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The Fine Art of Jazz

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Jazz musicians have a long-standing relationship with Kansas City. Jazz greats Charlie Parker, Pete Johnson, Joe Turner, Jo Jones, Jimmy Rushing, Mary Lou Williams, and Oran Thaddeus “Hot Lips” Page were familiar presences in the Kansas City jazz scene of the 1920s and 1930s. Musicians who came to the city in the 1920s found a booming nightclub scene in a town openly defying Prohibition laws, making these clubs a prosperous environment for musicians on the cutting edge of jazz. The Count Basie Orchestra, for one, had their start in the noisy, boisterous clubs in the famous18th and Vine district.

While the era of Prohibition may be long over, the passion and the thrill of jazz lives on in Kansas City. More than 40 flourishing jazz clubs and over 300 active jazz musicians sing and play the music alive in the area today. Keeping the momentum of the music strong, dozens of jazz–related events take place in the area every day, along with jazz festivals that occur on a yearly basis. It is this mixture of activity, tenacity and nostalgic charm that caught the imagination of photographer Dan White.

Inspired to capture the faces and flavor of living Kansas City jazz, Pulitzer-prize-winning photographer Dan White spent almost two decades photographing renowned Kansas City jazz musicians. The result of his work is The Fine Art of Jazz, a series of 50 black-and-white portraits of Kansas City jazz musicians. The portraits allow the viewer to engage with some of the personalities shaping the national and local jazz scene, including Jay McShann, Orville “Piggie” Minor, Eddie Saunders, Rusty Tucker, and Pearl Thuston. In addition to these stunning images, the exhibition features glimpses into the artists’ personal histories through excerpts of interviews with the musicians.