Ahmad Alaadeen

Ahmad Alaadeen ranked among the leading Kansas City-area musicians throughout the 1990s and began reaching wider audiences beyond local boundaries during the late '90s via his independent ASR imprint. Best recognized simply as Alaadeen, the saxophonist trained at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music, St. Mary's College, and Chicago's DePaul University. From the 1950s onward he undertook numerous brief engagements alongside Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and assorted leading R&B acts, while also logging extensive time on the bandstand with Jay McShann. Although he resided for stretches in New York, Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, and San Antonio, Alaadeen ultimately returned to his hometown of Kansas City. His compositions "Big Six" and "Blues for R.C." earned first-place honors in Billboard-sponsored songwriting contests held in 1990 and 1991. Beyond sessions with the City Light Orchestra and the City Light Jazz Ensemble, he issued a pair of albums on ASR, maintained a steady performing schedule with his Deans of Swing, and established himself as a key figure in jazz education.