The Blue Room

About The Blue Room

The Blue Room is two things at once: an exhibit inside the American Jazz Museum, and a working jazz club with its own bandstand, bar and regulars. It takes its name from the famous 1930s nightclub in the Street Hotel at 18th and Paseo — a Green Book-listed hotel where Jackie Robinson lived when he was in town — and it was designed in that club's spirit, right down to the neon sign on 18th Street.

By day, the room tells the story of Kansas City jazz, surrounded by displays honoring the musicians who built the sound. By night, it becomes what it commemorates: an intimate club presenting local and national players several nights a week — Monday evenings, Friday happy hour and evening sets, and Saturday night shows, more than twenty performances a month by the museum's count. The Monday night jam session is one of the friendliest in the city, open to players of all ages, and the room's Thursday Jazz at Noon sets are a lunchtime institution in the district.

If a visitor asks where to hear Kansas City jazz first, this is the standard answer — the first stop on the itinerary, in the neighborhood where the music was born.

Standing gigs

Monday Night Jam Session — Mondays, 7–10 p.m.; rotating local host; open to all ages and skill levels.

Jazz at Noon — first and second Thursdays at noon.

Friday happy hour and evening shows, and Saturday night sets, most weeks.

More on the neighborhood: our guide to the 18th & Vine Jazz District.

More Kansas City jazz rooms

Browse the full directory of Kansas City jazz venues, compare the city's clubs in our Kansas City jazz clubs guide, or see who's playing tonight.