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Kansas City Jazz

A Little Evil Will Do You Good

Con Chapman [+–]
Music writer
Con Chapman has written about jazz since the mid-1970s and his work has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Atlantic, The Christian Science Monitor, Barron’s and Reason among other publications. He is the author of Rabbit’s Blues: The Life and Music of Jonny Hodges (Oxford University Press, 2019) which won the 2019 Book of the Year award from the Hot Club de France and a 2020 Certificate of Merit for Best Historical Research from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.

The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz.

Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Series: Popular Music History

Table of Contents

Prelims

Epigraph [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.
Prologue [+–]
An introductory statement describing the sub-genre and its place in jazz history. Kansas City jazz moved away from the New Orleans model of collective improvisation in favor of solos backed by ensemble riffs, and subdued the difference between the strong and weakly-accented beats of New Orleans jazz, played in 2/4 rhythm, to a more even 4/4 bounce rhythm. Unlike other jazz styles, particularly bebop, there is no conventional Kansas City mode for soloists; Lester Young and Charlie Parker, both of whom played extensively within the Kansas City tradition, use different harmonic vocabularies and different melodic syntaxes, but both cut their musical teeth as members of Kansas City bands: in Young’s case, Walter Page’s Blue Devils, Benny Moten, Count Basie and Andy Kirk; in Parker’s case, Jay McShann, Harlan Leonard, George E. Lee and Lawrence Keyes.

Chapter 1

The Lay of the Land: Kansas City in Geographical and Historical Context [+–]
The Kansas City metropolitan area extends over two states at the western border of Missouri, but at the beginning of the 1920s it was only the 19 th largest city in America by population, less than half the size of St. Louis at the state’s eastern border. Nonetheless, it was larger than any other city in the southwest and great plains states, and thus served as a destination for musicians in the region looking for work; the history of Kansas City jazz is, as a result, a history of jazz musicians in a larger watershed that included Texas, Oklahoma and other surrounding states. Kansas City was, in addition, sufficiently distant from other jazz centers of the time—New Orleans, Chicago, and New York—that a distinctive style could develop without being influenced by and absorbed into a larger school of music. Larger historical events in the early twentieth century contributed to the increased importance of Kansas City as a regional center west of the Mississippi. On January 16, 1920, the 18 th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which made the sale of alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States, became law; it would continue in effect until it was repealed in December of 1933. During this period Democratic politician Thomas J. Pendergast exercised effective control over municipal government in Kansas City, Missouri, until his arrest for income tax evasion in 1938. Under Pendergast’s rule, undoubtedly in exchange for payoffs, there wasn’t a single felony conviction for illegal sales of alcohol in Kansas City even though over 300 bars operated more or less openly, largely without resort to subterfuges used elsewhere in the country by “speakeasies.” A thriving nightlife developed, and with it demand for musicians to entertain customers. Finally, the Great Depression began in the fall of 1929, and continued until the late 1930s. Because of the critical mass of its entertainment district, Kansas City was largely unaffected by the hard times that impacted nightlife elsewhere in the country, however; in fact, a “flight to strength” occurred as Kansas City became a haven for musicians who couldn’t find work elsewhere. Bandleader Andy Kirk said the stock market crash was “like a pin dropping,” in Kansas City. The “blast of jazz and blues drowned it out.” Many of the men (and a few women) who became known as representatives of the Kansas City style came to the city from somewhere else. Hard economic times helped spread a taste for blues music, where lyrics of personal troubles are given a cathartic musical release.

Chapter 2

Roots in Ragtime Minstrel and Medicine Shows [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 3

The Blue Devils: From Tuba to Bull Fiddle [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 4

The Territory Bands [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 5

The Cultural Roots of Riffs and Jam Sessions [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 6

Bennie Moten: From Stomps to Swing [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 7

Boogie-Woogie [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 8

A Count and a President [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 9

The Rhythm Section [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 10

The Shouters [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 11

Coleman Hawkins/ Ben Webster/ Don Byas: The Tenors Who Got Away [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 12

Andy Kirk and the Lady Who Swings the Band [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 13

Harlan Leonard and His Rockets That Didn’t Take Off [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 14

Jay McShann and the Last of the Great Kansas City Bands [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 15

Bird Takes Off, and Other Bop Manifestations [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

Chapter 16

Could Lightning Strike Twice? [+–]
The brand of jazz that developed in the Kansas City area in the period from the late 1920s to the late 1930s is recognised as both a distinct stylistic variation within the larger genre and a transitional stage between earlier forms of African-American music, such as ragtime and blues, and later, more modern forms, up to and including bebop. Kansas City’s brand of jazz has been described as “the most straightforward and direct style which has been developed outside New Orleans,” by Hughues Panassié and Madeleine Gautier in their Dictionary of Jazz. Kansas City jazz has inspired the creation of a museum and has been the subject of a feature-length film, Robert Altman’s 1996 “Kansas City” and a sentimental rock song “Eternal Kansas City” by Van Morrison. For the first time this book summarizes the importance of Kansas City to the history of jazz, including profiles of individual musicians who developed very different styles within or beyond the framework of the sub-genre. Kansas City Jazz focuses on the broader themes and the stories of the major personalities whose individual talents came together to create the larger whole of Kansas City’s distinctive brand of jazz.

ISBN-13 (Hardback)
9781000000000
Price (Hardback)
£40.00 / $60.00
ISBN (eBook)
9781000000000
Price (eBook)
Individual
£40.00 / $60.00
Institutional
£40.00 / $60.00
Publication
01/10/2022
Pages
380
Size
234 x 156mm
Readership
scholars and general readers
Illustration
photos

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