Workshops featuring the music of Duke Ellington and other artists fill the calendar and across the street at the Gem Theatre. The Blue Room hosts listening parties to help teach adults about the uniqueness of Kansas City jazz. This live performance venue was named for the nightclub in the basement of the Street Hotel, a popular Kansas City destination in the 1930s and 40s. True understanding of Kansas City jazz comes after a night in the Blue Room, a part of the American Jazz Museum. Then come back at night to the Blue Room for one of the best live jazz shows in the city. Listen in on jam sessions or take control of an audio board and see what a little more bass will do to a particular song. Pick up head sets and listen to what distinguishes their sound and the Kansas City sound from others. They all attribute much of their success to Kansas City and the freedom they had to explore and grow in their craft. The American Jazz Museum shares space with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in a complex called The Museums of 18th and Vine.Ĭharlie Bird Parker’s saxophone is here and extensive exhibits on Ella Fitzgerald, Jay McShann, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong, among many others. Some call it “cool jazz.” It’s an earthy, sultry blend of melody, rhythm and harmony that feeds the soul of Kansas City as sure as barbecue feeds its body. Part swing, part bee bop, Kansas City jazz is considered more bluesy. Where New Orleans jazz is dominated by brass, Kansas City jazz expresses itself with more piano and more bass. In so doing, they experienced a new freedom and energy that expressed itself through their music and became the Kansas City sound. Jazz musicians from around the world followed the alcohol and found their way to the jazz clubs of Kansas City, predominantly the 18th & Vine District. However, alcohol was flowing freely in Kansas City, thanks to a crime boss named Tom Pendergast who was not intimidated by a little thing like the U.S. known as Prohibition – a 13-year period that began in 1920 when serving alcohol was illegal in this country. Kansas City’s influence on jazz comes from a time in the U.S. Known for its iconic Spanish architecture on the Country Club Plaza and as one of the great barbecue hubs of the U.S. Located in the heartland of America, where the Midwest becomes the West, Kansas City is a crossroads of many cultures. Sure, jazz was born in N’Orleans, but those who know this genre of music will tell you that Kansas City is where jazz grew up and gained an attitude. Jazz in Kansas CityĪt one time almost 200 juke joints operated 24 hours a day there, pumping music into the street and creating a more mellow sound than that found in New Orleans. The 18th and Vine reference is not one everyone gets, but if you know jazz, if you can hum the tune to “Goin’ to Kansas City,” you recognize that the 18th and Vine Historic District here is some place special. It’s just one of those things you have to do. *Parking rates subject to change based on special events / Sprint Center events.Standing on the corner of 18 th and Vine listening to jazz in Kansas City, Missouri is one of those pop culture travel mandates for jazz fans - in the same vein as standing on a corner in Winslow.Īrizona or crossing London’s Abbey Road barefoot is for rock n’ roll.
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The KC Live! Garage offers free daytime parking for up to three hours with validation from any Power & Light District merchant between 6AM and 5PM (Monday - Friday).Įvening parking is available for just $3* with validation after 5PM (Monday - Friday), and all-day Saturday and Sunday (12-hour max with validation). Parking is free after 6PM Monday-Friday, after 12PM on Saturday, and all day Sunday! The garage will be also open at those times during Sprint Center Events and offer the same three hour parking option. Parking is available in the H&R Block Parking Garage located at 13th and Main Street.
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Enjoy a nice meal before you catch a movie or come in for live music throughout the week.įollow us: BB Facebook Johnnies Facebook BB Instagram
Johnnie's Jazz Bar & Grille brings you the magic of the movies and a cool chill jazz environment. Tune up that old piano, deal the cards, and raise a glass to Johnnie.
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