The Atlantic Cities: The [KC] Jazz District Authenticity Problem -
Very interesting look at the modern state of the historic 18th & Vine Jazz District in Kansas City, Missouri, the launching place for such jazz greats as Bennie Moten, Count Basie, Andy Kirk, Joe Turner, and my personal favorite swinging jazz sound.
Take a walk in the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District in Kansas City, Missouri, and you’ll see some of the storefronts of that bygone time. Shops, cafes, clubs, all evoking those days of prosperity and depravity that contributed to one of America’s great renaissances.
Now look not even that closely and you’ll see that many of those storefronts are flat: they’re paintings, imaginary doors and awnings and windows. Behind them, boards prop up walls in weedy lots. These aren’t storefronts at all: they’re the backdrops for the 1996 Robert Altman film, Kansas City.
Read the entire piece and see photos at The Atlantic Cities blog!
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Retronaut: Jazz in Times Square, July 1947 -
I’ve seen some of these floating around in the past, but a couple of these shots by William Gottlieb featured by How to be a Retronaut from the Library of Congress collection were new to me this time.
Check out the Art Hodes River Boat Jazz Band (Kaiser Marshall, Art Hodes, Sandy Williams, Cecil (Xavier) Scott, and Henry (Clay) Goodwin) as they swing Times Square in a horse-drawn carriage promoting their gig uptown at Columbus Circle (where Jazz @ Lincoln Center would lay down roots 60+ years later).
Click on over and see the full set at How to be a Retronaut.
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