Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame

Jazz museum in the beautifully restored 1931 Union Depot

Address 111 E. 1st Street (Union Depot), Tulsa

The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame occupies the restored 1931 Union Depot, a Spanish Colonial Revival building that once served Tulsa's railway passengers. The depot's grand waiting hall, with its painted wood-beamed ceiling and terracotta tile, is a handsome home for a museum dedicated to the remarkable number of jazz musicians Oklahoma has produced.

The permanent collection honours figures from Don Cherry and Barney Kessel to Charlie Christian, the Tulsa-born guitarist who invented the modern jazz electric guitar style. The museum also hosts live performances in the restored ballroom on weekends. If you are in town on a Friday or Saturday evening, check the schedule — it is one of the better ways to spend a night in Tulsa.

things to do museum
A story
Oklahoma has produced an extraordinary number of jazz musicians given its size — among them Don Cherry, Barney Kessel, Jimmy Rushing, and Charlie Christian, whose innovations on electric guitar in the late 1930s laid the groundwork for bebop and ultimately rock and roll. Christian died at 25. The Hall of Fame tells these stories with care.