Kansas City native Neil Shapiro is returning next month for a special event. Images from his book “The Jazz Alphabet” will be on display at The Lewis & Shirley White Theatre Galleria at The J.
The exhibit will be up from Sept. 7 to 15. There will be an opening night celebration on Sept. 7, where Shapiro will sign copies of his book and guests can enjoy food, drinks and live music.
The book focuses on different jazz musicians listed from A to Z by the first letter of their last name. All illustrations are done by Shapiro himself. Each page has been framed and will be hung throughout the hall outside The Shirley & Lewis White Theater. The book will also be available to purchase.
Shapiro said that even though he has been to Kansas City many times, he has never been to The J itself and looks forward to coming to the building for the first time.
“For me, this exhibit at the JCC in Overland Park is an incredible combination of my life and career,” Shapiro said. “It's like going back home.”
Shapiro began doing portraits while in graduate school. He was working on a portrait of John Coltrane and lettered “C is for Coltrane,” which gave him the idea to do an entire jazz alphabet with jazz musicians. Most of the portraits had to be referenced from photos because many of the artists are no longer living. Shapiro has been able to give each artist his own spin.
Creating “The Jazz Alphabet” took Shapiro more than 20 years. The writing was a particular struggle for him. Instead of writing technically about the music, he wrote about what he heard while listening to each artist's music and the impressions he had.
Shapiro’s ties to Kansas City go back to his mother, Anne Schirn, who was the secretary for Rabbi Morris Margolies at Congregation Beth Shalom and later the associate editor for The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle.
“We were very plugged into the Jewish community in Kansas City,” Shapiro said. “Both my parents and I went the whole nine yards, getting bar mitzvahed and confirmed.”
Because Kansas City has a strong jazz community, Shapiro said it is a great place for his work to be displayed. Famous jazz musician Charlie Parker, who is the P in the “The Jazz Alphabet,” is originally from Kansas City.
Shapiro is working on a sequel and said some of the portraits from the new book will also be on display at the exhibit. The second book will also include letters that represent instruments, not people. In the second book, Shapiro includes Jewish jazz musician Benny Goodman, who is known as the “King of Swing.”
“Judaism is about humanity,” Shapiro said. “I love portraiture, and I love jazz musicians, and what I'm trying to do in my own improvisational way is to pick their humanity. And that goes right back to my Jewishness.”
The book has a soundtrack that goes along with it, and Shapiro hopes viewers will walk away wanting to listen to each artist’s music.
More information about “The Jazz Alphabet” can be found at jazzalphabet.com. Those interested in registering for the opening night reception can do so at thejkc.org/events/2023/09/07/arts-culture/jazz-alphabet/.
