Read about our visit to Kansas City’s American Jazz Museum
Kansas City Missouri 27 September 2018 TriFest Music Tour
Images – Jim Jacob
Words – Rob Dickens
Located in the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District in Kansas City Missouri, the American Jazz Museum showcases the sights and sounds of jazz and celebrates an enduring legacy of this great American music invention.
The Museum contains interactive exhibits and films, the Changing Gallery exhibit space, Horace M. Peterson III Visitors Centre, the Blue Room live performance space jazz club and the Gem Theatre across the road.
Since its inception in 1997, the Museum hosts thousands of students, scholars, musicians and fans of the arts for over 200 performances, education programs, special exhibitions, community events and more each year, providing an opportunity to learn about the legends, honor their legacy, or simply enjoy the sounds of modern day jazz.
The mission of the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City is to celebrate and exhibit the experience of jazz as an original American art form through performance, exhibition, education and research at one of the country’s jazz crossroads – 18th & Vine.
During the period from 1920 to 1940, 18th & Vine became the centre of jazz music. People could attend performances by jazz greats such as Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Louie Armstrong and others. The heart of the District is about two miles southeast of downtown Kansas City.
As the only museum in the world solely focused on the preservation, exhibition and advancement of jazz music, the American Jazz Museum is dedicated to public service and collaborative efforts to expand the influence, awareness and appreciation of jazz among the widest demographic of people across the Kansas City region, as well as among those based in various locations worldwide.
Since the birth of America’s only indigenous art form and its journey across the globe, certain cities have put distinctive stamps in its sound, history and development. Kansas City is one of the greatest purveyors of jazz – and it continues to offer fertile ground for the music to thrive.
Read about our visit to Kansas City’s American Jazz Museum
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