Combo playing free show at Central Terminal on Thursday

By Tanya Gamble

The group’s leader is pretty clear about what to expect when the Walter Kemp 3 & Co. performs Thursday (Aug. 7) at 6 p.m. at the Buffalo Central Terminal at 495 Paderewski Drive in Buffalo.

Kemp says he expects everybody to enjoy themselves at the show and wants to clarify to his audience that he will be playing modern age jazz. 

“I just wanna make sure everybody has a good time. I just want to make sure I’m marketed as a Jazz musician so they’ll know what’s coming. I play a very now jazz. I don’t play elevator music,” Kemp said.

The band consists of Alec Dube, vibraphonist; Nelson Rivera, tenor saxophone; Damone Jackson, drums; Rashaad Odell, bass; and Kemp, piano/organ. This event is Free.

The Central Terminal is a historic former railroad station active from 1929 to 1979. Closed since 1979, several attempts to redevelop the station were unsuccessful. But in February 2024 a new development team was formed to plan reuse for the terminal. Now the terminal is hosting musical events in the city as one use. 

Kemp says this is his first time performing at Buffalo Central Terminal, but he is excited to share some of his new music and anticipates the reaction of the audience.

“I have a few new pieces,” he said. “A letter to myself. I have a piece that my father wrote called ‘Hallelujah’ — I’m going to perform that I’m going to dedicate to him. So, there’s new music that I’ll be playing … [Music] that I’ve been working on and I’m just excited to get out and let people hear.”

RELATED MEDIA: Walter Kemp 3 and the Black Whole Ensemble in 2024.

Kemp has toured internationally and recalled some of his most memorable gigs.

“We did a concert in Albinen, Switzerland. It’s called the ‘Gold Coast,’ and where we did the concert we saw the frigid Alps because we were so high up on the mountain. They fed us and we played. … I’ve also done stuff in Cairo, Egypt. We played for the United States troops. That was dope.”

Among upcoming projects, Kemp will be releasing is an album with the band Chamber Code featuring late poet Thomas Sayers Ellis. Ellis, who died July 17, was described in his New York Times obituary as “a poet, photographer and bandleader who explored race, music, politics, academia and family in dazzling, erudite and often funkified verse.”

In April, Chamber Code performed at Torn Space Theater in Buffalo with Ellis, Kemp, bassist Silvia Bolognesi, drummer Warren G. Crudup III and Buffalo visual artist Edreys Wajed.  

RELATED MEDIA: Chamber Code performing in April 2025.

“I just finished the album with Chamber Code. We are just going through the mix and master stage and getting that stuff ready,” Kemp said.