Tommy Johnson '09 helps keep jazz alive in his hometown

Don't call it old-fashioned — these twentysomething players are thoroughly modern — but there's a sense of history in all jazz music, evoking memories of musicians with names like Dizzy, Bird and Count. Catch Tommy Johnson Jr. gracefully bringing his beloved trumpet into the fray on one of those nights, and there's just that bit extra. On top of the stories about jazz legends, Johnson's playing can tell you stories about the lesser-known local heroes, of the Gaslight Gang and of an era when jazz flowed up and down Massachusetts Street just as often and as beautifully as it did at 18th and Vine in Kansas City.