The collection contains many unique items recorded in the Kansas City area, including political speeches, musical performances, religious services, and advertisements for businesses and organizations. The Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kansas City Conservatory of Music are strongly represented with numerous recordings of each entity. Finally, the collection also holds some national radio programs, such as "The Guiding Light," "Hymns of All Churches," and "Michael Shayne."

The Kansas City Jazz Festival Collection was gifted to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library by the Ed Roche family estate after his death in 1997. The collection consists of festival programs for every year between 1964 and 1972, which are housed in LaBudde Special Collections. Also in the collection are live recordings engineered by Roche between the years 1964 and 1971, which are housed in the Marr Sound Archives.