Learned a lot about the some of the staples in jazz music. Â Loved the exhibits--especially the television section where you can sit and watch old TV clips. Â I called my mom and asked her if she remembered doing the jitterbug! Â Wow, have things changed a lot!
I think the music I enjoyed most is the contemporary music played in the gift shop. Â I also enjoyed seeing the autographed sax donated by Bill Clinton.
Now, I understand the experience is to be interactive but I'm not using public headphones--not one alcohol or Clorox wipe in sight. Â Maybe the ports should remain open since a lot of us carry own headphones anyway.
I love Jazz. Â I will never return to this sorry excuse for a museum.
First off, they try to confiscate your camera. Â Always a bad sign. Â Usually, museums do that to prevent their pathetic collection from seeing the light of day.
Are you ready for the entire list of noteworthy items?
* One plastic Charlie Parker saxophone
* One Louis Armstrong trumpet
* One tin of Louis Armstrong lip salve
* One Ella Fitzgerald dress
* One pair of Ella's eyeglasses
* One suit that either belonged to Duke Ellington or is simply a recreation  (the exhibit doesn't say)
That's it.
It reminds me of the first time I went to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Â That sucked. Â Nobody wants to see records hanging on the wall. Â Show me clothes. Â Show me instruments. Â Show me sheet music they wrote.
This place is a total rip-off. Â And for payback, I've uploaded the pictures I snuck.
If you want to learn about Jazz, buy a CD and read the liner notes. Â Or watch the Ken Burns' series. Â This place is an enormous failure.
This museum was very disappointing, particularly compared to the Negro Leagues Museum next door. Â Where the Negro Leagues Museum had almost too much material, the Jazz Museum had practically none. Â Which is criminal, given Kansas City's amazing jazz history.
The core of the museum consists of a few information-light displays on a handful of extremely famous jazz musicians -- Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, etc. Â There's no new information, and really nothing more than you'd glean from the first paragraph of their Wikipedia entries. Â Each display has headphones attached with which to listen to some of their famous recordings, but the displays tell you very little about what's interesting about each track, what to listen for, etc. Â There are a few other interactive displays that try to show how jazz rhythms work, but they're not very successful. Â I should say that the museum is very fun to look at -- it's an interesting layout, and a lot of work has gone into the interactive elements -- but the effort that went into the UI should have gone into what you actually learn from the museum, which is very little.
I'm not exactly a jazz expert (I took one course in college and watched the Ken Burns documentary) and I could have created a better museum than this. Â I was particularly disappointed that the museum didn't focus on Kansas City itself -- there would be so much to say! Â Gahh.
What a great gem of history in our city! Do you know why KC rivals cities like New Orleans and NYC for love of jazz? If not, check out the American Jazz Museum. Recently had an opportunity to participate in the Take 5 Tour, which is really a fun event. Plus it's free! Make reservations in advance but check it our. Enjoy a tour of the Museum with time afterwards to explore on your own. The exhibits are very interactive with an opportunity to watch old film reels and listen to old tracks. After the tour you are invited to enjoy whatever is being featured in the Blue Room (poetry or live music). The museum itself is not that big but what's really cool about it is the variety of hands-on programs  and educational opportunities it provides gear towards small children to elderly.
Review Source:What a pleasant museum! Â And you actually get two in one - with the Jazz and the Negro Leagues sharing the building.
Lots of natural light, a great big lobby that would be perfect for a party.
We caught the "Ella Fitzgerald" exhibit in the Changing Gallery and enjoyed
it very much - some great video clips of the beloved First Lady of Song.
And she's in the permanent display, too.
Cute jazz club.
The gift shop needs better merchandise - they spotlight Ella but they
didn't have even one of her recordings.
Huh?
dumb.
But go spend an afternoon enjoying the place.
The price is right....
it's FREE.
I love music and I appreciate jazz. I can't say I'm a jazz aficionado; and that's why I enjoyed this museum. I really got to learn the history, especially the history rooted at 18th & Vine. And really the best part is the chance to indulge in a ton of music available at the listening stations. If I could only give one piece of feedback: a good portion of the listening stations weren't working and if they were working, the headphones had only one ear working. Make sure those stations are working and you get better headphones, so we can truly appreciate these incredible works. Note: It's neat to have both this and the Negro League Baseball Museum under roof. But we warned, if you want to really soak in both museums and give them the time they deserve, you may want to set aside more than one day here. Sensory overload, but in the best of ways!
Review Source:Perfect pairing - baseball and Jazz all in one spot, two of my favorites. Â I wish I had had more time before the Cubs game to listen to all the jazz they have available. Â Got a CD in the gift shop.
Hope the Cubs play the Royals again soon so I will have another reason to return. Â I will come a day earlier that time.
Place is super cute and useful. You learn A LOT about jazz that you never even thought you wanted to know. It's hand's on too. You can play a bass, set up your own composition on a keyboard, or even sing with Ella. I just didn't like the random camera flashes going off all around me when the lady at the desk made me check my camera. Also, the admissions ticket counter had a problem with the credit card machine. So best advice, buy your $5 ticket in advance or bring cash.
Review Source:This is a really interesting complex - includes the American Jazz Museum, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, a small rotating exhibit, and the Blue Room, a jazz club that still hold shows. Â There is a little room front and center that shows a pretty interesting film about the 18th and Vine neighborhood in the early 20th century, and the effects of jazz and baseball on it.
The Jazz Museum portion of the complex is fairly small but packs a lot of information into it. Â The first section details the life and musical stylings of several important jazz musicians, along with numerous music clips to listen to. Â A second section allows you to have a little hands-on fun with musical sounds and mixing. Â Finally, there's a room with several TV screens that illustrate the impact of jazz in movies.
My only little problem was that some of the headphones didn't work, though at least one out of the pair at each station seemed to work. Â It was just a little bit of a pain, but not a big deal.
Cool artifacts, especially the old music listening devices. Â Great value, especially if you pay the $10 to get access to both museums!
After a visit to the Blue Room on Friday night, we returned on Sunday afternoon to see the Museum. The Museum and the entire 18th & Vine area were desolate.
With the bright colors and interactive stations, the museum is geared towards educating children about music and jazz. Other displays were focused on classic performers like Ella, Duke, Dizzy, etc. The exhibits fill one gallery so the visit didn't take long.
I'm still not sure what characteristics define Kansas City jazz as opposed to New Orleans jazz, Dixieland jazz, Chicago, etc. The museum should make a greater effort to emphasis that instead of namedropping people who played in KCMO.
Entrance is $8 and there is plenty of free street parking. Directions are easy to because there are plenty of street signs that lead to the 18th & Vine complex. The Jazz Museum shares the same space at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum which has a separate entry fee and we didn't attend.
3 hours on a Sunday afternoon, well worth it!
Not sure how into it kids would be, save for some of the "mixing" hands on exhibits, but we really learned a bunch and enjoyed listening to ALL of the music!
We checked out both the Jazz and the Negro League Baseball Museums and spent a whole 6 hours between the two!
A GREAT small museum!
Their exhibits are gorgeous - and outline a variety of jazz related figures and the historical development of the music. While the main museum exhibits require admission there is a free visitor center display in the lobby, a nice store and the Blue Room lounge to see performances.
The Negro League Baseball Museum is also within the same main building. Go and check out both. There is plenty of street parking and the neighborhood is clean and friendly.
Very modern with interactive exhibits that really let's you explore jazz. Jazz was quite the draw for KC in this century. The area around here used to be hopping, especially in the days of Segregation.
Very colorful exibits. It is not the largest museum, but you have to start somewhere. It's good that they revitalized part of the area. It has gone into a lot of decline.
Affordable? YES! $2 to get in if you buy an $8 ticket to the Negro Baseball Museum.
I went here several years ago, and I remember being severely disappointed. For a museum that boasts being an "American Jazz Museum", this place was way too small, and it seemed like everything was in broad strokes. For an art form with such a complex and interesting history, I felt this was just really weak. It's something I would expect in a country other than the USA, not where the art form actually took shape, and especially not in a city so important to the development of jazz. I don't know if it's because I'm a musician and wanted something more in depth or what.
Another problem was that at least 30%-40% of the display recordings were broken. It gave the place an abandoned, uncared for vibe.
Also, because Kansas City was one of the major centers of jazz, probably only second to New Orleans, and where bebop was basically created, I expect a hell of lot more.
I will have to go back and hopefully the place can redeem itself. I don't think it would be fair to put less than 3 stars though, as I haven't been to any other jazz museums, so I haven't experienced one better. However, if I were to compare it to another music museum, "The Museum of Making Music" in San Diego, that museum blows this one out of the water.
It's disheartening, because it seems like the place has so much potential. But everyone so far has given 5 stars, so they must be doing something right.
I love this museum, mostly because I love jazz and blues music. There is so much to see and respect here, and I doubt that anyone would regret coming. There are so many treasures and keepsakes from great musicians and singers, like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. If you are a fan of the era and genre of music like I am, I know that you will enjoy this museum.
It is not a huge museum, as it is also housed with the Negro Baseball Museum, but it probably takes about 45 minutes to go through the entire exhibit. They have (of course) samples of music playing and recordings you can listen to of great moments in jazz history.
Seeing the trumpet that made someone famous or the dress Ella wore during a performance really brings the music alive and it is definitely a worthwhile experience in Kansas City, especially because we are known for BBQ and Blues. These things go together so perfectly  (which is probably why the museum holds a 'rhythm and ribs' festival every year) and it is great to learn about how the history of this crucial music genre intertwines with Kansas City.
Great Museum, well designed displays. Fun interactive exhibits that help explain jazz. Lots of artifacts, charts, and album covers, they even have Charlie Parker's union contracts.
With a $6 admission, there is no excuse not to go.
No camera's allowed, but if you can get on in, I didn't see any guards.
The Charlie Parker memorial statue out back is cool but strange; what's wrong with the back of his head?
Housed in the same building as the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, this is a fine place to learn about some of the greats in jazz history. You can tour both museums for $8.
It's an interactive museum and it's a great place for kids and adults alike to learn about this great American form of music. Learn how to mix rhythms and sounds, listen to some of the great artists and songs and much more. You can easily spend a couple of hours here and come away with a greater appreciation of jazz music.
I like that KC takes great pride in it's place in the world by providing us with both of these great museums. There is also a jazz club within the museum called the Blue Note, that has shows at night.
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