"Everybody will pretty much agree that jazz was born in New Orleans,” said jazz trumpet player and entertainer Lonnie McFadden, “but we must also agree that it grew up here in Kansas City.”
The only U.S. city designated as a UNESCO City of Music, Kansas City, Missouri, has a musical history rooted in the American jazz music scene. In the ‘20s and ‘30s, Kansas City produced a number of bands and musicians whose sounds radically transformed the traditional jazz genre out of New Orleans, from Bennie Moten to Charlie Parker.
“And that was largely because of Tom Pendergast,” McFadden said, referencing the American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925-1939. “This was a wide-open town back then. So, during Prohibition, when everybody else all over the country hid in speakeasies, this town was alive.”
Places like the original Reno Club on the corner of 12th Street and Cherry were hot spots in the 1930s, providing a stage for a new era of jazz and the musicians defining it to take off.
“So many legends used to play at the Reno Club—Lester Young, [Oran] ‘Hot Lips’ Page, Mary Lou Williams,” McFadden said. “And of course, one of the stories people always tell about the history of jazz is when Jo Jones, who was the drummer for Count Basie, gone to Charlie Parker—a young Charlie Parker.
“They were doing a jam session at Reno Club,” he continued, “and Charlie Parker—everybody loved him. All the older musicians loved him, so they let him come and sit in, and when they got tired of him, they’d call it a day. But this particular night, Jo Jones was testing him, and instead of asking Charlie Parker to leave, Jo Jones pulls a cymbal off his drum set and throws it at him. And so, it was time to go!
“That’s an incident that’s talked about in all kinds of movies and TV shows, everything,” McFadden said. “And that was right here in Kansas City.”
The original Reno Club closed its doors 85 years ago, but Missouri-based McFadden makes it his mission to keep its legacy alive. On the weekends, he can be found performing at Lonnie’s Reno Club in the Ambassador Hotel Kansas City, Autograph Collection, just around the corner from where the original Reno Club once stood.
“My dad was a part of it. He was a tap dancer with Count Basie,” McFadden said. “He shared his experience with me, and I’m so enamored and so proud of the heritage. I have a personal connection to it, to these people who made a mark on the world. I’m proud of that, and when I was given the opportunity to be a partner at Lonnie’s Reno Club, that gave me the license to do what I’ve always wanted to do, and that is to spotlight the great musicians that are from Kansas City.”
Here’s more about Kansas City’s history in the American jazz music scene, and five Kansas City jazz clubs that will take groups back in time.
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‘Paris of the Plains’
“I’m sure Lonnie said this already,” said Esther Walker-Young, director of convention services for Visit KC. “But we like to say that jazz was born in New Orleans, and it grew up in Kansas City.
“We have that soul, that spirit, the improv about it, and it basically led to bebop back in the day,” she continued. “The whole idea of improv, just drifting with the music and going with the flow, that’s homegrown Kansas City there.”
Kansas City had all the personality and talent it needed to thrive in America’s early jazz music scene, and when the rest of the country danced for a decade in silence, Kansas City sang louder and louder.
“I like to say a quote I believe a reporter back in the ‘30s had said,” Walker-Young shared. “‘The rest of the world could be dry, but right now, Kansas City is the Paris of the Plains.’…Now, it’s time to experience the new Paris of the Plains.”
Almost a century later, more than 40 area jazz clubs keep Kansas City’s musical traditions alive. Here are five with enough room for groups to move and groove.
Lonnie’s Reno Club
McFadden’s second home inside the 113-room Ambassador Hotel Kansas City, Autograph Collection, Lonnie’s Reno Club is a collaboration between McFadden and Coury Hospitality that transports guests back to the corner of 12th Street and Cherry in the mid-1930s. The space pays homage to the iconic Reno Club, where Count Basie was discovered and “radio broadcast introduced Kansas City jazz to the world,” and gives guests the opportunity to experience an authentic Kansas City jazz club.
Lonnie’s Reno Club can be rented for private events and buyouts for up to 65 guests. Live entertainment, custom cocktail lists, food menus and personalized service are provided.
The Blue Room
After exploring the American Jazz Museum in the historic 18th and Vine District, groups can relax and unwind at The Blue Room, “where jazz vibes.”
According to the American Jazz Museum, the former Street Hotel located at 18th and The Paseo was known in the 1930s as a safe place for African American travelers and even housed baseball legend Jackie Robinson when he was in town. The hotel’s famous nightclub was called “The Blue Room.”
Named after the famous jazz club from decades past, The Blue Room at the American Jazz Museum is both an exhibit and venue that provides an intimate setting for local and national jazz performers and hosts over 20 live shows each month.
The nightclub-style space features warm lighting, a full-service bar and 1,544 square feet of space for up to 150 guests standing or 120 seated. Groups can also access the adjoining Jazz Incubator space, ideal for green rooms or breakouts.
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Nighthawk
Tucked away within the historic building that’s now home to Hotel Kansas City, Nighthawk is a vibrant and lively performance and music venue offering a sophisticated-yet-relaxed setting complete with playful cocktails, light snacks and a red-curtain stage.
Private event packages include reservations of a section of the bar to a full buyout. Nighthawk offers custom cocktails, catering options and live jazz performances.
The Majestic
The bottom floor of The Historic Fitzpatrick Saloon Building started as a cellar when the building was completed in 1911. It was converted into a speakeasy during the Prohibition, with a tunnel underneath Broadway that allowed patrons across the street at the Coates Opera House the opportunity to sip on a drink during intermission.
Over its 100-plus-year history, the space has also been a saloon, gambling den and now, a jazz club and steakhouse, The Majestic, which offers full dinner service, world-class steaks, more than 300 whiskeys and live performances from some of Kansas City’s finest jazz musicians five nights a week in the Jazz Club.
Event spaces at The Majestic include The Pendergast Club, a private cigar club on the third floor with leather couches, exposed brick walls and three gathering areas: the Board Room, for a seated dinner for up to 16; the main bar and lounge area, with space for 35 for a cocktail reception; and the Game Room, with space for up to 28 seated. In its entirety, The Pendergast Club can accommodate up to 60 guests.
The Jazz Club at The Majestic is the site of a Prohibition-era speakeasy lined with portraits of famous local jazz musicians and a bar from the 1860s. The space is available for 65 seated or 85 standing.
The Main Dining Room at The Majestic features a grand bar dating back to 1910, the restored original pressed-tin ceiling and an 18-foot mural of artists and entertainers with ties to Kansas City. The space can seat 75 or host 125 for a cocktail reception.
Voo Lounge
Voo Lounge’s story starts in 1915 with the opening of the Hotel Muehlebach. The jazz club has taken on a few names in its 100-year history—Rendezvous, The Haberdashery—and hosted The Coon Sanders Orchestra in the 1920s, who performed on a nationwide late-night radio broadcast in the basement below the jazz club.
Today, Voo Lounge is part of Kansas City’s largest hotel, Kansas City Marriott Downtown, and is available for private event rentals with a maximum capacity of 110 guests.
