Best of KC 2025: Documentary Sounds of the City is a musical love letter to KC

Earlier this month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can take a peek at the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some local people, places, and things that we thought clearly won 2025. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November.

Before director Dustin Phillips completed his project Sounds of the City this year, finding information on the city’s historical involvement in the evolution of music was tough to come across. Now, Kansas Citians can turn to the 2025 documentary that historically lists Kansas City’s influence within music culture since the 1920s.

The doc hits on all of KC’s guidance in the subculture from the early jazz pioneers such as Bennie Moten, Count Basie, and Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, to some of the acts that you may see today perusing through town.

Throughout Phillips’ production, he makes it clear where the different genres of music intersect, which, in turn, shaped the melodic scene throughout the metro, then shaping sound throughout the nation. 

Many thanks must be given to Phillips, considering that, without Sounds of the City, much of this historical context can be lost and washed down over time. Phillips paints a clear picture of what music was then, what it is now, and what it may be.

Click below to read the November Best Of 2025 Issue of The Pitch Magazine: