Kansas City’s successful pitch in attracting six World Cup matches in 2026 includes a boast of “40 jazz clubs throughout the area.” That’s absurd. Not even New York City, the jazz capital of the world, is home to forty jazz clubs.
If “jazz club” is defined as a music-first venue centered on live jazz, Kansas City has four such spaces. Green Lady Lounge offers live jazz nightly. Three additional jazz-oriented venues- the Blue Room, the Mutual Musicians Foundation and Black Dolphin- feature two or more jazz performances weekly.
Live jazz provides ambiance at fine dining establishments including Chaz, Corvino, Eddie V’s and the Majestic. Lonnie’s Reno Club is a supper club established to present the estimable entertainer Lonnie McFadden. Additionally, several concert halls, rock venues and coffee shops occasionally feature jazz.
Sure, there are at least forty places in the area at which jazz is performed at least once yearly. That’s pretty great. But that figure doesn’t magically transform a Christian coffee shop, a punk bar or a city park into a jazz club.
The misinformation isn’t deliberate. The utter indifference to jazz among civic boosters doesn’t allow them to question the validity of a number that hasn't been true in their lifetimes. The area’s power brokers care about jazz only when it might help distinguish Kansas City from Dallas or Denver.