NEW ORLEANS — Kansas City and New Orleans are both known for jazz, but each city has its own sound.
“Jazz in New Orleans is really dance music,” said New Orleans Jazz Museum Director Greg Lambousy. “From second lines to weddings, parties of all sorts.”
Lambousy says jazz has its roots in New Orleans. The greats like Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong exemplify NOLA jazz.
With smaller bands and a larger emphasis on drums, musicians migrated north to cities like Chicago, New York, and Kansas City.
“So Kansas City jazz really, really exudes the success of the new age era of jazz that incorporated swing, a mixture of ragtime and an upbeat tempo just to keep the people going and motivated to be better,” said American Jazz Museum Marketing Director Chiara Cooper.
The American Jazz Museum in Kansas City puts Kansas City artists at center stage.
“Bennie Moten, he was a native Kansas Citian born and bred here in the 1920’s. He wrote Moten swing,” said American Jazz Museum Docent Muriel Boyd. “His band was one of the first large breakout bands here and in that band, and in that band, he hired a young man named William Bill Basie.”
Kansas City’s own Lonnie McFadden described the difference in jazz this way.
“I don’t think it’s any new news that jazz may have been created in New Orleans, but it grew up here in Kansas City,” McFadden said.
Jazz artist Jon Batiste will sing the national anthem at Sunday’s Super Bowl.
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