American Jazz Museum

Count Basie, Andy Kirk, Joe Turner, Hot Lips Page, Charlie Parker—from the 1920s to the 1940s, Kansas City’s jazz scene was unrivaled in middle America. It’s still unrivaled, a century later. The American Jazz Museum brings the story of this unlikely, bold, revolutionary genre to life. Artifacts—like Benny Goodman’s shoes—100-plus jazz recordings, vintage instruments, stage costumes, and interactive displays and exhibits all paint a picture of Kansas City jazz as complicated and spine-tingling as the music itself. If you have time, see a performance at the Blue Room, a jazz club, or the Gem Theater, a modern 500-seat music venue.

The museum offers regular Friday and Saturday night jazz performances at the Blue Room. Check the museum website for info on free Blue Room shows on Mondays, some Thursdays, and early on Fridays. The museum is wheelchair-accessible—one is available at guest services. Snap a photo with the bronze statue of Charlie Parker, which sits at the museum’s back entrance.

To get to the American Jazz Museum, you’ll probably want to drive. Street parking is available, and there is a parking lot behind the museum. Rideshares, like Lyft and Uber, are an option, too. The free KC Streetcar doesn’t go to the 18th and Vine District, but it will drop you off a handful of blocks away.

To turn your museum experience into a music experience, visit the museum around noon on a Thursday, when the onsite Blue Room does a live jazz performance. Otherwise, the museum is open every day of the week but Monday, and crowds tend to be smaller on weekdays and in the mornings.

If you can catch a show at the museum’s Blue Room or in the Gem Theater, fantastic—if you can’t, know that the city is rife with jazz opportunities at nearly every turn. Make a stop at the Kansas City Juke House and Green Lady Lounge for ultra late-night impromptu jazz from some of the city’s best modern-day musicians.