The Mutual Musicians Foundation (MMF) Building is one of the landmarks of the Kansas City Jazz Age. The building was the home of the all black musicians union Local 627 of the American Federation of Musicians. Formed in 1917, this union, and this building where they met, socialized, and jammed, produced some of the most influential musicians of the 1930s and 1940s. Bennie Moten, Count Basie, Mary Lou Williams, Walter Page, and even Charlie Parker were members of the Union, housed in this building since 1929.
The Mutual Musicians Building was more than a meeting hall. When musicians gathered here, they experimented, jammed, and created a distinctive stomp-jazz sound that defined Kansas City music as something different from Chicago and New York. The Union drew in musicians from as far west as Californian, as far south as Texas, and from New York, Chicago, and St. Louis, among many other places. As an organization built by and for black musicians in the Jim Crow era, the Union was a powerful force that protected its members from the worst exploitations of the music industry.
Now, with funding from the Mellon Foundation, the Mutual Musicians Foundation is completing a series of projects that will relaunch the building as a historical site and one of the centers of the still vibrant Kansas City Jazz scene. Their projects are aimed at extending MMF’s reach and its accessibility in multiple ways.
The largest component of their Mellon-funded project will go towards new audio and video equipment for the foundation. This will serve two purposes. Initially, the audio equipment will improve MMF’s radio station, allowing them to broadcast their late-night weekend jam sessions as well as additional content during the day. This will extend MMF’s tradition reach into the community, finding new audience members. Secondarily, this audio and visual equipment will be utilized to produce a short documentary film for the Union’s 110th anniversary in 2027. MMF also plans to digitize their materials from the 627 Legacy Awards, and annual music award, to aid this project.
Additionally, the building itself will be undergoing extensive renovations with an eye towards ADA accessibility. Most importantly, MMF will add an elevator to their second story, which houses the principal jam space. This will make musical performances more accessible to a wider audience in the community. But, many are not willing to start their weekend evenings at 1 am when the traditional jam sessions kick off. To that end, MMF has partnered with the historians at KCMC to develop tour programming that can be delivered during the day.
Photos provided by Mutual Musicians Foundation