Art by Tom: Kansas City Blues & Jazz Festival Posters

The Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival Posters

Till the mid nineties, I had done several posters for the Kansas City Spirit Festival. When my friend, Greg Patterson, left Spirit to head the Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival, we came up with an idea to do a series of posters in honor of the "Living Legends of Kansas City Blues and Jazz". Each year, we picked someone, whose lifelong efforts reflected that. The proceeds from the sales of the posters went to local charities that fostered musical education in the city and surrounding area.

The most fun I had was listening to the stories of these remarkable people, while I sketched and photographed them for the posters.

Sadly, the festival closed, due to lack of financial support. There are a host of other such people in K.C. that I would have also loved to have had the opportunity to listen to their stories.