Kansas City Music History - Kansas City Jazz

Kansas City Music History - Kansas City Jazz

Kansas City jazz is a style of jazz that established in Kansas City, Missouri throughout the 1920s and 1930s, which marked the transition from the structured huge band style to the musical improvisation style of Bebop. The hard-swinging, bluesy transition design is bracketed by Count Basie who in 1929 signed with the Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra and Kansas City native Charlie Parker who ushered in the Bebop design in America. Kansas City was known for the arranged musicians of the Local 627 A.F.M., which controlled a number of locations in the city.

 

The first band from Kansas City to obtain a national reputation was the Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra, a white group which broadcast nationally in the 1920s. However, the Kansas City jazz school is identified with the black bands of the 1920s and 1930s, including bands led by Bennie Moten, Andy Kirk, Harlan Leonard, George E. Lee, William "Count" Basie, and Jay McShann.

Kansas City in the 1930s was really much the crossroads of the United States resulting in a mix of cultures. Transcontinental trips at the time whether by plane or train frequently required a stop in the city. Kansas City was a large open town with alcohol laws and hours completely neglected and was called the brand-new Storyville.

Jay McShann told the Associated Press in 2003:

" You 'd hear some cat play, and someone would state 'This feline, he seems like he is from Kansas City.' It was Kansas City Style. They understood it on the East Coast. They understood it on the West Coast. They understood it up North and they understood it down South."

Claude "Fiddler" Williams explained the scene:

Since we 'd be jamming all night, Kansas City was various from all other places. And [, if] you turn up here ... playing the incorrect thing, we 'd align you out.
Clubs were spread throughout city however the most fertile area was the inner city neighborhood of 18th Street and Vine.

Amongst the clubs were the Amos 'n' Andy, Boulevard Lounge, Cherry Blossom, Chesterfield Club, Chocolate Bar, Dante's Inferno, Elk's Rest, Hawaiian Gardens, Hell's Kitchen, the Hi There Hat, the Hey Hay Club, Lone Star, Old Kentucky Bar-B-Que, Paseo Ballroom, Pla-Mor Ballroom, Reno Club, Spinning Wheel, Street's Blue Room, Subway, and Sunsetx.

Design:

Kansas City jazz is differentiated by the following musical elements:

A choice for a 4 feel (walking) over the 2 beat feel discovered in other jazz styles of the time. As a result, Kansas city jazz had a more relaxed, fluid sound than other jazz styles.
Prolonged soloing. Fueled by the non-stop night life under political employer Tom Pendergast, Kansas City jam sessions went on well previous daybreak, fostering a highly competitive environment and a distinct jazz culture in which the objective was to "state something" with one's instrument, instead of just flaunt one's method. It was not uncommon for one "tune" to be carried out for several hours, with the very best artists typically soloing for dozens of choruses at a time.

So-called "head plans". The KC huge bands often played by memory, making up and organizing the music jointly, instead of sight-reading as other big bands of the time did. This additional contributed to the loose, spontaneous Kansas City sound.

A heavy blues influence, with KC songs typically based around a 12-bar blues structure, instead of the 32 bar AABA requirement, although Moten Swing is in this AABA format.
Among the most recognizable attributes of Kansas City jazz is frequent, intricate riffing by the different sections. Riffs were frequently created - or perhaps improvised - collectively, and took lots of forms: a) one section riffing alone, functioning as the main focus of the music; b) one area riffing behind a soloist, adding excitement to the song; or c) two or more areas riffing in counterpoint, developing an interesting hard-swinging noise. The Count Basie signature tunes "One O'Clock Jump" and "Jumpin' at the Woodside", for instance, are simply collections of intricate riffs, remembered in a head arrangement, and punctuated with solos. Glenn Miller's popular swing anthem "In the Mood" closely follows the Kansas City pattern of riffing sections, and is a good example of the Kansas City design after it had been exported to the rest of the world.

Kansas City jazz is a design of jazz that developed in Kansas City, Missouri throughout the 1920s and 1930s, which marked the shift from the structured huge band style to the musical improvisation style of Bebop. The hard-swinging, bluesy transition style is bracketed by Count Basie who in 1929 signed with the Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra and Kansas City native Charlie Parker who ushered in the Bebop design in America. Other cities consist of New Orleans, Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and New York City. Kansas City was known for the organized artists of the Local 627 A.F.M., which managed a number of venues in the city.

Glenn Miller's famous swing anthem "In the Mood" closely follows the Kansas City pattern of riffing areas, and is a good example of the Kansas City style after it had been exported to the rest of the world.