In the 1950s Mel Kime and other jazz musicians began a series of concerts at the Jayhawk Hotel in downtown Topeka, Kansas, playing in the hotel's roof garden. In 1960, Kime recruited numerous local musicians in order to start the Topeka Jazz Workshop Band, which in 1962 incorporated as the nonprofit organization Topeka Jazz Workshop, Inc. with the purpose to play and promote jazz. The group brought in local, regional, and national musicians. [Grimes, Marcene, "Topeka's Jazz Workshop: A Permanent Institution," Topeka: Topeka Jazz Workshop, 1985. In the Topeka Jazz Workshop, Inc. Records, Ms. Coll. 835, Kansas Historical Society.]
From the description of Topeka Jazz Workshop, Inc. Records, circa 1953-2006. (Kansas State Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 694182778
