The University of Missouri at Kansas City has announced that the archives of jazz musician and educator Ahmad Alaadeen have been donated to the LaBuddle Special Collections division of the university’s Miller Nichols Library. Alaadeen was a fixture on the Kansas City jazz scene and in 2010 was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Jazz Museum. He died in 2010 from cancer at the age of 76.
The archives, which were donated to the university by Alaadeen’s widow Fanny Dunfee, include arrangements, music manuscripts, performance videos, audiotapes, and other memorabilia associated with his long career in music.
Alaadeen studied at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music, St. Mary’s College, and DePaul University. He served in the U.S. military as a member of the 4th Army Band from 1957 to 1959. He later taught music in the public schools and privately. He was the author of The Rest of the Story: Jazz Improvisation and History (Fandeen Publishing, 2009).
Ahmad Alaadeen introduced me to my wife Wakeelah while the both of them were on staff at the Charlie Parker Foundation in Kansas City, MO in the mid 1970s. He served me as a wise older brother, unconditional friend, a true mentor, and supporting me spiritually when I was weak in my faith. Alaadeen had a major influence on inviting me to my awakening in the belief that I could become what I was thinking may be possible in the 1970s. He gave me encouragement and unwavering support that I was enough to achieve my goals and live my dreams. Years had elapsed, however, every time I would return to KC and share stories of my global experiences, I would discover that his stories and current activities always reminded me how close we were connected in our work with people and global cultures. I have learned so much from my big brother Alaadeen who inspired me in many ways and I am in gratitude for his teachings.
May God grant him mercy and place him in a beautiful place in paradise.
Cosmic child,
Wali Mutazammil