Goin' to Kansas City

by Nathan W. Pearson Jr.

Kansas City jazz thrived on the anything-goes vibe of a town on the make and the talents of a generation of visionary artists. From titans like Charlie Parker and Count Basie to classic bands like the Blue Devils and the Clouds of Joy, the Paris of the Plains was home to a potent style of jazz music that bridged big bands and bebop in the 1920s and 1930s. Nathan W. Pearson Jr. threads eyewitness stories from musicians of the era into a narrative history of Kansas City's distinct jazz--and the corruption, organized crime, and vice that helped its players pay the bills. Throughout, Pearson reveals how the great bands of the era drew on many styles to create a distinctive music that was among the finest expressions of swing and laid the groundwork for modern jazz. A portrait of a community of artists and a jazz history that's both intimate and expansive,  Goin' to Kansas City  tells the story of how music remade a city into a mecca for performers and fans alike.

Genres: Music, History

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Sam]

Colleagues Pearson and Howard Litwak had the idea of putting together an oral history of a jazz "scene". Spurred by a National Endowment for the Humanities Youthgrant, and narrowing their focus to Kansas City, they spent six months in 1977 conducting interviews. This assimilation of research eventually took the form of a traveling exhibit called Goin' to Kansas City. Opening in the spring of 1980, it was a set of thirty-seven panels including audio and video.

The next logical manifestation was this book. It's a rigorous telling of data - dense with facts, avoiding embellishment. Interviews are directly transcribed, relying heavily on bracketed additions for coherence. Once the flow of Pearson's clinical writing style becomes comfortable though, it gains its own momentum.

Includes three appendices: a chronology, a set of brief biographies, a discography of historical and then-current recordings; a selected bibliography, and an index.

From the Music in American Life series.

[Andrew]

Kansas City jazz was the happy byproduct of epic municipal corruption. In the late 1920s political boss Tom Pendergast achieved a cozy working relationship with local organized crime figures: in exchange for votes and a share of the loot, the authorities allowed illicit booze, gambling, and other vices to flourish. The arrangement proved enduring and Depression-proof; KC's economy boomed throughout the 1930s and supported hundreds of nightclubs. For musicians, this meant work opportunities were plentiful, and the city drew players from throughout the Midwest down to Texas and Oklahoma. (Some were recruited literally off the bandstand, as in a story related here by Jay McShann of his successful raid on Omaha's top combo.)

Pearson's book summarizes research done for a traveling museum exhibit on Kansas City jazz in the 1970s, drawing on extensive interviews with surviving members of the scene. Lots of great stories and photos, good presentation of the social and cultural background.