Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop--A History (Hardcover)

by Frank Driggs (Author), Chuck Haddix (Author)
Key Phrases: dance gossip, two old maids, spook breakfasts, Kansas City, New York, Blue Devils (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Driggs/Haddix's successful condensation of a huge volume of material into a readable narrative is a mirror image of Daniels's efforts to stretch limited amounts of information to book length. Kansas City Jazz is the publication we have been waiting for from Driggs, and Haddix's contribution has make it even more valuable than might have been expected."--Brian Priestly, Jazz Perspectives
"[A] successful condensation of a huge volume of material into a readable narrativeKansas City Jazz is the publication we have been waiting for from Driggs, and Haddix's contribution has made it even more valuable than might have been expected."--Jazz Perspectives


Product Description
There were but four major galaxies in the early jazz universe, and three of them--New Orleans, Chicago, and New York--have been well documented in print. But there has never been a serious history of the fourth, Kansas City, until now. In this colorful history, Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix range from ragtime to bebop and from Bennie Moten to Charlie Parker to capture the golden age of Kansas City jazz. Readers will find a colorful portrait of old Kaycee itself, back then a neon riot of bars, gambling dens and taxi dance halls, all ruled over by Boss Tom Pendergast, who had transformed a dusty cowtown into the Paris of the Plains. We see how this wide-open, gin-soaked town gave birth to a music that was more basic and more viscerally exciting than other styles of jazz, its singers belting out a rough-and-tumble urban style of blues, its piano players pounding out a style later known as "boogie-woogie." We visit the great landmarks, like the Reno Club, the "Biggest Little Club in the World," where Lester Young and Count Basie made jazz history, and Charlie Parker began his musical education in the alley out back. And of course the authors illuminate the lives of the great musicians who made Kansas City swing, with colorful profiles of jazz figures such as Mary Lou Williams, Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Rushing, and Andy Kirk and his "Clouds of Joy." Here is the definitive account of the raw, hard-driving style that put Kansas City on the musical map. It is a must read for everyone who loves jazz or American music history.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; illustrated edition edition (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195047672
• ISBN-13: 978-0195047677
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #959,338 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting ballyhoo in Kansas City, July 26, 2005

By	Vix - See all my reviews

With vivid descriptions of the "wide-open" town of Jazz era Kansas City and its dramatic denizens, you can envision the scenes of Basie's coming of age, Charlie Parker's KC childhood and musical evolution, big bands dueling each other, glamorous theaters and giant dance halls, bars open 24 hours, remarkable women, "sporting men," police looking the other way, and so much more. The extensive research really pays off with quotations from reviews and ads from "back in the day," interviews with legends, a generous array of photographs, and a cohesive and accessible presentation of information from many sources. The sights, sounds, scents, and sentiments conveyed by Chuck Haddix and Frank Driggs in Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop are the next best thing to a time-machine. Next, Oxford needs to put out a companion CD (or DVD with photos and copies of the original media) with the recordings of the music and performers to help us fully appreciate the musical innovations from the Paris of the Plains.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Semi-Forgotten Treasure, November 5, 2006

By	W. Bradley (Louisville, KY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Any serious student of Jazz needs to know about the Kansas City sound. The book reiterated what I already knew which is that KC was a major contribitor to bebop and to r&b due to the styles that came togteher from that part of the country. Generations of musicians were influenced by the Basie Band and Charlie Parker. You will also get an education of what life was like in the black community of a midwestern city. Kansas City, which happens to be one of my favorites among cities, had a parallel identity with the world of Negro Leagues baseball and both jazz and baseball are remembered through a museum which I plan to visit soon. I recommend the book to anyone unfamiliar with the subject and interested in jazz.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very much enjoyed, October 31, 2005

By	C. Hill (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Great book, both of the other reviews so far are quite good. It's good to see a city with such a great history finally getting a thorough treatment.

As a Kansas City native, I would like to point out that co-author Chuck Haddix is quite possibly the best DJ in town, as well as a fine author. His Friday and Saturday night show The Fish Fry plays some of the best jazz and blues anywhere. You can learn more as well as listen to past shows at http://www.kcur.org/fishfry.html, there's a link to the archives on the righthand side.