Jazz flourished in Kansas City during the 1920s and 1930s, becoming a key part of a significant happening in American sociopolitical history, as well as an important musical style. The rapidly spreading popularity of jazz in the 1920s led to the rise of the "territory bands," bands located throughout the Midwest and Southwest, which designated a specific city, often a small one, as home base and played dance dates throughout the surrounding territory. Jesse Stone, later the chief producer at Atlantic Records, and Walter Page were among the best known of the territory bandleaders. Other musicians who got their start in the territories included Earl Bostic and Buster Smith.

Kansas City, Missouri, became the most important of the territorial centers with the ascension of the political machine run by Tom Pendergast. Pendergast's high tolerance for corruption led to a wide-open city during the Prohibition...