also featuring special guests

Dwight Andrews, saxophones and flutes
Ralph Jones, saxophones and flutes
Ralphe Armstrong, bass
David McMurray, saxophones
Perry Hughes, guitar
A. Spencer Barefield, guitar
Rayse Biggs, trumpet
Vincent Bowens, saxophones and flute
Vincent Chandler, trombone
Gayelynn McKinney, drums
Joan Belgrave, vocals
Shahida Nurullah, vocals
Naima Shamborguer, vocals
Ursula Walker, vocals
Patrice “Kafi” Williams, harp
Invincible, emcee
Gerard Gibbs, organ

*denotes U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance faculty/student ensemble

Can music celebrate a city? Every city has had a Golden Age. In most places, the Golden Age dies, but in Detroit it remains unbroken through many different forms, from Jazz to Motown to techno and hip-hop.

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, UMS and the U-M MLK Day Symposium celebrate the very unique relationship of the city of Detroit to the music it helped create and shape. Beginning with trumpeter and educator Gerald Wilson (a Cass Technical High School graduate) and continuing through the great Detroit artists and mentors who have sustained the music through the second half of the 20th century, Detroit continues to nurture and create international trends in contemporary music-making and songwriting. With world-renowned jazz pianist and Detroit native Geri Allen serving as music director and the D3 trio serving as house band, From Cass Corridor to the World musically narrates this spectacular and unique journey with celebrated Detroit artists.

Program:
Program Book [PDF]

A co-presentation with the University of Michigan Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives.

Special thanks to the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance for their support of this concert.

Geri Allen is a Detroit native and a world-renowned jazz pianist, composer and educator. With an impressive collection of individual and collaborative projects to her name, she will be guiding this unique tribute to Detroit and its musical tradition.

Marcus Belgrave is Detroit’s internationally recognized jazz trumpet great. He came to prominence in the late 1950’s, while touring and recording with the great Ray Charles’ Orchestra at
the height of Ray’s hit-making era. Belgrave moved to Detroit in the early 1960’s to join Motown Records as staff trumpeter and has since established himself as Detroit’s foremost jazz musician. He was recently awarded the singular title of the official Jazz Master Laureate for the City of Detroit., as well as a fifty thousand dollar Kresge 2010 Eminent Artist award for his 46 years of service to the young musicians of Detroit. Always the teacher, Marcus continues to mentor the “next generation” of jazz musicians. His protégés include the who’s who of young jazz musicians: violinist, Regina Carter, bassist, Robert Hurst, saxophonist, Kenny Garrett, pianist Geri Allen, saxophonist James Carter, guitarist, Ray Parker Jr., drummer Ali Jackson, many of whom will join him at this performance.

Related UMS Education & Community Engagement Events

1/14: UMS Night School Session 4: Jazz in the Hall
2/2: Hill Auditorium Celebration

Performance trailer