Room to Improvise: For this KC jazz fusion band living together is key

At trumpeter Nick Hmeljak’s house, somebody is usually making music. The leader of local jazz fusion band Open Channel, Hmeljak lives with two of his fellow bandmates, bassist Andrew Voggesser and drummer Matt Robertson. That proximity is part of what makes the tight-knit group meld so organically.

“I can feel it when we play,” Hmeljak says. “We rehearse, but the real rehearsals are the hangs. The music we play is so interactive; we listen and feed off of each other a lot, so it really feels the same as having a good conversation.” 

On November 28, Open Channel will release its debut album, Alive, celebrating its launch the same night at the West Bottoms’ Birds Nest. A showcase of the group’s seamless interplay, the album is anchored by Hmeljak, Voggesser, Robertson, vibraphonist Isaiah Petrie and guitarist Aidan Murrow. “The songs are all kind of abstract, but they’re all written with sentimental moments in mind from all of our lives,” Hmeljak says.

To promote the record, Open Channel has released two singles from Alive: Voggesser’s “Time Crunch” and Robertson’s “I Don’t Feel Quite Like Myself.” “[Voggesser] writes these really epic and jubilant melodies,” Hmeljak says. “[‘Time Crunch’] is super groovy. It kind of reminds me of a chicken flying through space.” Robertson’s song is, simply put, a sonic recollection of a bad trip. As a whole, the project is a mosaic of the formative (and sometimes turbulent) moments of young adulthood.

The trio also hosts monthly house shows and weekly jam sessions in their home. They even adopted a cat together, who lends her name to the house’s moniker, Winnie’s Place. “The jams have been a big part of the band’s sound,” Hmeljak says.

The forthcoming album also marks Hmeljak’s first record as a bandleader. The trumpeter, who is originally from Bloomington, Indiana, comes from a family of musicians: His mom is a classical pianist, and his dad is the lead singer of an Afropop band. As a child, he’d take the stage alongside his dad, lending a hand with auxiliary percussion. 

After studying music just outside of Nashville, Hmeljak relocated to Kansas City three years ago, shortly after graduating college. “I didn’t know anybody or anything here,” he says. “I wasn’t sure if it would work out. The first year was so crazy.” But it didn’t take too long for Hmeljak to find his groove. 

Where Music City is chock-full of honky-tonky clubs and recording studios, Hmeljak says KC has offered something different. He sees the city as an oasis for creativity—one that’s welcomed him with open arms. “I don’t think I could be doing really any of the things I’m doing now in Nashville—the jam sessions at our house, the sense of community,” Hmeljak says. 

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GO: Alive Release Party. November 28. 6 pm. Birds Nest (1219 Union Ave., KCMO)

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