The city of Detroit has been making headlines lately for all the wrong reasons. Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history last month. The city was an epicenter of the manufacturing and housing meltdown during the Great Recession and its population has plunged from a high of nearly two million a half century ago to 700,000 today. So the proud residents of the Motor City spent much better part of the past two generations being either pitied or mocked.
Throughout all of the upheaval, unrest and uncertainty, one thing remained constant: Detroit’s rich musical legacy. Whether we’re talking about blues, jazz, rock, gospel, R&B, soul or funk, Detroit’s musical talent matches any city in the country, if not the world.
The Motown record label did more to cement the city’s musical reputation than perhaps any other institution. That label gave the world some of the greatest R&B and soul music ever made, so it’s easy to forget that Detroit is also a great jazz town. Greater Detroit is home to jazz royalty of the past and present including the Jones brothers, Dianne Reeves, Ali Jackson and Marcus Belgrave. Berry Gordy knew this. The Magnate of Motown was a jazz lover and one of his first forays into the music business was an unsuccessful attempt to open a jazz record store.
Motown, the most successful of all the independent labels, left Detroit more than 40 years ago and it now exists as a subsidiary of one of the major labels. However, the Motor City remains the home of a great independent label in Mack Avenue Records.
Mack Avenue Records remains committed to jazz music at a time when the major labels fled from the genre. Mack Avenue is the recording home of Christian McBride, Jonathan Butler, Kevin Eubanks, Cecile McLorin Salvant and Stanley Jordan. The label also remains strong in its commitment to Detroit as evidenced by Mack Avenue Records’ support of the Detroit Jazz Festival. The festival has been a showcase for the label’s artists and many of those artists form the Mack Avenue Superband that performs at the festival. A taped recording of last year’s performance has been released as the Mack Avenue Superband, Live From the Detroit Jazz Festival.
In addition to guitarist Eubanks, listeners will hear saxophonist Tia Fuller, who just joined the Mack Avenue family after a long stint with touring as a member of Beyonce’s band. Salvant lends her lovely voice to yet another long neglected gem, in this case its “Oh Daddy Blues.” Pianist and collaborator Aaron Diehl joins her on the stage.
Other performers include vibe player Gary Burton, who gives the band’s performance of the Miles Davis classic “All Blues” a unique sound. Jazz music should be heard live to be appreciated because listeners have a chance to experience musicians creating on the spot and communicating with each other. Hearing the musical conversation between Eubanks and Burton on that tune is one of the many high points on Live From the Detroit Jazz Festival. The album’s last track, the blues and rock infused “Honky Tonk”, probably best sums up the enthusiasm the performers and fans brought to the Detroit Jazz Festival. The number is a tribute to their late label mate Johnnie Bassett. It’s a rousing and energetic number where listeners can hear audience members clapping along and yelling their approval at the end. If the city’s fathers and mothers want people to know that reports of its demise are premature, they might want make sure people hear this recording from Detroit’s namesake jazz festival. It shows a musical city very much alive and well. Highly Recommended
By Howard Dukes
