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Article: Roots of jazz in Cowtown: museum hearkens back to era of boisterous, all-night jams that put Kansas City's mark on an American art form.(Destinations)(American Jazz Museum )
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- April 16, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Past the dated red brick buildings on 18th Street east of downtown Kansas City, Mo., one can feel the faint palpitations of what was once a musical mecca. As you pass Paseo Boulevard, you find yourself at 18th and Vine, the epicenter of what was once the jazz hotbed of the Midwest and arguably the nation. In this neighborhood, Bennie Moten, Count Basie, Jay McShann, Lester Young and Charlie "Yardbird" Parker honed their craft and became artisans of America's classical music--jazz.
City boss Tom Pendergast made sure that Kansas City remained "wide open" through Prohibition and the Great Depression. This meant that liquor flowed around the clock and the dancehalls ...