Herschel McWilliams
CREATOR / FOUNDER / EDITOR
Herschel McWilliams is a life long resident the Kansas City area. Born and raised in Kansas City, KS. growing up the son of musicians (father who is a drummer & mother a pianist) he was introduced to many musical influences at an early age. He started learning piano at 8 years old and saxophone at 10 years old. He works in automotive retail, operates LiveMediaKC, as well as being involved as Director of Digital & Social Media Strategy for Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors and in his free time enjoys playing gigs, coaching youth sports, and spending time with outreach youth programs centered around music. Herschel married his wife Rebecca in November 2005 and they have four children (Harrison, Benjamin, Vivian, & Christian) & they currently reside in Shawnee, Kansas. herschelmcwilliams.com
Darrel McKaig
CALENDAR ADMINISTRATOR / WEBMASTER
Darrel McKaig grew up in the Kansas City vicinity. He studied music with an emphasis on trumpet performance and jazz education. Performance highlights include a college band tour with Clark Terry; the pit orchestra for The Young Americans summer stock in Petoskey, Michigan; a tour across Route 66 with the Verne Byers’ Glenn Miller Revival big band; and Lightshine, a Contemporary Christian rock band that performed in the Kansas City region. After several years working as an audio engineer for a non-government organization in Senegal, West Africa, he returned to Kansas City.
As a long-time jazz enthusiast, Darrel continues his love for music as an advocate for jazz musicians, jazz education and the art form itself. Helping to bring the Live Jazz KC calendar back to life after it’s long hibernation is his way of giving back to the jazz community in KC!
Tate Berry
ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR / ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR HS ALL-STARS
Tate is a highly sought-after woodwind specialist, composer/arranger, and music technologist in Kansas City; and has been working with LiveJazzKC since October of 2022. Tate earned a bachelor’s in jazz studies from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2023 after being largely self-taught as a child, and simultaneously completed a degree in Business Administration, where he explored his interests in entrepreneurship and management sparked by his school's DECA and marketing programs. He is currently the music director of System Update, a company that plays live music to video game events. Additionally, he plays multiple woodwinds in multiple bands including David Watson’s Rebirthing the Cool: Bebop n’ Beyond KC, Tracy Smith’s Brass Rewind, and his own projects that he continually develops. Tate is also a part-time student at Johnson County Community College studying live sound, recording, and music technology concepts that he wishes to incorporate to push the musical continuum forward, namely merging jazz with heavy metal. His original music and arrangements can be heard in multiple places in Kansas City and in the above groups, as well as the LiveJazzKC High School All-Stars where he is the assistant director. Tate is also a brand ambassador for Shape Your Own Sound.