American Jazz Museum

1616 East 18th Street

American Jazz Museum

On September 5, 1997, the American Jazz Museum officially debuted during an event hosted by Billy Dee Williams and highlighting the best of national and regional talent including Dianne Reeves, Al Jarreau, Harry Belafonte, and George Duke as bandleader. Headliners also included Tony Bennett, Claude “Fiddler” Williams, Jay McShann, and Pat Metheny.

The inaugural celebration lasted three days. While the opening gala on Friday night at the Gem Theater was a ticketed event, a large screen was erected on 18th Street where the ceremony was displayed live and for free to the local community. The following days were filled with seminar discussions featuring local talent, thrilling audiences as they were able to engage with local musicians all weekend.

The opening of the American Jazz Museum marked an important moment in a fifty-year conversation about how best to preserve and build on the legacy of the local community. Due to national discriminatory policies and local residential segregation, African Americans in Kansas City built a thriving and dynamic community centered around 18th & Vine. Jazz – particularly the unique Kansas City swing – remains the sound of the community and one of its gifts to the world.

Located in the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District in Kansas City, the American Jazz Museum showcases the sights and sounds of jazz through interactive exhibitions and films, visual arts exhibitions in the Art Gallery and Photography Gallery, the Blue Room Jazz Club, and the Gem Theater performing arts center. Public programming for all ages and youth education enliven the history and music at the center of the American Jazz Museum, entertaining and enriching jazz audiences while nurturing the next generation of jazz musicians.