/and typography/ of 18th and Vine
Ali Fisher
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS /and typography/ of 18th and Vine text and photos/Ali Fisher
Sights and Sounds
/and typography/
of 18th and Vine Organized by street number, the downtown historic jazz district of Kansas City explores a magnitude of history through architecture, music, and typography.
06 FREE JAZZ 1512 1513 1515 1516
The 9th Inning White Star Market Owl BBQ Jazz Apartments
14 BLOWING CHANGES 1601 1601 1615 1616 1616 1616
Big EZ Lincoln Building GEM Theatre The Blue Room Swing Shop Jazz Museum
30 TURNAROUND 1700 1703 1705 1707 1709 1711 1715
The Juke House Tailor Hopkins Cleaners Meets Mortuary Lucille’s Tavern Lucille’s Dinette The Call
Even with only a few buildings, the street block of 1500 & Vine establishes the district with its large ‘18th & Vine’ neon sign. It welcomes you to the district and into history.
KANSAS CITY SHUFFLE /J. RALPH/
It’s a blindfold kick back type of game Called the Kansas City Shuffle Whereas you look left and they fall right Into the Kansas City Shuffle It’s a they-think you-think you don’t know Type of Kansas City hustle Where you take your time Wait your turn And hang them up, and out to dry
Its a shakedown switch arrive in town Type of Kansas City Shuffle Gotta’ make both sides and let it ride On the Kansas City Shuffle Now the tables turned the lessons learned You’ve gotta earn yourself some trouble Revenge like this, never sweet— You’ve got yourself a long ride home
// 02 //
1512 E. 18th street Once the Monarch Baseball Club Office, The 9th Inning Sports Bar & Grill made its home in May 2012. The Monarchs were the 1924 World Champions.
Dating back to the 1920s, Kansas City jazz emerged, and by the ‘30s, it had flourished. Housing legends like Bennie Moten, Big Joe Turner, Count Basie, and Charlie “Bird” Parker, they made their home on 18th and Vine and helped put Kansas City on the map in terms of jazz music. Growing up in Kansas City, I started learning its history early on. I grew up knowing the taste of good barbeque, the importance of weathering the cold to see the Annual Plaza Lighting Ceremony, and the booming sounds of jazz. I was interested in exploring Kansas City’s roots—the sights and sounds that helped it emerge as a thriving city. Starting with the early history and exploring the district’s past, I uncovered the typography of this area that is still paying tribute to the jazz that remains alive today.
// The 9th Inning //
// 10 //
1513 E. 18th street
Echoing with the smooth jazz and sassy blues from its dance halls and nightclubs around the clock, 18th and Vine grabbed segregation by the horns and ran. This being around the same time as the Depression, where other music scenes across the nation folded, Kansas City only attracted more bands and clubs. Most of Kansas City’s success during these hard times were due to Tom Pendergast, a political boss. Pendergast allowed alcohol to ow freely in Kansas City during prohibition. This opened the door to displaced musicians, offering opportunities that most other cities couldn’t provide. It became a thriving commercial, residential, and entertainment district, where residents had to look no further for their day-to-day items than down the street. Its streets were full of spirit, diversity, commerce, culture, and an ample amount of entertainment.
// White Star Market //
Charlie Parker
/Yardbird/Bird/
Kansas City Jazz Musician An American jazz saxophonist and composer, Charlie Parker played a leading role in the development of bebop, a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuoso technique, and improvisation based on harmonic structure. Parker’s innovative approaches to melody, rhythm, and harmony. exercised enormous inuence on his contemporaries.
// 12 //
1516 E. 18th street
The 1500 strip used to house companies such as: Hotel Street Site, Jones Recreation Parlor, Subway Club, and Fox’s Tavern Site. Now, the type found on the 1500 strip mirrors its history. Where The 9th Inning is bold with its neon lights and sports-like atmosphere, The White Star Market and Paseo Bootery Shoes counters it with their hand-painted lettering. Although these stores closed down long ago, their presence is still made known by the chipped, peeling paint and faded letters. Finally, a revamped aparment complex brings us back to present day.
// Jazz Apartments //
On the next block, 16th & Vine, comes major historical markers that have come to define the district of 18th and Vine. This includes The Blue Room, GEM Theatre, and now, the Jazz Museum.
// 16 //
1601 E. 18th street
The Lincoln once stretched entire span of 1601, but since it was remodeled in 1981, has been divided into the Danny’s Big EZ and the Lincoln Building. What used to be an important and recognizable landmark that housed the Lincoln Furniture Company and accomadated doctors, dentists, and lawyers, now lets a neon sign speak for the building and Danny’s Big EZ.
// Danny’s Big EZ //
KANSAS CITY SHUFFLE /JERRY LEIBER/ I’m goin’ to Kansas City, Kansas City, here I come I’m goin’ to Kansas City, Kansas City, here I come They got a crazy way a-lovin’ there And I’m gonna get me some
I’m gonna be standing on the corner 12th Street and Vine I’m gonna bestanding on the corner, 12th Street and Vine With my Kansas City woman And a bottle of Kansas City wine
Well I might take a plane, I might take a train But if I have to walk I’m going just the same I’m going to Kansas City, Kansas City, here I come They got crazy little women there And I’m gonna get me one
// 02 //
1601 E. 18th street
The jazz offered in Kansas City was unlike what New Orleans and Chicago had to offer. It featured a two-four beat, tended to use more saxophones, and always had background riffs. The music continued to grow as the city within a city did, specifically with the development of jam sessions. After performances, musicians would meet up afterwards and stay up all night, collaborating and feeding off of each other’s different styles. Many lasted all night into the next day. This distinct sound, collaboration and community that Kansas City built made it King of the Midwest. Albert Murray once described this collaboration and competitions among the
“incidental to the challenge of the music itself as the competition among cowboys for rodeo prizes was to the elemental contest between man and the wild animal.”
participants as
// Lincoln Building //
// 20 //
1615 E. 18th street
Built in 1912 and originally named ‘Star Theater,’ the GEM Theater featured second-run westerns and action adventures rather than its surrounding live jazz music. In 1923, it grew to two stories and was dubbed the “work of art and triumph of engineering” by the Kansas City Call on January 11, 1924. It also developed a “V” type margquee, a new ticket booth, and an enlargement of the balcony, all within five years. It eventually grew to feature not only films, but live theater productions and jazz performances. It still stands now, hosting the American Jazz Museum’s annual national jazz concert series “Jammin’ at the GEM,” community events, and private shows.
// GEM Theater //
// 22 //
1616 E. 18th street
The street really comes alive at the 1600 mark with neon lights bouncing back and forth between The Blue Room, Swing Shop, The Museums at 18th and Vine, and the GEM Theater. The center of the street lights up the whole district. Especially with The Blue Room and GEM Theater’s history and emulating old type, jazz is brought to life reliving its glory days every day of the week.
// American Jazz Museum //
// 24 //
1616 E. 18th street
At its height, 12th Street homed more than 50 jazz clubs, overflowing into 18th, making it the epicenter of the city’s African-American community, until the 1940s when it began its decline. After Tom Pendergast was indicted on tax evasion, the Pendergast political machine collapsed, taking the nightclubs, cabarets, jobs, and musicians with it. By 1942, most musicians were drafted to World War II, and by 1944 the jazz era came to a slow roll. Musicians that weren’t drafted moved, and the district was used less and less. Segregation, which once brought the community together, weakened and businesses took elsewhere and the area began to deteriorate.
“A place to meet, to see, and to be seen” was how The Blue Room was typically described. It was the place to go for fine professional jazz entertainment.
// The Blue Room //
// 26 //
1616 E. 18th street
“Everything was wide open. The sky was the limit, anything you were big enough to do and could afford, you did it. You could do it in Kansas City. Wide open!” Buck O’Neil
// The Swing Shop //
William Basie
/Count Basie/
Kansas City Jazz Musician An American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer, William Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years. Many notable musicians came to prominence under his direction. Basie’s theme songs were ‘One O’Clock Jump’ and ‘April In Paris’.
// 28 //
1616 E. 18th street
Founded in 1990, The jazz museum has recently become a staple of the historic district, offering exhibits on local jazz artists like Charlie Parker and also regional ones Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is another aspect of the exhibit that chronically charts the success of Negro leagues. The blown up people on the top of the building emulates the history, and museum. The type is simple and small enough that at night the focus is directed directly on the neon jazz folks.
// American Jazz Museum //
The last block of the historical district dies down; with buildings torn down and painted over, 17th & Vine dries out.
// 32 //
1700 E. 18th street
Today it pays homage to its past with the restored GEM Theater and museums. Redevelopment began in the 1990s with the “The Clever Plan,� a tax revenue package that included funds for the renovation of the 18th & Vine District. The American Jazz Museum, Nego Leagues Baseball Museum, the Horace M. Peterson Visitors Center, and the Blue Room benefited from these funds.
// The Juke House //
1709
1711
// 34 //
1707
1700 E. 18th street
1705
1703
In 1939, jazz festivals tended to line the streets of 18th and Vine, with bands like Black Elks Band sounding music through the district and bringing the community together. Here, Street’s Hotel, then the city’s best hotel for blacks, and home of Blue Room, a popular nightclub.
// 1703-1711 E. 18th St. //
KANSAS CITY BLUES /JIM JOHNSON/ I woke up this morning, feeling bad Thought about the good times I once have had I’m gonna move to Kansas City, baby, where they don’t like you
My mother told me, daddy told me too If by the cramps in your feet son, ain’t no friend to you You oughta move to Kansas City, baby, Honey where they don’t like you
I got me a bulldog, two shepherds and two greyhounds Two high yellows, three blacks and one brown We gonna move to Kansas City, baby, Honey where they don’t like you
1703 E. 18th street
The redevelopment picked up its stop and start progress in 1997 when Mayor Cleaver announced the formation of a new group, The Jazz Distric Redevelopment Corporation, which was placed in charge of all development. The group has since developed the jazz District Aparents, where it is at 100% occupancy and newly developed buildings. 18th and Vine now focuses its energy on its rich history and brings the liveliness of its past back to life.
// Tailor //
// 38 //
1705 E. 18th street
The painted ‘Dinette’ and ‘Tavern’ were modeled after Lucille’s Paradise Band Box that was west of The Kansas City Call building at 1713 E. 18th Street. At one time Charles “Crook” Goodwin led a band which did radio broadcasts from this club. Charlie “Bird” Parker also played for a short time here before moving on to Chicago.
// Hopkins Cleaners //
Lester Young
/Prez/
Kansas City Jazz Musician An American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist, he also played trumpet, violin, and drums. A member of Count Basie’s orchestra, Young played with a cool tone and popularized much of the hipster ethos which came to be associated with the music.
// 40 //
1707 E. 18th street
The type found that continues down 17th peels off the building and on some, has completely worn down. Each has its own outline and with its own color scheme, and in some ways feels slightly cohesive. But where that breaks is the variety of buildings that it represents and the amount of typography behind each. Although they all connect through one building, they differentiate themself by how bold their font choice is or how distinct their colors stand out.
// Meek Mortuary //
// 42 //
1709 E. 18th street
“You see, what happened in Kansas City was that [New Yorker] John Hammond came to town...He took all the good musicians out, and it hasn’t been good since. It was very beneficial what he did, but it left no one out there that anybody could copy or to continue what was.” Mary Lou Williams
// Lucille’s Tavern //
// 44 //
1711 E. 18th street
The painted ‘Dinette’ and ‘Tavern’ were modeled after Lucille’s Paradise Band Box that was west of The Kansas City Call building at 1713 E. 18th Street. At one time Charles “Crook” Goodwin led a band which did radio broadcasts from this club. Charlie “Bird” Parker also played for a short time here before moving on to Chicago.
// Lucille’s Dinette //
1715 E. 18th street
Standing at the three stories, the weekly newspaper has served the black community since its founding in 1919 by Chester Arthur Franklin. The paper’s first responsibility has been and remains a voice of advocating social justice.
// 46 //
// The Call //
PINEY BROWN BLUES /JOE TURNER/ Well I’ve been to Kansas City Girls and everything is really alright Yeah the boys jump and swing And to the broad daylight
Yes I dreamed last night I was standin’ on 18th and Vine I shook hands with Piney Brown An’ I could hardly keep from cryin’
Now come to me baby I want to tell why I’m in love with you Please come to me baby I want to tell you why I’m in love with you Because you understan’ Everything I do
I want to watch you baby When the tears roll down your cheeks Yes, I want to watch you baby When the tears roll down your cheeks I wanna hold your hand Tell you that your kind can’t be beat
// 02 //
END
In 1939, jazz festivals tended to line the streets of 18th and Vine, with bands like Black Elks Band sounding music through the district and bringing the community together. Here, Street’s Hotel, then the city’s best hotel for blacks, and home of Blue Room, a popular nightclub.
In the end, the typography of the historic district of 18th and Vine emulates everything it once was and is. The neon lights contrasts the paint peeling off and gives the block a feeling of comfort and easiness of the past.
// credits //
CREDITS Designer as Author
The University of Kansas/Fall 2012 Patrick Dooley /Camera/
Konica Minolta
/Typefaces/
Gotham Condensed Gotham Book Gotham ThinItalic Cochin Regular Cochin Italic
/Sources/
Flynn 18th and Vine: A Walking Tour Smith The Road Leads to Kansas City visitkc.com kcjazzdistrict.org pbs.org
// 52 //