Legendary Kansas City food critic Charles Ferruzza dead at 62

Charles Ferruzza the restaurant critic and radio personality who was a titan of Kansas City food culture, died from complications following a stroke on Tuesday, January 28, 2019. He was 62 years old. Ferruzza was the voice that brought so many deserving restaurants and gifted chefs out of the shadows. He was a student of… Continue reading Legendary Kansas City food critic Charles Ferruzza dead at 62

How America’s modern political parties first took shape in KC

Photo of Harry S. Truman, courtesy Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library

One of the great forgotten changes in American politics over the last hundred years is the transformation of the Democratic party. A century ago, Democrats were the conservative white Southern party, pictured in cartoons as Colonel Sanders-type gentlemen in white suits. African Americans in cities mostly voted Republican at the time. A century ago, Democrats… Continue reading How America’s modern political parties first took shape in KC

The of story of Jay McShann, Charlie Parker and the birth of the KC jazz era

Jay McShann Band, Photos courtesy University of Missouri-Kansas City

Jazz great Charlie “Bird” Parker would have turned one hundred years old this year. Born in Kansas City, Kansas, on August 29, 1920, Parker got his first career boost under the tutelage of another KC jazz great, the late pianist and bandleader Jay McShann. The local jazz scene was vital, with more than fifty clubs,… Continue reading The of story of Jay McShann, Charlie Parker and the birth of the KC jazz era

50 years in the making— Kansas City Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl

It’s an event fifty years in the making: Your Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl for the first time since the Nixon administration. A year after an overtime loss to the Patriots, the high-flying Chiefs carved up the brutish Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship game, for the first time claiming the… Continue reading 50 years in the making— Kansas City Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl