We traveled to Kansas City today, and the only major event was a short tour of the birthplace of Kansas City jazz. Our guide, Anita Dixon, first took us for a late lunch at The Peachtree Buffet. We arrived at 3:00 and the place was packed. The clientele was 100 per cent black, creating one of those rare moments in my life when I was the minority. It was not uncomfortable at all. The food was classic southern (fried chicken not Tex Mex) and it was all you can eat. After lunch, we drove around the 18th and Vine district. In the 1910s, Kansas City civic leader Tom Pendergast created an area for black people to live. At its peak, there were 60,000 blacks living within the district’s 24 square blocks. Dixon says Pendergast arranged to give this district all the utilities and services a town needed, including schools and a civic council. In this concentrated black community, there were churches, delis and nightclubs on almost every street. And in these nightclubs, black musicians created the Kansas City jazz sound — an upbeat combination of blues and beebop, Dixon says.
This neighbourhood is also home to Gates BBQ, which is one of Bill Clinton’s favourite restaurants. When he was in office, he had Air Force One make an unscheduled stop in Kansas City to get some Gates BBQ. The restaurant made up a tray for him to take on the plane. This “President’s tray” is now on the menu. It costs $80, Dixon says.
By the 1960s, the 24 square blocks had become seedy, and through urban renewal most of it was torn down. The area now has lots of open park space, and some tourist attractions — including the American Jazz Museum. (We didn’t have time to go in.)
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