Artist Statement

I began photographing jazz musicians in 1987, hoping to create a visual record of these talented artists and to help preserve Kansas City’s tradition as one of the great incubators of this unique American art form.

I’d been listening, watching and talking to those in the local jazz scene for several years. They were very open to passing along their knowledge and traditions with anyone who shared their love of this kind of music. I wanted to capture some of that feeling before it slipped away, lost to the ages.

Players like Rusty Tucker, Speedy Huggins, Milt Abel and Pearl Thurston had a certain sound. When they were on, there was nothing like it anywhere. While at an intimate club like The Phoenix, I would think “this is what it must have been like in the 1930s!”

I’d seen a lot of photographs of jazz musicians; mostly shot in the poorly lit clubs where they played, resulting in pictures that were difficult for the viewer and unfair to the musicians. I wanted to document in a different way, bringing some of my own sensibilities while creating a higher quality image with a more stylistic approach. 

Using medium and large format cameras, I lit each shot myself either on location or in a studio setting. I always try to bring something of a personal vision into my portraiture, while at the same time keeping my preconceptions at bay.

Some of the musicians have a quiet way about them; some are more high energy; while others have compelling faces… all worthy of being captured on film and digitally.

I shot more than 50 black and white portraits of these players and singers over a 19-year period (1987-2006). It was a good feeling to have enshrined a part of Kansas City’s history.

When the opportunity became available to share these photographs at the Truman Library and Museum, I thought it only appropriate to add some of the younger players carrying on the Kansas City jazz tradition. Because of the higher quality of today’s digital cameras, I created the new images in color, something not really feasible in the 1980s.

These new photographs - taken in 2025 - come 20 years later, making this a 40-year project.

It has been an extraordinary experience and honor to meet, listen and photograph these amazing musicians.

I only wish I had started sooner.

Dan White - 2025