths, the pair took turns, seemingly speaking to one another through their instruments.
Trepidatiously at first, Gilwedel’s tones built into an expression of merriment, evident by her facial expressions and were greeted by Edkins’s sure and crisp tones, her reassurance to Gilwedel that the moment was hers for the taking.
Edkins takes pride in being able to usher in the next generation of jazz musicians and it shows.
“Everyone brings their own stories,” she said. “And that’s what’s so cool about music.”
Edkins’s latest album, “Shapes and Sound” is an amalgamation of all that she’s learned and the life experiences she’s had thus far.
“It’s post pop and contemporary without being derivative,” Wabich said. “It’s her acknowledging the past with one foot in the future.”
