ENSEMBLES + MEDIA KIT

Christopher Burnett's "Originals" Quartet is a concert ensemble based out of the greater Kansas City music scene. CbQ performs and records original music written specifically for the artist members of this ensemble. Mr. Burnett is an award-winning Broadcast Music, Inc. Composer Affiliate who has written and arranged music for all types of situations. His latest commercial album release was awarded FOUR STAR reviews and featured his arrangements of compositions by composers like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Antonio Carlos Jobim among others. A Conn-Selmer, Inc. Artist and Clinician, Mr. Burnett has presented jazz clinics with military jazz bands while performing and touring around the country and in Europe. Subsequently, he has presented clinics for both the Missouri Music Educators Association and the Kansas Music Educators Association.

William T. Crain earned his Bachelor's in Music Performance with a focus on Jazz and studio music in 2010 and his Master of Arts in Music with a focus on audio engineering, electronic music composition, and higher education in 2019 at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory.  Will has an extensive musical background as a professional keyboardist and has performed with various Jazz combos and big bands, event bands, Latin ensembles, and others over the years.  He currently serves as owner and head engineer at BRC Audio Productions and Program Director of the Institute of Audio Engineering Arts at BRC. Some of Will’s recent engineering credits include Christopher Burnett’s “Standards: Vol. 1” for the prestigious ARC record label, the last three albums for the Grammy-nominated Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles, and the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra.

Gerald Spaits, a native of Kansas City, is one of the foremost bass players in the Kansas City area. Spaits has enjoyed an active career including playing with jazz legends Jay McShann and Claude “Fiddler” Williams. Appearing with national recording artists Herb Ellis, Rob McConnell, Marilyn Maye, Gary Foster, and The Woody Herman Orchestra, he has also provided soundtracks for TV and radio commercials. He has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the San Jose Jazz Festival, and the World’s Fair in Seville, Spain. Mr. Spaits is the adjunct assistant professor of jazz string bass at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He also teaches private lessons

Morgan Rogers is a percussionist from Kansas City who picked up drumsticks at age 12 and has not put them down since. Morgan has performed with The Black Repertory Theatre, The Kansas City Women’s Chorus, Worlds of Fun, Rocky Horror Show KC, and the Kansas City Jazz Academy. She is also completing her Masters in Computer Science at UMKC and works as a Platform Engineer at Netsmart. She is so excited to be a part of Christopher Burnett’s “Originals” quartet!