We Missed All the Fun

Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop- A History is just as much about the story of our town as it is a study of jazz music. Authors Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix take special pleasure in recounting lurid details of our past. Today's strip joints have nothing on Kansas City's sin palaces during the Pendergast era. And the book's passages on the glory days of the Pla-Mor Ballroom, Fairyland Park and the El Torreon are riveting. I would gladly hand over my money if Chuck would offer a guided tour of these sites.