BIO
Known in Kansas City as one of the area’s most versatile musicians, Wayne Hawkins excels as both keyboardist and composer. His discography includes over 20 CDs in which he has recorded with a variety of artists as well as his critically acclaimed Wayne Hawkins Trio. Hawkins plays in a variety of styles; from small group jazz to concerts with the Kansas City Symphony. But no matter what type of performance, his musicianship shines. In fact, after playing ‘Autumn Leaves’ with the Symphony one music reviewer wrote: “[Hawkins’] superb keyboard solo was probably the most talked about performance of the evening.” –Jazz Ambassador Magazine.
Hawkins is a first-call keyboardist in Kansas City and has performed withnational touring acts such as Bernadette Peters, George Benson, Patti Austin, Diane Schuur, Cab Calloway, Joe Piscopo, and 2-time Grammy winner, Paquito D’Rivera. Hawkins performs in many styles with equal aplomb because to him, music has no limitations. “Making music is what I do,” he says. “I try to understand all of the parameters and use them.”
He has been a fulltime musician for over two decades and performs nightly in Kansas City. Hawkins has also played internationally with the City Light Orchestra. Nationally, he has performed at the Dallas Museum of Art, in the Spokane (Washington) Jazz Festival, the Lake Tahoe Golf Classic, the Sembrich Museum in Bolton Landing, New York, as well as many other jazz festivals throughout the country.
A lifelong student of the martial arts, Hawkins was thrilled to score “A Warrior’s Journey”, a documentary produced by Warner Home Video that features rare footage of an incomplete film by legendary action hero Bruce Lee. Prior to the documentary, Hawkins wrote the score for an audio book “The Warrior Within”, which explored the philosophies of Bruce Lee. Other film music iincludes the score to the locally produced movie, “Ninth Street” with Martin Sheen. His music scores enliven several television commercials – winning three Silver Omnis, one “Best of Show” and one “Best on Television” awards from the Ad Club of Kansas City.
Hawkins, a native of Kansas City, Kansas, began studying piano at the age of six and played a variety of instruments in high school because “there weren’t any slots for piano players in the marching band.” A graduate of Wyandotte High School, he enrolled at Kansas City, Kansas Community College, joined the jazz ensemble and played in rock bands around the metropolitan area. Encouraged by winning several performance awards in collegiate jazz festivals, he transferred to the University of Miami in Florida to study jazz and studio music. Because of these positive academic experiences, hawkins enjoys judging student bands in regional competitions and work with other young jazz musicians as an artist in residence.
“I feel blessed,” hakins says, “that I love what I do for a living and that I make a living doing it.”