Biography

From 1935 until his retirement in 1991, Ed Roche recorded the sounds of Kansas City. The first engineer for Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium, Roche installed and operated the then state of-the-art audio system. He meticulously documented music and civic events, including performances of the Kansas City Philharmonic. In 1952, Roche established Crown Recording Studio. Crown quickly became one of Kansas City's leading studios. Over the years, Roche recorded thousands of bands, choruses and radio programs including the Kansas City Hour. Roche produced tapes for the Nazarene Church that were distributed internationally. During the 1980s, he preserved the open-reel tapes and instantaneous cut discs for the Harry Truman Presidential Library.