This book deals with the origins, history and development of jazz in Kansas City from the early years of this century to the end of World War II. While the rest of America suffered during the Depression, Kansas City prospered under the corrupt but economically stimulating administration of 'Boss' Tom Prendergast. Musicians flocked to the city and a combination of influences, from Texas and Oklahoma, New Orleans, Missouri and the northern states, produced a distinctive style to be heard in the music of Count Basie, Bennie Moten and Andy Kirk among others. The author has interviewed many of the musicians who have played in Kansas at various times and presents excerpts from these oral histories, linked by an analytical narrative.