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Clair Martin sold the club and his adjacent restaurant to Jud Putsch in 1946. From that time until 1973, the location was home to Putsch's 210, an upscale dining establishment that offered live music and was widely regarded among generations of Kansas Citians. Joe Gilbert and Paul Robinson followed Jud Putsch with Fedora, a French bistro and bar that was followed by a sports bar named after Hall of Famer George Brett in the early 2000s and the current resident, Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse.

Jay McShann's Band playing at Martin's in 1938 with Gene Ramey on bass, Bob Mabane, tenor; Gus Johnson, drums; Edward Hale, alto; Bill Smith, trumpet; Jay McShann, piano. 

Martin's on the Plaza included a dish known as Chicken in the Rough which was a local favorite

Real estate developer Clair Martin opened the Plaza Tavern in 1932, a popular gathering spot within the Plaza's Triangle Building that was known for live music performances. In April 1938, Martin booked Jay McShann's seven-piece jazz band, marking the first time that African Americans performed in the Country Club Plaza. The club was only open to white patrons, but following the large crowds who flocked to see McShann's well-known band, Black performers would not be welcome as patrons, but they were hired to entertain the all-white audiences, including eighteen-year-old saxophonist Charlie Parker who joined McShann's band that summer. Very few Kansas City music venues or clubs were integrated, although there were several "black-and-tan" clubs that permitted white and African American patrons in separate sections. In addition, the area from 12th Street to 24th Street and Paseo to Prospect was home to over a dozen jazz clubs that catered to the city's Black community.

Clair Martin’s Plaza Tavern (1932-1946)

Kansas City University was established in 1932, and just five years later, students pushed for an official college mascot. The city was abuzz with a new kangaroo exhibit at the Kansas City Zoo, and students noticed how their school's initials "KCU" rhymed with kangaroo. In 1937, students started a humor magazine called The Kangaroo, which featured a drawing of "Kacey Roo" by former Kansas City resident Walt Disney. When current student Bill Buffe and recent KCU graduate Abby Abercrombie started their malt shop, they tapped into the popularity of the student-selected mascot.The Kangaroo was located just east of the street car tracks at the time, and thanks to the expansion of the KC Streetcar, the coffee shops and restaurants that are now located here will once again be "on the right side of the car tracks" as the Kangaroo advertised itself. The student newspaper and yearbook included several mentions of the Kangaroo, known colloquially to students as their "jelly joint," which was slang for dancing a little too close to the opposite sex.

A malt shop that was frequented by the University of Kansas City students, the Kangaroo was established by Abby Abercrombie and Bill Buffe in 1938 to offer a venue for UKC students who lacked a Student Union at that time. The Kangaroo offered a live music jam session on Thursday afternoons that attracted KCU students and Southwest High School students and included a variety of musicians who earned money by playing gigs, including the up-and-coming local saxophonist Charlie Parker. Parker would become widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz musicians of the 20th century, but in 1938, he and other members of Jay McShann's band performed here when they weren't entertaining crowds at the larger venues with their bandleader. The 1939 University yearbook included a collage of images from jazz scenes, including a photo of an 18-year-old Charlie Parker playing at the Kangaroo. The university was segregated at that time, and the Kangaroo was open to white students. The photo is the only known image of Parker playing the alto saxophone in Kansas City prior to his move to New York and international fame.

A photo showing the building where the Kangaroo was located. The gas pumps are on the east side of the building and the Kangaroo would have been on the west end.

The Kangaroo (1938)

Starting with the Mutual Musician's Building, this trail includes landmarks related to Kansas City's iconic jazz history. Highlights of the tour include current and former jazz clubs, the American Jazz Museum, and the American Jazz Walk of Fame. More stops will be added to this trail soon. 

Kansas City Jazz Heritage Trail

Musicians Protective Union Local 627 wasn't always headquartered at 1823 Highland Avenue. When the union was created in 1917 to secure better working rights and wages for African American musicians, who were excluded from white workers' unions in the city, the union headquarters was at 18th Street. The musicians had a 14-piece band and played weekly concerts—called "Sunday Evening Promenade[s]"—at Academy Hall. [1] A quarter would get guests in the door, with dancing set to start at 8:30 p.m. Soon, however, the union's membership expanded, in tandem with the growing music scene in Kansas City, and the musicians were playing for crowds of up to 2,000 dancers. [2]In the late 1920s, under the leadership of union president William Shaw, the union became increasingly successful. Membership nearly quadrupled in the three years between 1927 and 1930, reaching 327 members that year. [3] Shaw also saw to the formal incorporation of the union as the "Negro Musicians Associations," for "the following purposes":<blockquote>To unite the instrumental portions of the musical profession for the better protection of its members; to serve the public in furnishing music on all occasions where it may be required; to establish and maintain a minimum rate of price to be charged for the professional services of its members; to furnish music to the public for its entertainment on public and private occasions; and to enforce good faith and fair dealing of its members in their dealing with and relation to the general public.. [4]</blockquote>In the same year, the union raised money to purchase 1823 Highland Avenue from the E.E. Pullum Realty Company for $4750, to be paid in $35 monthly installments at a 6 percent interest rate. [5] A huge ball in December 1929, featuring Bennie Moten and George Lee among others, helped raise funds to convert the building from apartments into a union headquarters. [6]The 1930s were a golden age for Local 627. Historian Edward Miszczuk estimated in 1979 that it was "a second home, a training ground and a source of jobs for approximately 90 percent of the musicians who created the powerful Kansas City sound of the 30's and 40's." [7] But despite their professional success and widespread popularity among both African American and white audiences, the musicians faced discrimination in the very venues that contracted them to play: as union member Marvin Leon Achyutan Pattillo recalled, "There was Johnny Baker’s, where I played with Jay McShann, out on Troost. That was a white club but had a Black band in it. After we would take our intermissions we would have to go down in the basement." [8]Conditions became difficult for the musicians, however, when the 1940s rolled around, bringing with them a city-wide campaign to clear up the vice that flourished alongside jazz in the licentious Pendergast years. While many clubs in the 18th &amp; Vine district shut down and were eventually razed in the 1950s and 1960s, Local 627 managed to keep the doors open and provide most of the best opportunities to its members, to the dismay of the white Local 34. Indeed, since the 1930s there had been calls from the white union to merge with Local 627, calls that the local had always resisted. In 1970, however, the American Federation of Musicians, the national body for both unions, stepped in and forced the merger. Local 627 had to leave its headquarters on Highland Avenue, but the Mutual Musicians Foundation, created in 1958 to manage the union building, continued to maintain the space as a social club and rehearsal venue for members.Despite the role played by Local 627 in creating the working conditions and camaraderie that supported the Kansas City jazz tradition, and the fact that the building at 1823 Highland Avenue was one of few buildings associated with Black jazz musicians to survive urban renewal projects in the 1950s and 1960s, it was a challenge to secure its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places—an inclusion that would help protect the building from the kinds urban development schemes that had destroyed so many other historic buildings in the 18th &amp; Vine area and make available federal funds for restoration work. Architects and historians from the National Park Service objected to the modifications the local had made over the course of their tenure in the building, arguing that "the severity of the alterations in 1940s may have destroyed the integrity [of the building]." [9] Ultimately, however, the National Park Service accepted that the cultural and musical significance of the building was not dependent on its architectural immutability and entered it on the Register in 1979.To this day, the Mutual Musicians Foundation remains a vibrant social and musical space, open into the wee hours on weekend nights. As in the 1920s and 1930s, jazz and alcohol go hand in hand, and the Foundation received a special exemption to continue serving drinks until 6 a.m.

In 1917, twenty-five African American musicians joined together to form Musicians Protective Union Local No. 627. The support offered by the new union enabled many of them to turn their music into full-time careers by helping secure fair contracts and working conditions, and allowing them to put down roots in Kansas City instead of working as itinerant musicians. In 1929, the union was officially incorporated and purchased an apartment building at 1823 Highland Avenue, which the union converted into its headquarters. The union thrived, in 1958 creating the Mutual Musicians Foundation to manage the building and other union assets. Though Local 627 was forced to merge with the white musicians union, Local 34, in 1970, the Mutual Musicians Foundation remains a social club and living museum, a testament to Kansas City's rich musical history and the power of labor organizing.

The welcoming sign to the Mutual Musicians' Foundation Incorporated 

Mutual Musicians' Foundation Building

The American Jazz Walk of Fame celebration began on August 23, 2014, with the induction of 6 jazz legends: William “Count” Basie, Jay McShann, Charlie Parker, Pat Metheny, Mary Lou Williams, and Bobby Watson. Each artist was given a 30-inch bronze medallion that rests proudly outside the American Jazz Museum at the heart of the 18th &amp; Vine Jazz District. Inspired by Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, and carried out by the Jazz District Renaissance Corp., the Jazz Walk of Fame has become an accessible and public entry point to deeper explorations of the Jazz District's history.In 2014, the induction ceremony was followed by a concert at the Gem Theater, which sits directly across the street from the American Jazz Museum. The performance featured the Count Basie Orchestra and a second band of local musicians led by Kansas City's Bobby Watson.The celebration is held annually and the festivities include the induction ceremony and live music featuring both local and national artists. The event is a favorite for many area families and the festival is supported by donors from both Kansas City, MO, and elsewhere.Some of the artists recognized in the Walk of Fame include:<ul><li>Bobby Watson, 2014 inducted, saxophonist, composer and director of Jazz Studies at University of Missouri at Kansas City.</li><li>Charlie Parker, Jr., 2014, soprano and alto saxophonist.</li><li>Jay McShann, 2014, jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader and Kansas City legend.</li><li>Pat Metheny, 2014, from Lee's Summit, MO, a contemporary Latin jazz guitarist and composer. Metheny has three gold albums and 20 Grammy Awards and is the only person to have won Grammys in 10 categories. </li><li>Count Basie, 2014, jazz pianist, organist and big band leader.</li><li>Mary Lou Williams, 2014, jazz pianist, arranger, and composer.</li><li>Lester Young, 2015, jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist, known as "Prez" or "Pres".</li><li>Claude "Fiddler" Williams, 2015, was the first guitarist to record with Count Basie but his best known for jazz violin.</li><li>Myra Taylor, 2015, jazz singer, songwriter and dancer</li><li>Coleman Hawkins, 2015, from St. Joseph, MO, played the tenor saxophone and was known as "Hawk" or "Bean."</li><li>Bennie Moten, 2015, a ragtime pianist who became the leader of "Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra," which later led by Bill "Count" Basie.</li><li>Melba Liston, 2016, as one of few women in jazz to face both racial and gender discrimination and abuse and even so went on to become a notable composer and trombonist.</li><li>Louis Armstrong, 2016, nicknamed "Satchmo," "Satch," and "Pops," was a trumpeter and vocalist.</li><li>Nina Simone, 2016, singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&amp;B, and pop.</li><li>Everette DeVan, 2016, famously known for playing the Hammond B-3 organ.</li><li>Luqman Hamza, 2016, (pronounced Luke-mahn Hahm-za) Born Larry Cummings, he was known for his sensual and seductive singing alongside stylish piano play.</li><li>Queen Bey, 2016, (no, not Beyoncé Knowles-Carter), who began performing at age 12 and appeared in several movies in addition to her jazz performances.</li><li>George Benson, 2016, guitarist and vocalist. Ten Grammy awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.</li><li>Ben Webster, 2016, known for the beauty of his tenor saxophone tone and for his melodic inventiveness.</li><li>Ida McBeth, 2017, Kansas City's "Queen of Jazz and Blues" singer.</li><li>Ella Fitzgerald, 2017, known as "Lady Ella," "Queen of Jazz," and the "First Lady of Song" for her improvision of jazz classics.</li><li>Ben Kynard, 2017, alto and baritone saxophonist.</li><li>Oliver Todd, 2017, jazz band leader, organist, pianist, and trumpeter. Todd was one of the city's most famous band leaders and led a band known as the Hottentots in the 1930s.</li><li>Ramsey Lewis, 2017, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career.</li><li>Thelonious Monk, 2017, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and is the second-most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington.</li><li>Sonny Kenner, 2018, the guitarist was the first African American to open Kansas City's first Black book store, the Pyramid Book Store and Record Shop.</li><li>Jerry Lieber &amp; Mike Stoller, 2018, were a Grammy award-winning songwriting and record production duo.</li><li>Marilyn Maye, 2018, a highly praised singer, actress, director, arranger, educator, a Grammy nominated recording artist and a musical treasure.</li><li>David Sanborn, 2018, the alto saxophonist has won six Grammy Awards and has had eight gold albums and one platinum.</li><li>Leon Brady, 2019, youth educator and professional percussionist.</li><li>Dr. Nathan Davis, 2019, a hard bop jazz multi-instrumentalist who played the tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet and flute. Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Davis is probably best known for his work with Eric Dolphy, Kenny Clarke, Ray Charles, Slide Hampton and Art Blakey.</li><li>Harry Belafonte, 2019, Carribean-American singer and actor. Three time Grammy award winner. In addition to a musical career spanning calypso music to blues and folk music was a civil rights activist and close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..</li><li>Oleta Adams, 2019, local lounge jazz singer and pianist. Her song "Get Here" became an anthem of sorts during the Persian Gulf War.</li><li>Quincy Jones, 2019, the trumpeter is record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer.</li><li>2020 - event postponed due to Covid-19 concerns</li><li>Mutual Musicians Foundation, 2021, African-American Musicians Union, founded in 1917, and is located at 1823 Highland Avenue.</li><li>Al Jarreau, 2021, Grammy award winning jazz singer and musician.</li><li>The McFadden Brothers, 2022, sons of famous dancer and performer "Smilin' Jimmy McFadden", Ronald and Lonnie are a true piece of Kansas City musical history.</li></ul>

The American Jazz Walk of Fame was established on August 23, 2014 when the tradition of honoring jazz artists began under the influence of Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II. Every year, a committee of musicians selected one or more musicians and dedicated a medallion in their honor in the sidewalk in front of the American Jazz Museum and the historic Gem Theater. Over the years, these medallions have formed a "Walk of Fame" within the heart of the 18th &amp; Vine Jazz District. The medallion dedication ceremony has become an annual event, with celebrated jazz musicians performing in nearby venues to honor new inductees.

2014 inductees:
 - William “Count” Basie
 - Jay McShann
 - Charlie Parker, Jr
 - Pat Metheny
 - Mary Lou Williams
 - Bobby Watson

The American Jazz Walk of Fame, Kansas City

One of the most architecturally striking buildings in the 18th &amp; Vine district, the Gem Theater is one of a handful of buildings from the 1920s and 1930s that has survived more or less intact, escaping the razing that destroyed many of the district's clubs from the 1950s to the 1990s. Originally named the Star Theater, it was built in 1912 to show silent movies to the African American community that had taken up residence around 18th &amp; Vine in the then legally-segregated Kansas City. It was renamed the Gem Theater in 1913. By 1929, when the theater began to show talking movies, the Gem became a fixture on 18th Street as the major movie theater opened by and for African American audiences.In 1960 the Gem Theater no longer showed films and began to fall into disrepair. As one of the most notable buildings to survive the industrialization and redevelopment of the district in the 1960s and 1970s, the theater became a centerpiece of plans to revitalize the Jazz District and figured prominently in the district's application for status as a historic district in 1991. When the Gem was still playing movies, up until 1960, the seating capacity was 1,414, but after renovations capacity was cut to 500 seats. Indeed, virtually all that remains of the original theater is the facade, which dates to an early renovation in 1923. After the renovations of the 1990s, the Gem Theater opened for live performances in 1997. Like the American Jazz Museum across the street, the Gem is owned by the city government. Renovations were spearheaded by Patricia Jordan, who is now president of what has become the Gem Theater Cultural and Performing Arts Center. Interestingly, the redevelopment and restoration of the Gem Theater and surrounding Jazz District was sparked in no small part by a movie: Robert Altman's 1996 Kansas City, which was shot on location. Given the destruction of many of the buildings in the district, and the disrepair into which the surviving ones had fallen, Altman's movie required the extensive use of facades to restore the appearance of 18th &amp; Vine as it would have looked in the 1930s when the film is set. The facades made the rich artistic and cultural history of the district immediately visible, and the film's release coincided with a wave of investment that sought to redevelop the district and restore the area's historic vibrancy.

Built in 1912, the Gem Theater, originally named the Star Theater, served Kansas City's African American population as a “silent movie palace” (VisitKC). It was renamed the Gem Theater in 1913 and soon became an “established fixture” in the 18th &amp; Vine district. Eventually, the theater switched from movies to live performances before falling into disrepair after the 1960s. However, unlike many other architectural landmarks of 18th &amp; Vine's jazz age, the Gem Theater escaped the razing that took place in the 1970s and 1980s as part of urban development projects. In the 1990s, the theater was renovated in a process that removed much of the original interior to make space for a modern performance venue.

Photo of the beautiful GEM theater illuminated brightly by neon lights

Gem Theater

Emanuel Cleaver was the political sponsor for the revitalization of the 18th and Vine district, and Dr. Rowena Stewart oversaw the development of the American Jazz Museum in 1995. Stewart became the first director upon completion of the museum in 1997. In the past 25 years, the museum has worked to offer a mixture of artifacts and interpretation that live alongside performances, community events, and educational programs. The museum's galleries include numerous artifacts from leading Kansas City jazz musicians along with interactive displays that educate the public about jazz music with an emphasis on the contributions of local musicians. The museum includes numerous exhibits on the lives of prominent African American musicians, hotel owners, and restaurateurs who helped create and sustain the 18th and Vine Community, an area sometimes referred to as "the Jazz District" given the neighborhood's connection to jazz legends and recent efforts to invest in organizations dedicated to art, history, sports, and culture.Kansas City Jazz and 18th and Vine"With few anomalies," write jazz scholars Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix, "Kansas City's distinctive jazz style originated in the community centered around the intersection of 18th and Vine—Kansas City's other downtown." [1] In the segregated Kansas City of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, 18th and Vine was a vibrant hub of African American businesses, clubs, hotels, and restaurants serving a clientele excluded from most other venues in Kansas City.During the 1920s and Great Depression, Kansas City earned a reputation as being a “wide open” city owing to machine politicians like Tom Pendergast who refused to enforce Prohibition. In communities throughout the city, political leaders delivered the vote to Pendergast-affiliated aldermen, and police responded by allowing jazz clubs and other businesses to operate. As long as the money flowed up to the political machine, liquor flowed throughout Kansas City. As a result, clubs attracted patrons and provided incentives for musicians throughout the country to come to Kansas City. While a few "black and tan" clubs were open to all, most of the city's establishments reflected the segregated nature of the city. Black performers who played for white-only audiences found this neighborhood to be a sanctuary where they could be both patron and performer.Many of the greatest jazz legends learned and practiced their craft at white-only clubs downtown in the early evening before returning to the Street Hotel for a meal. These musicians then performed a second set at the Black-owned clubs of this neighborhood, and the music sometimes continued on until the early morning hours. While many of these musicians moved on to other cities, this part of the city is credited for producing the unique sound of Kansas City jazz.The neighborhood where the museum is located was home to influential musicians like Charlie "Bird" Parker, who lived and played in Kansas City before moving to New York. This district was also the place where jazz legends like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald performed for African American audiences. The museum celebrates the district and preserves the legacy of Kansas City jazz. The museum shares the building with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and visitors can enjoy both museums for a reduced rate by purchasing a ticket to both.

Since opening in 1997, the American Jazz Museum has offered a blend of traditional museum experiences centered on artifacts and interpretation along with performances and educational programs. The museum is located in the 18th and Vine Historic District, and its exhibits and programs are centered on the historical and artistic contributions of the musicians who lived and worked in this part of Kansas City. The museum includes interactive exhibits and educational programs that are connected to the Blue Room, a working jazz club with nightly performances that are open to all. The Museum also operates the neighboring Gem Theater, a historic 500-seat performing arts center. In addition, staff work closely with area music educators and Mutual Musicians Foundation, a union that dates back to 1917. As a Smithsonian Affiliate, the American Jazz Museum also presents music-related exhibits from the Smithsonian Institute.

The American Jazz Museum

Perhaps the most unique of all venues on 18th &amp; Vine, the Blue Room Jazz Club connects the past to the present and offers a performance venue for established and up-and-coming musicians. The club is connected to the American Jazz Museum and honors the musical tradition of the famous Blue Room of the Street Hotel. One of the few places of accommodation for people of color in the era of segregation, the Street Hotel was a center of social life, a place where Black organizations held events and conferences, and the place where out-of-town visitors stayed, including ballplayers and musicians. Street Hotel was owned and operated by Reuben and Ella Davidson Street. When Reuben was a child, his family moved to Kansas City as part of the migration of Exodusters—African Americans who left the south to seek a better life in Kansas and Kansas City, which straddles the Missouri-Kansas border. Reuben and Ella married in 1900 and held a variety of jobs before managing to purchase the hotel that would bear their name in 1920. In the segregated city, Street Hotel was the finest hotel available to Black patrons, and segregation meant that other African-American businesses, clubs, and venues clustered around it in the 18th &amp; Vine district, creating a busting jazz scene even as Black performers and audiences were excluded from businesses in downtown Kansas City. Across from the Blue Room was the Rose Room, which offered an exclusive fine-dining experience to African American guests.Of course, any hotel that served as the home away from home for traveling musicians became the center of nightlife, and this was certainly the case for the Street Hotel during the 1930s and beyond. The venue is both a performance hall and a “multifaceted exhibit highlighting the countless musicians who crafted” the now world-famous “Kansas City jazz” sound. The club continues to cultivate jazz talent, inviting performances from both veteran and up-and-coming musicians in its intimate and historic setting.This hybrid venue—museum by day and working jazz club by night—is Kansas City's’ only Jazz club to be listed in the top 100 Jazz Clubs in the world by DownBeat Magazine. Because of this, the Blue Room is never in shortage of touring jazz musicians looking to make a name in the city of fountains. Another interesting tidbit regarding the Blue Room Jazz Club is the “soundies” which can be viewed in the video jukebox. These “soundies” include performances by “Jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Fats Waller, and John Coltrane.”Similar to the gateway sign which signals both a respect for the district and a desire to bring life back to the venues and businesses which sat near-lifeless for years, the Blue Room Jazz Club invites aspiring musicians to play in the venue: “Bring your instrument and sit in at the weekly Blue Monday Jam.” The spirit of the Jazz District with the powerful and influential musicians that played in the clubs and streets of 18th &amp; Vine lives on through these events, which invite the public in to be part of the marvelous history of jazz in Kansas City.

A modern landmark within the historic 18th &amp; Vine district, The Blue Room Jazz Club is connected to the American Jazz Museum and showcases some of the most significant jazz musicians. A museum by day and hopping jazz club at night, the Blue Room blends music and entertainment with history and is a favorite for many residents of the Kansas City metro area. Established by Reuben and Ella Street as part of the Street Hotel (or "Street's," as it was known) in the early 1920s, the Blue Room became one of the most important venues in the geography of Kansas City jazz. The original Blue Room and the hotel that housed it were located just a few steps west of the current Blue Room. That historic building was razed in the 1980s and is now home to Soiree and several other businesses.

The electric Blue Room sign illuminated in fabulous blue!

The Blue Room

The Eblon Theater was Kansas City's first African American owned and operated theater in the city.1 The theater was designed by architect Paul L. Anthony as a venue for vaudeville and motion pictures. The theater opened in 1923 with much excitement. The Kansas City call wrote on its opening under the headline "Theater is Only One in City Owned By Colored People" to praise the theaters amenities, "nothing has been spared to make this the finest motion picture house for colored people in this part of the country."1 Concerts were held at the Theater each week and were broadcast across local channels. Patrons could also attend the theater to see a silent film accompanied by the theaters house organist.1The Eblon Theater was also where the legendary musician Count Basie found a home in Kansas City. In 1927 Basie was touring with a vaudeville act when it suddenly disbanded in Kansas City. Basie turned to the Eblon Theater and found a job as the house organist playing over silent films.2 When the Eblon theater reopened as the Cherry Blossom Club orchestra leader Bennie Moten left the club and was replaced by Count Basie.6 The orchestra was rebranded Count Basie and his Cherry Blossom Orchestra a notable moment in Basie's career as this was the first time he played under the name "count".6

Located at 1822 Vine Street, the Eblon Theater was Kansas City's first African American owned and operated theater. 1The club was constructed in 1922 with a Spanish colonial facade and seating for up to 1,000 patrons1. The Theater opened in 1923 as a venue for vaudeville and motion pictures. In 1933 the Eblon Theater closed and the Cherry Blossom club opened up in its place.1

Eblon Theater

Charles Christopher Parker Jr. was born on August 29, 1920 in Kansas City, Kansas. At the age of seven his family moved to Kansas City, Missouri. Parker learned to play the saxophone at an early age, and when he was fifteen he dropped out of high school to pursue a music career. For the next several years he played jazz music at various nightclubs in Kansas City’s Vine Street district. Kansas City was one of the major epicenters of jazz in the 1930s and 1940s, which had a strong influence on Parker’s musical development.In 1939 Parker moved to New York City in search of new opportunities. He continued to refine his music and cooperated on works with other jazz musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and Miles Davis. In 1945, Parker and Gillespie toured together in Hollywood, where they invented bebop. Bebop was an upbeat, fast-paced, randomized form of jazz that relied on faster tempos and improvisation. Some of Parker’s most popular bebop songs included “Koko,” “Billie’s Bounce,” “Now’s the Time,” and “Thriving on a Riff.” It was also around this time that Parker received the nickname “Bird” or “Yardbird.” The reasons for this nickname vary. One given explanation was that Parker was considered by his friends to be free as a bird; another is that he accidentally hit a chicken while driving.While Parker achieved popularity as a pioneer of bebop, he struggled in his personal life. For many years he suffered from a heroin addiction, the result of treating injuries he received in a car accident as a teenager. He wasted money on heroin, became emotionally unstable, and frequently missed performances and recordings. He made several attempts to become sober, but continued to relapse. In 1955 Parker died from pneumonia at the age of thirty-four. At his mother’s request his body was brought back to Kansas City and interred in Lincoln Cemetery.Over the years Charlie Parker has been honored in many ways for his contributions to jazz and bebop. He was posthumously given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and other accolades. The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in New York City and the Annual Charlie Parker Celebration in Kansas City are held each year in his honor. Kansas City also annually hosts a Jazz History Tour, which takes visitors on a walking tour of key sites from Charlie Parker’s life in the Vine Street district. In 1971 the Charlie Parker Memorial Foundation was established to teach music to youth in Kansas City urban neighborhoods. Parker has also been the subject of a 1988 biographical film, Bird, and even a 2015 opera, Charlie Parker’s Yardbird.In 1999 this monument to Charlie Parker was erected on Vine Street near the American Jazz Museum. It was created by artist Robert Graham and paid for by Kansas City along with contributions from the Jules and Doris Stein Foundation and the Oppenheimer Brothers Foundation. The eighteen foot tall memorial consists of a green sculpture of Parker’s head, with his eyes closed and lips pursed as if he were blowing a saxophone. The head rests on top of a pedestal with the quote “Bird Lives” inscribed on it. It is said that in the days following Parker’s death in 1955, the phrase “Bird Lives” began appearing in graffiti throughout New York City.

This eighteen foot statue commemorates the life and career of Charlie Parker, one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century. Parker grew up in Kansas City and played at many Vine Street nightclubs before pursuing a musical career in New York and California. He is widely considered to be one of the creators of bebop. The statue features Parker's head tilted downward, eye shut, and lips pursed as if he were playing the saxophone. At the base of the status, an inscription reads "Bird Lives" a reference to Parker's nickname and his long-lasting legacy.

Charlie Parker Memorial

Legendary saxophonist made his professional debut on October 31st, 1935, at Paseo Hall, playing with the Twelve Cords of Rhythm and George Lee, a influential Kansas City bandleader and brother of pianist and vocalist Julia Lee. The venue only hired union musicians, so Parker joined Musicians Local 627, the union of African American musicians in Kansas City.

The largest of the many dance halls and events spaces in Kansas City's African American community in the 1930s and 1940s, Paseo Hall opened in March of 1924 when legendary band leader Bennie Moten took over the management of the formerly white-only Dehoney’s Dance Academy. Kansas City's leading jazz musicians all played here, along with touring musicians like Duke Ellington and Fats Waller. Paseo Hall was the location where Musicians Local 627 held their famous battles of the bands, which raised the funds necessary to purchase the building at 1823 Highland, which continues to serve as a live music venue. Following the trend of jazz clubs that faced closure in the late 1930s, Paseo Hall closed in 1938, and the building was purchased by St. Stephens Church.

Paseo Hall (1924-1938)

18th and Vine

The 1950s Rhythm and Blues song “Kansas City” immortalized the intersection of 12th and Vine with the lyrics, “I'm gonna be standing on the corner, of Twelfth Street and Vine. With my Kansas City baby and a bottle of Kansas City wine.” Covered and adapted by musicians such as James Brown, Little Richard, and the Beatles, the 1959 hit "Kansas City" became the official theme song of the city in 2005. Near this marker, one can experience a taste of the city's jazz history by visiting the nearby 18th and Vine District, also known as the city's Jazz District. The area is home to historic buildings, museums, and working jazz clubs that pay homage to the unique "Kansas City Sound" that was pioneered by Big Joe Turner and others who authored numerous songs about the city that filled the gap between Euday Bowman's 12th Street Rag and Wilbert Harrison's hit song. By the roaring twenties, what was once a forested area of the emerging city became one of the trendiest places to live and visit. It was a bustling thoroughfare lined with theaters, clubs, jazz, and of course, barbeque. The nearby Orchid Room was one of the premier Rhythm and Blues clubs hosting the likes of Etta James, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, and Ruth Brown in the 1940s and 1950s. Legendary jazz venues inspired the songs that captured the imagination of songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Had the songwriting duo visited Kansas City in their time, they would have likely referenced the clubs around 18th and Vine, downtown venues along 12th Street, the Pla-More Ballroom on 31st Street, or clubs like Miltons and the Century Room on Troost between Linwood and Armour Boulevard.By the time "Kansas City" became a hit for Wilbert Harrison, the heyday of 12th Street and Vine was a memory, and many residents of this neighborhood were moving further south. The neighborhood’s Roaring Twenties heyday faded as the leading theaters, clubs, and joints closed their doors. Even the famed Orchid Room, which outlasted most other clubs, filed for bankruptcy in 1959. What took their place in the late fifties and early sixties were venues such as burlesques and strip clubs. Some referred to the area as “the Las Vegas of its day,” owing to open and widespread prostitution and other activities that inspired the next generation of city leaders to demolish area structures and construct Paseo Green Park.The Urban Renewal projects of the late fifties into the seventies were a widespread public planning effort to remove blighted areas from cities and expand infrastructure in their place. This program, while aiming to improve the city, had mixed results. While leading to the construction of more public housing, there were tremendously negative results for those left behind, including many for Black Kansas Citians. Homes and businesses around the historic intersection of 12th and Vine were bulldozed, but this green space and memorial plaza at the former intersection of 12th and Vine shares the history and culture of the area from Euday Bowman's 12th Street Rag to the numerous versions of "Kansas City" that followed.

This historical marker pays tribute to a former intersection within one of the most bustling communities in Kansas City in the early and mid-20th century that was immortalized by the 1959 hit "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison that was covered and adapted by musicians from Little Richards to the Beatles. The song references a prior era when this area hosted some of the leading jazz clubs, theaters, and dining spots in the city, a "wide Open" period of pre-Depression era Kansas City immortalized by ragtime composer Euday Bowman's 12th Street Rag in 1914." Bowman's song inspired numerous additional songs about Kansas City, including "Kansas City," written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952 and made popular by Wilbert Harrison in 1959. The intersection was no longer the city's hot spot for music and entertainment by 1959, and it no longer exists following urban renewal programs of the 1970s that replaced this section of Vine Street with an urban green space. While 12th and Vine may be a memory, the history of the area is kept alive with this memorial space designed to resemble a piano and treble clef, a nod to the still-popular song that expresses excitement to be "going to Kansas City" for its women and wine and plans to "be standing on the corner of Twelfth Street and Vine."

This marker is shaped like a piano with photos and the lyrical lyrics of the song "Kansas City" 

Goin to Kansas City Plaza Historical Marker: 12th Street and Vine

Businessman and jazz promoter Joe Glaser operated this small live music venue from 1928 to 1935. During those years, the small but lavishly decorated club hosted the leading bands in Kansas City from Charlie Parker to Bennie Moten. The club was open to all patrons, and given its small size, was closer to being truly integrated than the larger clubs that restricted African Americans to the balcony.

This photograph was part of a collage of Kansas City nightclubs in a 1935 newsletter

DeLuxe Night Club (1928-1935)

Paseo West

The historic 12th Street Reno Club was once located here near the northeast corner of 12th and Cherry. Today this location is home to a parking lot, but in the 1930s, it was home to the legendary Reno Club where Jazz Greats such as Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Hot Lips Page, and Mary Lou Williams performed. In 1935, Count Basie first performed with the orchestra that would become the world-famous Count Basie Orchestra and in 1936 experimental radio broadcasts took this Kansas City sound worldwide.Count Basie recalled “The Reno was not one of those big fancy places where you go in and go downstairs and all that. It was like a club off the street. But once you got inside, it was a cabaret, with a little bandstand and a little space for a floor show, and with a bar up front, and there was also a little balcony in there. There were also girls available as dancing partners. It was a good place to work. I liked the atmosphere down there. There was always a lot of action because there were at least four other cabarets right there on that same block, and they all had live music and stayed open late.”The Reno Club also had a complicated relationship with the law. The club was owned by the notorious Pendergast family and there was a space behind the club where Pendergast and his associates would meet. The club was also a location for Pendergast associates to deal in drugs and prostitution. As recorded in Nathan Pearsons book, Goin' to Kansas City, John Hammond, the record producer who discovered Basie said of the club, "I'll never forget the first night, I went to the Reno...There was a whorehouse upstairs...and there wasn't enough money for liquor so obviously it would be, everybody grew pot in the backyard in Kansas City. This is how the band was able to exist."In 1939, the Pendergast Era ended, and reforms swept through the city. Many historic jazz venues were shut down or died out without the support of Pendergast associates, including the historic Reno Club, which shut its doors shortly after Pendergast was arrested for tax evasion. Today, the Kansas City jazz tradition of the 1920s and 1930s continues with numerous venues throughout the city. The Blue Room at the American Jazz Museum and Lonnie's Reno Club in the Ambassador Hotel include regular tributes to Count Basie, Charlie Parker, and other musicians who performed here.

Now a parking lot for the Kansas City Police Department, this was the site of one of the 12th Street Reno Club which was operated by Tom Pendergast. One of Kansas City's leading jazz clubs of the 1930s and home to influential bands like the Count Basie Orchestra, this was one of the most successful jazz clubs during the era when Kansas City's jazz scene thrived under the "protection" of the political machine that dominated the city. When "Boss" Tom Pendergast was sent to prison and reform elements took control of Kansas City, the club closed. But starting in 1931, patrons could see jazz legends such as Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Hot Lips Page, and Mary Lou Williams perform. This was also the location of experimental radio broadcasts that shared the unique form of Kansas City jazz with audiences nationwide. Like many other establishments in the city, the Reno Club was segregated, with the main floor being reserved for white patrons while African Americans were seated in the balcony.

An ad for Count Basie at the Reno Club in 1935

12th Street Reno Club (1930s)

The Gate City National Bank operated for fourteen years in Kansas City (founded in 1906) before building and moving into the historic building in 1920. The Gate City Bank Building's unique blend of high-rise characteristics and Neo-Classical style, a popular architectural choice for financial institutions during the 1920s, is partly due to a change in its size. Planners initially intended for the Gate City building to rise ten stories, with floors four through nine identical in appearance, but it only included six stories when construction ended. The bank occupied the lowest floor, but the upper floors housed The Women's Club, founded by Mrs. James M. Coburn. The club hosted weekly meetings for middle-class women (mainly financially independent families) to discuss philanthropic goals, civic topics, and cultural activities. However, its most famous action involved the creation of the "Milk Station," which, in 1920, involved collecting nearly 25,000 ounces of donated breast milk, which they used to feed around 500 babies.In 1930, shortly after the onset of the Great Depression, when banks throughout the country merged or closed, Gate City National Bank merged with another bank to become Traders Gate City National Bank. In 1949, the bank dropped the "Gate City" from the moniker and simply went by Traders National Bank. In the late twentieth century, the building served as the home to storied businesses such as a law firm, an architectural firm, and a nightclub. In 2011, a $7.5 million rehabilitation project transformed the historic bank into a boutique hotel. The work resulted in two awards: The 2012 Historic Kansas City Excellence Award for Adaptive Reuse and the 2013 Preservation Missouri Award. The Ambassador Hotel pays tribute to Kansas City's unique history when this building was constructed, including a jazz venue named in honor of the iconic Reno Club where the Count Basie Orchestra performed along with numerous other influential musicians. The club grew out of a popular outdoor live music space during the public health crisis of 2020 and became part of the hotel the following year after an agreement between the hotel's owner and club operator and performer Lonnie McFadden.

Built in 1920 for the Gate City National Bank and designed by the Kansas City architectural firm of Keene &amp; Simpson, this historic structure blends two designs found throughout the downtown area. The first three stories incorporate large corniced pillars and other features typical of bank headquarters, while the upper stories resemble the design of some of the neighboring skyscrapers erected during the early twentieth century. The bank occupied the first floor and leased the upper floors to the Women's City Club and various commercial firms. Among the Women's Club's many activities, it created a "Milk Station" that fed otherwise malnourished babies using donated breast milk. A major renovation project that began in 2011 saw the conversion of the historic bank and office building into the Ambassador Hotel, which opened in 2012. The hotel is the home of Lonnie's Reno Club, a live music venue that pays tribute to one of Kansas City's historic jazz clubs where Count Basie, Charlie Parker, and many other musicians performed.

Gate City National Bank Building, Ambassador Hotel

Gate City National Bank and Women's City Club; Ambassador Hotel and Lonnie's Reno Club

John Wesley Jenkins, Jr., the son of the original music store’s founder, was brought into the company in the 1880s. With his brothers, after the death of their father, they formed the J.W. Jenkins’ Son’s Music Company in 1890. After three moves, the company settled at the current Walnut Street address in the Central Business District of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1912, originally constructed as a 6-story fireproof building. The firm of Smith, Rea &amp; Lovitt was a distinguished architecture firm in Kansas City with a national reputation. Among the other Kansas City buildings the firm designed are the Rialto Building, the Ivanhoe Temple, the Isis Theater/Wirthnam Building and the Firestone Building.The same architectural firm handled the Jenkins Music Company Building's renovation of 1931-1932. At about 132 feet in height, the structure is constructed with a steel and reinforced concrete frame, with a red brick side and rear walls with exposed concrete framing. The most ornate area of the building's exterior is the west facade, with embellishments and step-backs on the eighth story creating a strong vertical and rectilinear impression. On this facade, a basecourse of Black basalt is visually surmounted by Black-colored terra cotta which surfaces the ground and mezzanine stories. According to a 1932 music magazine article, at the time of its restoration, the Jenkins Building was a unique institution, with features on every floor. On the first floor was a salesroom for band and orchestra instruments, sheet music, and records. The mezzanine had a department displaying rare violins. The second floor included more sheet music and books. The third floor had more musical merchandise, the fourth contained the radio and refrigerator departments and the fifth contained the executive offices as well as a remote-control broadcasting studio. The seventh floor was devoted to a display of grand pianos and the eighth floor contained 23 music studios and an auditorium/recital hall with a seating capacity of 240.In 1947, the first of eight annual summer conferences of new music was held in the building, with several hundred of the nation’s most prominent composers, musicians and music teachers discussing music composition and materials, and new trends in music. At the height of its success in the 1950s, the company employed 700 people, though by August 1971, it had declared bankruptcy. In July 1973, David Richardson, founder of Rich Music Co., purchased the Jenkins company and closed many of its properties, including the main downtown Kansas City building. It is now connected to a parking lot constructed for the 1201 Walnut Street high-rise: only the west facade of the original structure is intact. Historic preservationists fought to save the facade in a manner similar to Kansas City's Harzfeld's Building. According to the building's current owner, the property is to be redeveloped into a mixed-use project with commercial space on the ground floor and loft style apartments in the balance of the space. The last Jenkins Music Store was closed in Midwest City, Oklahoma, in December 2014, decades after its namesake company went bankrupt. As the store’s 75-year-old owner, Ken Leerstang, said, “It used to be that when you wanted a musical instrument, you had to go to a music store. Now you can go on the Internet and get whatever you want.”

The Jenkins Music Company Building in Kansas City, Missouri, was originally constructed in 1911-1912. The building was built to serve as the general offices, retail headquarters and the wholesale division of the prominent musical instrument and music publishing firm, the Jenkins Music Company, founded in 1878 by John Wesley Jenkins, Sr. During the 1890’s, the Jenkins Company became one of the largest manufacturers of guitars and mandolins in the world and one of the most distinguished publishers of sheet music in the nation. The structure was designed by locally-based architectural firm, Smith, Rea &amp; Lovitt, especially by the firm's senior partner, Charles A. Smith. It is a significant example of unaltered, Modernistic-style commercial architecture, combining Late Gothic Revival and Art Deco decorative elements. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

The historic Jenkins Music Company Building in 2022

Jenkins Music Company Building

After researching in Kansas City, the 10’ and 8’ tall bronze jazz musician sculptures were cast, under the supervision of the artist, at the Bearzi shop in Italy using the lost wax process, where a wax model is used to create a mold. The trumpet player was modeled on a sketch of Emmett Finney, a trumpet player, vocalist, and bandleader from Kansas City. The bass player is modeled after Milt Abel, who played in several Kansas City clubs in addition to touring nationally with his wife, Betty Miller.

In 1964 the Kemper Foundation commissioned artist Elizabeth Powers to create “Jazz Musicians,” an outdoor public art installation for the north facade of the 811 Main Street building. Artist Elizabeth Powers was a Kansas City native who earned a degree at the Kansas City Art Institute and exhibited at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. At the time of the commission, the artist was living and working in her sculpture studio in Florence, Italy.In preparation of the commission, Powers sketched Kansas City jazz musicians playing in local night clubs. The trumpet man was inspired by watching and listening to Emmett Finney, and the bass player was inspired by Milt Abel, although neither are formal portraits. While the commission is symbolic of Kansas City’s strong jazz tradition, it also serves as a memorial to Lt. David Woods Kemper, James M. Kemper’s son, who passed away in World War II.

Elizabeth Powers, Jazz Musicians (1964) bronze

The stain glass above the entryway to the jazz club is over a century old and includes the name of early 19h century proprietor Frank Valerius who operated one of the many drinking establishments that would call this building home.

This mural of Kansas City jazz musicians is located on the east wall of the historic Phoenix Building which was constructed in 1888 and a contributing property within the Garment District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The most striking feature of this historic three-story Neo-Romanesque building is the cast iron arch at the 8th street entryway. Since 1990 the first level of the former hotel has been home to The Phoenix, a live music venue that offers nightly jazz. In 2002, the city named the section of 8th Street from Broadway to Central as “Scamps Alley" in honor of an iconic jazz band with Kansas City roots dating back to the Great Depression.

The Phoenix Hotel (1888) and Mural

<h3>Garment District</h3>The history of this part of Kansas City dates back to the mid-1850s when Colonel Kersey Coates developed the area into the city's first residential neighborhood. He arrived in 1854 on behalf of Pennsylvania investors who bought the land and instructed him to search for minerals. After Coates found none, he was instructed to sell the land. Seeing it's potential, Coates bought the land and platted it instead, calling part of the area "Quality Hill" while reserving other parts for warehouses and other commercial operations. Coates helped to create the first Kansas City Board of Trade Building, as well as the Coates Opera House in 1868, which was located across the street. He also operated the Coates Opera Hotel across 10th Street. The hotel and opera house helped to turn these blocks into one of the city's important hospitality and cultural hubs.In the 1870s and early 1880s, Broadway became a thriving commercial avenue while the streets to the west and east remained residential. Beginning in the mid- 1880s, however, the residential parts of the area began to make way for commercial buildings. What spurred this change was the construction of the second Kansas City Board of Trade Building beginning in 1886. Other commercial buildings soon followed, including the Swofford Brothers Dry Goods Company building, which was erected in 1898.This building drew other wholesalers to the area. As a result, the wholesale district was born and continued to grow. Wholesalers in the district manufactured or distributed various products, including clothing, dry goods, furniture, hats, and home furnishings. They shipped these products on the railroads connecting Kansas City to the rest of the country. After World War I, the garment industry grew rapidly in Kansas City, soon representing the second-largest industry in the city. The transition from bars and brothels to garment factories included this building, and the district's industries were so successful that New York City was the only city that led Kansas City in total production.<h3>James Fitzpatrick Saloon Building and The Majestic</h3>James Fitzpatrick opened the saloon in 1911, and the business soon had the patronage and support of influential brothers "Big Jim" and "Boss Tom" Pendergast. The saloon was on the first floor, and a brothel on the second and third floors. Fitzpatrick also lived on the third floor. Prohibition forced the saloon to move to the basement in 1920, where it operated successfully away from the eyes of the law, thanks to Boss Tom's influence over the police department and city officials. This period also saw the introduction of jazz in Kansas City, and the saloon was a venue where jazz musicians, including notables such as Count Basie and Charlie Parker, performed regularly. Barbecue became a staple in the district during this period as well. In 1907, entrepreneur Henry Perry arrived in Kansas City, where he began selling smoked meat sandwiches from a cart. He eventually made his way to this district before establishing a series of restaurants in the historic Black business district from 12th to 18th street, about a mile east of this location. Perry's methods inspired BBQ legends from Arthur Bryant to Gates. The 1920s saw the rise of the garment industry in this area. With the decline of Boss Tom and the rise of that industry, the saloon closed, and the building was converted for garment manufacturing.This historic building fell into disrepair by the 1970s. Recognizing both its historical value and its unique architecture, which includes a two-story projecting bay and stained glass windows above the entrance, it became a property of interest for preservationists. In 1983, two couples bought the building and spent the next two years restoring it. It became home to several restaurants including The Majestic Steakhouse, which opened in 1992 and included a jazz club. The restaurant closed in 2008, but the current restaurant, The Majestic Restaurant, opened in 2009. Thanks to the efforts to preserve the building and continue its tradition as a place for socializing, dining, and entertainment, jazz continues to be performed here.

Now home to the Majestic, the historic James Fitzpatrick Saloon Building was erected in 1911 and was one of many entertainment venues connected to the infamous Pendergast political machine. The structure is a contributing property of the Garment District listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A landmark institution related to the history of Kansas City jazz that hosted musicians such as Count Basie and Charlie Parker, this building has been at the epicenter of the city's growth from the early 1900s, when that was centered on the downtown area to the 21st century which has seen a resurgence and return of businesses and residential spaces in the urban core. From its jazz era origins to the emergence of the garment industry and the resurgence of downtown, this historic building is representative of the overall history of Kansas City.

Built in 1911, the James Fitzpatrick Saloon Building is significant for its association with the emergence of jazz and the garment industry. It is now a restaurant and jazz club called The Majestic Restaurant.

James Fitzpatrick Saloon Building; The Majestic

When completed, the building included space for numerous offices and stores in addition to a seating capacity of 1,600, including 570 on the orchestra floor and the rest in the balcony, gallery, and boxes.

The Gayety Theater operated at this location, the SE Corner of 12th and Wyandotte, from 1909 to 1935. The theater was constructed at the site of meatpacker A.W. Amour's former mansion and showed movies and also hosted musical performances and the occasional burlesque performance. Many of the leading jazz musicians performed here during the 1930s. The College Inn nightclub operated in the budling in the 1940s and the building was demolished around 1950 when the Muehlbach Hotel (now part of the Marriott) expanded.

Gayety Theater (1909-1935)

Downtown

The Pla-Mor was built by Charles A. Smith, an architect known for his work on Kansas City area schools. The facility cost over $500,000 and became the country’s largest indoor entertainment complex upon its completion. On November 24th, 1927 the Ballroom made its debut welcoming 4,000 patrons into its 14,000 square foot dance floor to dance to the Jean Goldkette Orchestra.1 Dancers may have been surprised to find some extra spring in their step as 7,000 springs sat below the dancefloor flexing up to a quarter-inch as they moved across the ballroom dancefloor.4The Kansas City Times review of the Ballroom's opening demonstrates the magnitude of the event within the larger history of the city in the final years of the "Roaring 20s." "For those who went merely to see, there was magnificence for the eye. The entrance was under a brilliant electric sign. Once past the door, wall decorations of freehand painting attracted attention. Rich carpet gave an impression of luxuriousness. Up a flight of steps and down a hall past the women’s cloakroom the eye followed vivid hunting and jungle scenes of the modern motif...The ball room and mezzanine were decorated in a more strictly patterned manner. Here the lighting brilliance demanded the first and lasting attention. Ceiling fixtures of beaded glass chains suspended bowl-shaped, with variable colors glowing through them, vied with tinted lamps casting full and toned colors across the floor from the walls."1The Pla-Mor Ballroom was also the site of an ugly event in Kansas City jazz history. Though the ballroom relied on the entertainment of African American Jazz legends, this club was open to white guests only. Jazz legend Cab Calloway found that he was no exception to this rule. On December 23rd, 1945 Calloway was invited by friend and bandleader Lionel Hampton to watch his set at the Pla-Mor.5 When Calloway attempted to enter the all-white club he was stopped at the door. The situation escalated until a nearby off-duty policeman William Todd assaulted Calloway by beating him in the skull with his pistol.5 Calloway had to be taken to the hospital and received 8 stitches. At the end of the night, he faced three misdemeanor charges while Todd went uncharged.5 Calloway went on to sue the Pla-Mor ballroom for $200,000 but this attempt was unsuccessful.5 When Lionel Hampton learned of the incident, he stopped playing and refused to play at the Pla-Mor Ballroom ever again.5

The Pla-Mor Ballroom was a popular jazz venue and entertainment complex that operated from 1927 to 1951. The legendary Kansas City venue opened on Thanksgiving 1927 to a crowd of 4,000 patrons who came out to dance to the sounds of the Jean Goldkette Orchestra.1 The Pla-Mor was home to more than music, and the complex claimed to be the largest indoor amusement center in the country in the 1920s, offering a bowling alley and billiards room underneath the ballroom and an ice hockey rink next door.4 In 1931 the Pla-Mor complex added the largest swimming pool west of the Mississippi.4 During its heyday the Ballroom welcomed jazz greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Louis Armstrong, and Frank Sinatra. The popularity of the Pla-Mor ballroom declined in the 1940s as suburbanization drew populations out of the city and ballroom entertainment became less attractive. The ballroom permanently closed in 1951 with other attractions at the Pla-Mor complex following soon after. in 1971 the site was demolished and replaced by a car dealership. 4

Pla-Mor Ballroom (1927-1951)

Bettye Wilson Miller was born in Clinton, Missouri, on September 12, 1927, to Bernis and Maude Wilson. She attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, where she received both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Music. Her studies focussed on vocal performance which helped shape her career after two years of working as an elementary school teacher in Philadelphia.  Before her partnership with the jazz bassist, Milt Abel, Bettye was married to her first husband, Joel Miller. Her daughter from this marriage was named Bettyejo, and she would keep her last name from this marriage for her professional career. When she was in Kansas City, she would join the Kansas City scene as both a vocalist and a pianist in the early 1950s. She began with a trio comprised of herself, the bassist Milt Abel, and the drummer Wallace Jones. Milt and Bettye became romantically involved long after their initial acquaintanceship, playing together in both a trio and duo setting prior to their marriage years after their first meeting. They would become legends within the Kansas City jazz scene from the 1950s until the 1970s.  They played usual gigs at many different Kansas City establishments, including The Strawberry Patch, The Plaza III Restaurant, and Putsch’s 210 Restaurant. However, one of their most important venues was The Horseshoe Lounge at 32nd and Troost. This lounge had been the place at which they first met, and thus, served as a foundation for their iconic jazz duo. Unfortunately, all of the venues that Bettye and Milt performed at are no longer in business. While some of them have been replaced by newer businesses, The Horseshoe Lounge has since been completely demolished. Bettye and Milt would not perform only in local venues, however, and would even perform in establishments in New York, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas, among others. Their impact on Kansas City jazz in the mid-20th century was undeniable, contributing to and promoting the reawakening of jazz within the city. This included their development of contemporary swing, which was a part of the modern jazz movement. Their prominence in the music scene in the city, lasting over 20 years, spoke to their success and prowess. Bettye was even known as the high priestess and queen of Kansas City Jazz, which was a title that Mary Lou Williams, another famous jazz musician, had also held at one point. The fact that their usual gigs were filled with dedicated fans and regulars also displays the impact they had within the modern jazz community in Kansas City. Bettye expanded her love of jazz into community foundations, including her contributions to the Charlie Parker Memorial Foundation. Charlie Parker was an influential jazz saxophonist from Kansas City, Kansas, and the memorial foundation in his name provides music education and also works to preserve the memory of Kansas City Jazz. Bettye donated her time and talents to the foundation, thus contributing to music education and the preservation of jazz. In 1975, Bettye was diagnosed with cancer. After fighting her illness for two years, Bettye Miller Abel passed away on February 28, 1977. Hundreds attended her funeral and shared memories of her kind nature and the contributions she made to the Kansas City jazz community, and many more attended the memorial concert held in her honor.

Jazz musicians in Kansas City shaped the genre in the 1920s and 1930s, and area artists like Bettye Wilson Miller contributed to the "modern jazz" movement from the 1950s to the 1970s. Bettye Miller met Milt Abel at the Horseshoe Lounge, which was located at 3243 Troost Avenue, and the pair formed a professional partnership that grew the Kansas City sound. The duo, who would later be married, took the Kansas City music scene by storm. Her vocals and piano skills paired with Milt's bass skills led to sold-out performances throughout Kansas City as well as national performances. Bettye also mentored youth and supported musical education through her support of the Charlie Parker Memorial Foundation until she passed away in 1977 after an extended battle with cancer. The Horseshoe Lounge was demolished in the latter half of the 20th century, but the legacy of her influence continued in the generations of Kansas City musicians that followed.

Bettye Miller (front) and Milt Abel performing, 1950s

Bettye Wilson Miller, The Horseshoe Lounge (Demolished)

Born in Boonville, Missouri, Lee was raised in Kansas City, where she met Frank Duncan at Lincoln High School. On September 17, 1919, Julia (16) and Frank (18) were married. Her husband, a native of Kansas City, was a catcher and manager of the Kansas City Monarchs. Duncan was Jackie Robinson's manager in 1945, Robinson's only year in the Negro Leagues.Lee began her musical career soon after, singing and playing piano in her brother George Lee's band, which featured saxophonist Charlie Parker at times. She first recorded on the Merritt record label in 1927 with Jesse Stone as pianist and arranger and launched a solo career in 1935. She was certainly popular in her career, largely for her "dirty blues" on songs like her mildly suggestive original "Come On Over to My House" with Jay McShann's ‘Kansas City Stompers’, with the more obvious "Don't Come Too Soon," "My Man Stands Out," "All This Beef and Ripe Tomatoes," "King Size Papa," "Snatch and Grab It," and "My Sin.” As these titles suggest, she became best known for her trademark double entendre songs, or, as she once said, "the songs my mother taught me not to sing". The records were credited to 'Julia Lee and Her Boy Friends' and her session musicians included Jay McShann, Vic Dickenson, Benny Carter, Red Norvo, Nappy Lamare, Red Nichols and Jack Marshall.In 1941, Lee was banned from playing at a popular Kansas City club by liquor control agents due to "the type of song she sang and the way she sang it" — but her fans protested and eventually the ban was lifted.Julia Lee’s first big hit, “Snatch and Grab It,” was recorded 75 years ago back in 1947. It was deemed “too risqué” to be played on the radio — but thanks to jukebox play, it sold more than 500,000 copies and was the number one US Billboard R&amp;B hit for 12 weeks.“It’s not what we think of today. Like, leave nothing to the imagination. It was double entendre," says Chuck Haddix, co-author of Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop.Lee was known for her husky, throaty voice and called by the local media the "Princess of the Boogie Woogie." In 1949, at the invitation of President Harry S Truman, the Princess, along with drummer Baby Lovett, played at the White House, where she performed her ironic “King Size Papa.”Although her recorded hits dried up after 1949, she continued as one of the most popular performers in Kansas City until her death in Kansas City, at the age of 56, from a heart attack. Their son, Frank Duncan, Jr., of Detroit, Michigan, was the only survivor.Today she is honored with a 1400 square feet banquet room on the third floor, named in her honor at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown, at 200 West 12th Street.

Milton Morris opened a jazz club at this location in 1934. Blues and Jazz singer Julia Lee was called by the local media the “Princess of the Boogie Woogie” and was known for her husky, throaty voice. She played piano and sang in her brother George E. Lee's Orchestra from 1920 to 1934. Lee was known for her straightforward piano style, and the easy, heartfelt way of singing. In a professional career that spanned four decades, Lee built a national reputation as one of the great female blues singers of all time.

Julia Lee was a regular feature at Milton's

Milton's Bar and Julia Lee

James Columbus “Jay” McShann, also known by the nickname Hootie, was one of the most prominent jazz musicians of the 20th century and he got his start listening to damaged records from his father’s furniture store. When he was school-aged, he longed to play the trumpet, saxophone, or clarinet but his family could not afford any of those instruments so instead, he learned to play the piano in his family’s home. He normally entertained his family with gospel tunes as Jazz music wasn’t allowed in his parent’s home. He performed with local bands in Oklahoma and Kansas before coming to Kansas City, Missouri in 1936. He was just passing through on his way to Omaha to look for a steady gig but was persuaded to stay by fellow musicians after visiting a nightclub in the city. He secured his first gig at the Monroe Inn and one year later, he formed his own sextet and from there, built a band and in 1941 recorded his most popular tune ‘Confessin’ the Blues’ for Decca records.McShann's musical legacy is intricately tied to the work of jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker. According to a 1987 interview, McShann took saxophonist Parker under his wing and they became close friends as Parker developed his signature style while playing in McShann’s band. They collaborated for two of McShann’s hits "Hootie’s Blues" and "Jumpin the Blues". His time with the McShann band also helped Parker boost his career as he made a name for himself in New York City and later toured in Europe before succumbing to pneumonia in 1955.World War II marked the end of the big band including the Jay McShann band. During the draft, a large number of young men left the city which meant fewer young men and women in the dance halls. It was also the end of The Pendergast era which resulted in a slew of area nightclubs closing. McShann was drafted in 1943 and by the time he returned to Kansas City in 1945, his best musicians were gone. He eventually continued touring and added singing to his list of talents as he could no longer afford lead singers to perform the tunes that he created. He continued to hone his skills by taking on small engagements and studying music at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. In the mid-sixties, McShann returned to the road and began touring through the 1990s. He died in Kansas City on December 7, 2006. During the 2014 inaugural American Jazz Walk of Fame induction ceremony, a 30-inch bronze medallion honoring regional jazz legend Jay McShann was dedicated and can be found along 18th Street near 18th and Vine District. The medallion for McShann is included among medallions for honorees Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Mary Lou Williams, Pat Metheny, and Bobby Watson.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, one could regularly listen to future American Jazz Walk of Fame inductee Jay McShann at this location which was home to the Century Room. American Jazz pianist, vocalist, and bandleader James Columbus “Jay” McShann had a music career that spanned over 60 years and is credited with the creation of the distinctive Kansas City jazz sound through swing music and big bands. Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, on January 12, 1916, Jay McShann was passing through Kansas City, Missouri in 1936 when he decided to stay after securing a regular gig at the Monroe Inn on Independence Avenue. During the next three years, he formed a small group, then a big band, which soared to national prominence and bolstered McShann's career along with Charlie "Bird" Parker and vocalist Walter Brown.

An add for the Monroe Inn- the place where McShann landed a regular gig in Kansas City during the 1930s

Century Room and Jay McShann 

Critics have described her as “a jazz singer,” “a blues singer,” “a pop singer” and “a cabaret singer.” Still others have referred to her as “a story teller,” “a professor emeritus of body language,” “a consummate actress” and “the complete entertainer.” A "song stylist" is the title Ida prefers.By the age of five, Ida McBeth knew she wanted to be a singer. Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Ida was provided early exposure to a variety of talented vocalists by her mother. These singers included such greats as Nancy Wilson, Arthur Prysock, Nat King Cole, Bill Withers, Gladys Knight and Sarah Vaughan.As a child, Ida took an active part in the music program of her church along with school choirs and dance bands. Her professional singing career began at the age of 16. After graduating from high school, however, Ida was undecided about a career in music, so she enrolled at Kansas University to study for her nursing credentials.In 1972, Ida’s desire to be a singer outweighed any previous doubts about a career as a musician. She followed her aspirations and left college to join Dick Halligan (“Blood, Sweat &amp; Tears”) and soon recorded her first album in Los Angeles.Over the years, Ida McBeth has received many honors and awards. In 1984, she was named by the Kansas City-based International Jazz Hall of Fame as both “Best Female Jazz Vocalist” and “Entertainer of the Year.” In 1990 Kansas City Mayor Richard Berkley awarded her a special proclamation designating April 27, 1990, as “Ida McBeth’s 20th Anniversary Day.” And in 1990, Ida was named as one of Kansas City’s “People of the Year” by Ingram’s Magazine. Most recently, Ida's outstanding achievements have included performing the national anthem for the presidential nomination of Al Gore at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, Kansas City's birthday bash at Arrowhead Stadium with Kenny Rodgers and Walter Cronkite, as well as performing at the Smithsonian Institute in 2001. Ida was crowned Queen of the Kansas City, Kansas Blues Street Festival for 2005 and given the key to the city. And she was voted “Best of R&amp;B / Soul” in the Pitch Readers Poll for both 2004 and 2005.Today, some 30 years and five albums later, the critics still laud the talents of Ida McBeth. The New York Times applauded her “technique, taste and sass . . . her precise intuition, guts and raw confidence.” And Ida’s lithesome vocals continue to embrace the subtleties of jazz, pop, blues and soul, both in her home base of Kansas City and on the road.Ida’s dynamic and magical style is like a light that shines brightly in the world of music, a light that grows constantly brighter with the passage of time. Ida McBeth: song stylist extraordinaire. In June of 2017, Lady McBeth was honored by the American Jazz Museum with a bronze medallion on its' Walk of Fame.Ms. McBeth passed away, in Kansas City, MO, on the morning of 1 March 2023 after an extended illness.

Demonstrating the continuity between the jazz that made Kansas City famous in the 1930s and the performers of the latter half of the century, Ida Mae McBeth was a vocalist who was inducted into the American Jazz Walk of Fame in 2017. For nearly 20 years, she McBeth regularly played here at Jardines, a club that opened in the 1990s and operated until 2011. McBeth was known for her captivating, elegant, mystifying and delightful music. Ida’s musical style is so unique that it is hard to classify. Over the years, her repertoire has included pop-style ballads, jazz and blues, show tunes, funk, R&amp;B, gospel and well-known standards.

Kansas City Jazz Heritage Trail

Clair Martin’s Plaza Tavern (1932-1946)

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources