Ceo of motown records8/31/2023 Despite its visual attractions, Detroit has always been gritty as well as glamorous. The Motor CityĪt the time, booming Detroit was often referred to as “the Paris of the West,” praised for its picturesque broad river, wide boulevards, Grand Circus Park, and the architectural delights of its buildings, including the Central Train Depot, Masonic Temple, Institute Of Arts, Guardian Building and Fisher Building. Parker’s work in Detroit drew a new wave of modern jazz talent to the city, including John Coltrane, Sonny Stitt, Ahmad Jamal, and Horace Silver. The city’s reputation as a jazz hub continued into the post-war era, when saxophonist Charlie Parker helped make The Blue Bird Inn one of the most influential bebop venues of the time. Jazz guitar maestro Wes Montgomery composed an instrumental in the 60s called “Goin’ On To Detroit.” The stellar list includes guitarist Kenny Burrell, trumpeter Donald Byrd, harpist Alice Coltrane, pianist Tommy Flanagan, trombonist Curtis Fuller, vibraphone player Milt Jackson and drummer Louis Hayes. By the 30s and early 40s, Orchestra Hall (presenting as Paradise Theatre) was hosting renowned jazz musicians Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington.ĭetroit is well known as the birthplace of soul stars such as Jackie Wilson, Smokey Robinson, and Diana Ross, but it was also where numerous top jazz musicians – many of whom recorded for Blue Note Records – were born. In 1924, during a visit to America, the future King Edward VIII sat in with William McKinney’s band, playing drums – surely the only occasion English royalty has jammed with a Detroit band. The hall opened in the mid-20s, by which time jazz was starting to dominate popular music across the US.ĭetroit’s McKinney Cotton Pickers, who recorded with Coleman Hawkins, were one of the pioneers of big band music in The Jazz Age. A third of Detroit’s population were foreign-born. When construction began on the celebrated Orchestra Hall in June 1919 – a venue that is thriving again as home to the world-famous Detroit Symphony Orchestra – there were just under one million residents of a bustling port city that spans 143 square miles. “We were exposed to everything – without judgment.” The birth of Detroit music “There was a jambalaya of cultures in Detroit,” says native Don Was, the guitarist who co-founded Was (Not Was) and is now president of Blue Note Records. Though the flagship city of Michigan state is renowned for its soul music, the history of Detroit music is also rich in jazz, blues, gospel, country, rock, techno, and, more recently, rap. Few cities in the world match the musical heritage of Detroit, the home of Motown.
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