By Sylvia Maria Gross
Kansas City, MO – Bandleader Jay McShann, who a week ago today, was one of the last of a generation of musicians from that golden age of Kansas City Jazz. In the 1920s and 30s, the United States was under prohibition, but Kansas City was considered a wide open town -- wide open for gangsters, liquor and gambling, but also great blues, ragtime and swing. The distinctive Kansas City jazz sound developed at all-night jam sessions around town, and particularly at the black union hall now known as the Mutual Musicians Foundation. But a recent crackdown by Kansas City liquor authorities may signal the end of an era for the Foundation. KCUR's Sylvia Maria Gross stopped by late on a recent Saturday night for jazz . . . and pop.
Mutual Musicians Foundation Photo Essay by Sara Zuniga
Following a memorial at the Gem Theater, the Foundation hosts a jam session in honor of Jay McShann tonight (December 14, 2006) at 9:30pm. Listen also to memories of KC jazz legend Jay McShann, a recent interview with singer Myra Taylor and Taylor's Storycorps interview.