Jazz from Detroit
- Author: Stryker, Mark
Comprehensive, musically literate, striking in its depth, and essential
Jazz from Detroit
- Author: Stryker, Mark
Purchase product
Comprehensive, musically literate, striking in its depth, and essential
About
Jazz from Detroit explores the city’s pivotal role in shaping the course of modern and contemporary jazz. With more than two dozen in-depth profiles of remarkable Detroit-bred musicians, complemented by a generous selection of photographs, Mark Stryker makes Detroit jazz come alive as he draws out significant connections between the players, eras, styles, and Detroit’s distinctive history.
Stryker’s story starts in the 1940s and ’50s, when the auto industry created a thriving black working and middle class in Detroit that supported a vibrant nightlife, and exceptional public school music programs and mentors in the community like pianist Barry Harris transformed the city into a jazz juggernaut. This golden age nurtured many legendary musicians—Hank, Thad, and Elvin Jones, Gerald Wilson, Milt Jackson, Yusef Lateef, Donald Byrd, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, Ron Carter, Joe Henderson, and others. As the city’s fortunes change, Stryker turns his spotlight toward often overlooked but prescient musician-run cooperatives and self-determination groups of the 1960s and ’70s, such as the Strata Corporation and Tribe. In more recent decades, the city’s culture of mentorship, embodied by trumpeter and teacher Marcus Belgrave, ensured that Detroit continued to incubate world-class talent; Belgrave protégés like Geri Allen, Kenny Garrett, Robert Hurst, Regina Carter, Gerald Cleaver, and Karriem Riggins helped define contemporary jazz. The resilience of Detroit’s jazz tradition provides a powerful symbol of the city’s lasting cultural influence.
Stryker’s 21 years as an arts reporter and critic at the Detroit Free Press are evident in his vivid storytelling and insightful criticism. Stryker has fully updated the paperback since the publication of the hardcover. This award-winning book will appeal to jazz aficionados, casual fans, and anyone interested in the vibrant and complex history of cultural life in Detroit.
Contents
- Table of Contents
- A Note on Sources and Recordings
- Introduction
- Part 1: Setting the Stage
- Chapter 1: Jazz in Detroit, 1900-1950
- Part 2: The Golden Age, 1940-60
- Opening Chorus
- Chapter 2: Gerald Wilson — Head and Heart
- Chapter 3: Yusef Lateef — Gentle Giant
- Chapter 4; Milt Jackson — Bags’ Groove
- Chapter 5: Sheila Jordan — Sheila’s Blues
- Chapter 6: Barry Harris — Professor of Bebop
- Chapter 7: Tommy Flanagan — A Legendary Touch
- Chapter 8: Kenny Burrell — Community Builder
- Chapter 9: Donald Byrd — Renaissance Man
- Chapter 10: Roland Hanna — Magician
- Chapter 11: Curtis Fuller — Trombone on Top
- Chapter 12: Louis Hayes — The (Cymbal) Beat Goes On
- Chapter 13: Ron Carter — The Right Note at the Right Time
- Chapter 14: Joe Henderson —The Phantom
- Chapter 15: Charles McPherson — Reminiscing by Ear
- Part 3: The Jones Brothers
- Opening Chorus
- Chapter 16: Hank Jones — One Extra Ace
- Chapter 17: Thad Jones — Jonesisms
- Chapter 18: Elvin Jones — Philosopher-King
- Part 4: Taking Control — Self-determination in the 1960s and ‘70s
- Opening Chorus
- Chapter 19: Detroit Artists Workshop, Detroit Creative Musicians Association and Focus Novii
- Chapter 20: Contemporary Jazz Quintet and Strata Corporation
- Chapter 21: Tribe
- Coda
- Part 5: Marcus Belgrave and His Children
- Chapter 22: Marcus Belgrave — The Nurturer
- Chapter 23: Geri Allen — Back to the Future
- Chapter 24: Kenny Garrett — Sound and Spirit
- Chapter 25: Regina Carter — Searching for Roots
- Chapter 26: Gerald Cleaver — The Big Picture
- Chapter 27: Robert Hurst— Platonic Ideal
- Chapter 28; Rodney Whitaker — Family Man
- Chapter 29: James Carter — Volcano
- Chapter 30: Karriem Riggins — Duel Identity
- Part 6: Tradition and Transition in the 21st Century
- Opening Chorus
- Chapter 31: Present and Future — Ralphe Armstrong, Marion Hayden, Michael Malis, Marcus Elliot
- Coda
- Appendix A: Jazz Musicians from Detroit
- Appendix B: List of Quoted Interviews
- Acknowledgments
- Index
Awards and reviews
Comprehensive, musically literate, striking in its depth, and essential
Building on his many years of covering the jazz scene in Detroit, Stryker (long-time journalist for the Detroit Free Press) has produced an important book about many of the luminaries of Motown. ... Highly recommended
ARSC Journal
This is one of the best jazz books on such a focused topic in quite a while." -- Robert Iannapollo
NPR
Mark Stryker covered jazz and its people for the Detroit Free Press for decades. He uses his reporter's eye and critic's ear to chronicle the musicians from the city who made their mark on the world
