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AN EXTRAORDINARY collection of photographs of Kansas City jazz musicians celebrates the music they brought to life in Harry Truman's political birthplace.
The portraits are by KC-based Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Dan White.
“I began photographing jazz musicians in 1987, hoping to create a visual record of these talented artists and to help preserve Kansas City’s tradition as the birthplace of jazz,” said White.
The exhibit features 50 black-and-white portraits that White took over a 19-year period, from 1987 to 2006. Also included are recent color portraits of a new generation of KC jazz musicians.
The exhibit features local legends with national reputations—musicians like Jay McShann and Claude “Fiddler” Williams. It also includes lesser-known musicians who, with the legends, helped Kansas City earn its distinction as a UNESCO City of Music.
The inspiration for the portraits was born in Kansas City jazz clubs like The Phoenix—intimate venues that left White thinking, "This is what it must have been like in the 1930s!"
"I would meet some of these old cats who had been playing a long time. And I just thought somebody needs to capture them for posterity," White said.
About three-fourths of the musicians featured in the black-and-white collection have passed. Many were members of the Musicians Protective Union Local 627, located in Kansas City's historic 18th and Vine jazz district.
"It has been an extraordinary experience to meet, listen to and photograph these amazing musicians," White said. "I only wish I had started sooner."
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