 "Photo: Courtesy Labudde Special Collections")
Imagine more than 30 of arguably the greatest jazz musicians of all time coming together on one record with one goal.
That goal is to capture the essence of Kansas City Jazz.
Unbelievably, such a record exists.
Stored away for posterity in the Marr Sound Archives is a record called Kansas City Jazz, a recording of a group of dance compositions played in Kansas City style by the men and women who originated and popularized the style.
It was released in spring 1941.
This album is such a musical phenomenon. It came with a 16-page book with biographies of the artists, a note from Dave Dexter, Jr. and the story of how each song came to be written.
A few of the jazz artists include Count Basie, Mary Lou Williams, "Hot Lips" Page, Booker Collins, Walter Page, Joe Turner and Lester Young. The list goes on.
Twelve songs are featured on the album. Some of the more famous tunes are "Moten's Swing," "Baby Dear," "Twelfth Street Rag" and "The Count."
In an introduction to the record, Dexter quoted Count Basie to relay the raw truth about the album.
"'I don't dig that two-beat jive the New Orleans cats play,' said Basie, 'because my boys and I got to have four heavy beats to a bar and no cheating,'" Dexter recalled.
Dexter went on to say that rhythm is the most important feature of Kansas City jazz.
In closing, he was careful to point out that the making of the record was in no way an attempt to mimic the great original works of the kings of jazz, but rather to keep the tradition alive.
The making of this gem of a record was, in essence, an attempt to keep Kansas City's rich heritage thriving.
To partake in a piece of the city's legacy that is just as filling as its bar-b-que, visit the Marr Sound Archives in the Miller Nichols Library. Or go online to http://library.umkc.edu/marr for more information.
alang@unews.com
