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Frieze depicting "The Arts" from the front facade of Municipal Auditorium, downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
Jazz Royalty
Counts and Dukes
After livestock, it was music that put Kansas City on the map. 
During the jazz age, the Coon-Sanders Night Hawks kept radios humming into the wee hours from coast to coast, Bennie Moten's orchestra was a top seller for Victor Records,and Andy Kirk's band headlined the nation's finest ballrooms.
From the Blue Devils to Moten, from the Reno Club to Carnegie Hall, the career of William “Count” Basie parallels the struggles and victories of Kansas City jazz. Possessing topnotch musicians, industry advocates, and an innate sense of swing, his bluesy piano and enterprising leadership helped define an era of American jazz.
Count Basie
William “Count” Basie first came to Kansas City with a touring stage show in the ‘20s and decided to stay, first joining the Blue Devils, then Bennie Moten’s orchestra. Following Moten’s death in 1935, Basie formed the Barons of Swing, and broadcasted from the Reno Club over station W9XBY. Within a year, the group became the Count Basie Orchestra, stepped into the national spotlight, and left Kansas City for greener pastures.
Andy Kirk and Mary Lou Williams
A respected bandleader, Andy Kirk guided one of the most popular orchestras to call Kansas City home. Though Kirk’s band, the Clouds of Joy, only lasted through the ‘40s, it sold millions of records and was a major draw across the country. A big part of this success was composer, arranger, and pianist Mary Lou Williams. Revered for her meticulous craft and modernist touch, Williams was immortalized in the band’s 1936 recording, The Lady Who Swings the Band.
Mary Lou Williams joined Andy Kirk’s band when she was only 19, and served as pianist, composer, and arranger for more than a decade. She also arranged and composed for Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and other top orchestras.
Hootie and the Bird
James Columbus “Jay” McShann was passing through Kansas
City in 1936 on the way to visit an uncle in Omaha when he decided to stay. McShann established himself as one of Kansas City’s leading musicians and bandleaders. In 1938, he hired an eager 18-year-old alto player named Charlie Parker (third from left above). Though young in years, Parker was already a veteran of Kansas City’s jazz scene. With his mother working nights and his home at 1517 Olive just blocks from 12th Street, Parker had abandoned his schooling years earlier for a much different education in the city’s clubs.
Nicknamed Yardbird for his fondness for chicken, Parker became a Kansas City veteran in just a few years, working with Buster Smith, Laurence Keyes, George E. Lee, Tommy Douglas, Harlan Leonard, and McShann, whom he left in 1942. Three years later he led what is considered the first authentic bebop session, recording five tunes for Savoy on November 26, 1945.
Jazz Royalty that played and were influenced by Kansas City
King Joe Oliver
Nat King Cole
Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
The First Lady of Song Ella Fitzgerald
The Prez Lester Young
Lady Day Billie Holiday
Special Thanks to UMKC and the "Paris of the Plains" online exhibition aa part of Kansas City's 150th Anninversary Celebration for contributing to this page.
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