And Douglas Henry Daniels wrote a good book on Walter Page’s Blue Devils, a band that many of the musicians central to the development of Kansas City jazz passed through. There were other works that laid groundwork: Nathan Pearson and Howard Litwak wrote an oral history on the subject, interviewing many of the musicians involved. Since there have been two good survey books about the subject, Ross Russell’s and a later one by Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix, I had a roadmap to start from. What was the biggest challenge in doing the research and planning your outline? Musicians flocked to Kansas City after Prohibition was passed because the areas where they were working shut down, but the good times continued in Kansas City largely because a corrupt city administration tolerated what other cities prohibited. I became intrigued by the fact that this flowering of an art form had thrived in, and in part because of, an environment that tolerated booze, sex, gambling and other supposed social ills that do-gooders would prefer to banish. What inspired this book how long from concept to publication? Sedalia went through an evolution much like Kansas City: the era that produced their greatest contribution to American music was one marked by saloons and whorehouses, where Joplin and other ragtime players developed a sophisticated musical form from very low-down beginnings. Sedalia, as you may know, is the place where Scott Joplin wrote some of his most famous rags, which was the foundation for jazz. I was raised in Sedalia, Missouri, which is around 80 miles away, so Kansas City was the closest big city when I was growing up, and I have a sister who lives in the Kansas City area. I had various bands in high school and college, and the debate was always do you play the latest pop music, like the Top 40 hits or psychedelic music, or do you play music people actually get up and dance to? My preference was always the latter kind. The first album I bought was by Ray Charles, and the first 45 rpm record I ever bought was “Charlie Brown” by The Coasters, and except for digressions into rock and country, that’s still my favorite genre. I’ve had an interest in African American music from early on. I play a little guitar, not much piano, and harmonica, which I learned when I went to college on the South Side of Chicago. I’m a way-below-average musician, so I greatly admire anyone who has mastered an instrument, especially those who can improvise. What is your connection to music, through your education or hobbies or career etc.? A resounding “recommend.”Ĭhapman is also the author of Rabbit’s Blues: The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges (Oxford University Press, 2019). Chapman’s use of historical photos with descriptive captions, quoted material from a wide array of musicians and insights into individual songs and discographies make this book a must for any historian who, whether specifically curious about the Kansas City legacy or not, has a thirst for the sometimes unflattering and tragic truth behind what made the music sparkle and sing. Such timestamps as traveling medicine shows, the circus phenomenon, and even universal (as well as contemporary) ills like political graft and bribery affected the growth and reach of the music from this region. That these genres begat one another shows they are all related on a musical continuum, all impacted by the attitudes and sensibilities of a post-Civil War society with its racial violence, exclusion and barriers mixed in with the drive, determination and talent of countless remarkable Black musicians and their White colleagues. Densely packed with countless historical details that are delivered with a deft hand, this book sails along smoothly and easily, relating the little-known facts surrounding the genesis of ragtime, the blues, and finally, jazz. A new book on the early 20th-century Kansas City jazz scene by Con Chapman is a treat for anybody interested in music in the Reconstructionist US.
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