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Jazz In Detroit Before Motown: A Photographic HistoryThe Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History presents an exhibit called "Jazz in Detroit Before Motown: A Photographic History" from July 1, 2001, until January 13, 2002. The public is invited to an opening reception on Thursday, July 19, at 6 p.m. and a symposium on "Detroit Jazz History" on September 29, 2001.
The origins of jazz in Detroit involved the mixing of several African American musical traditions: the blues, vaudeville, ragtime, band music, and society bands. In the 1920s big band jazz was played in Detroit's ballrooms and by the 1930s the music had established a foothold in Paradise Valley, the business and entertainment center of the African American community. World War II gave birth to the bop style of modern jazz and Detroit was one of its most important centers. The fifties were the Golden Age of jazz in Detroit centered around clubs like the Blue Bird Inn on Detroit's West Side. The postwar years also saw the birth of rhythm and blues and Detroit played a major role in its development from jump bands to the birth of the Motown Sound. This exhibit is based on a book by Lars Björn with Jim Gallert called Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-1960 to be published by the University of Michigan Press in late July. The exhibit is a collaborative effort between the University of Michigan-Dearborn and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Financial support has been given by the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the Office of Academic Affairs and the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters at the UM-Dearborn campus. The exhibit is part of the Detroit 300 Partner Program. The symposium on "Detroit Jazz History" will be a half-day event with panel discussions by musicians who were active in the forties and fifties; a discussion of jazz photography with Bob Douglas and Beans Richardson; and a multimedia presentation on Detroit jazz history by Björn and Gallert. The day will end with a concert and a book signing. The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is located at 315 East Warren Avenue in Detroit's Cultural Center and is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday (Phone: 313-494-5800). Above: Altoist Frank Taylor and Gene Taylor walking the bar at Alvito’s, which was on Russell and Mack in Detroit, around 1953. Owner Joe Alvito is behind the bar. This is one of the photos that will be on display at the Museum of African American History. photograph courtesy Gene Taylor I N - T H I S - I S S U E : |
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There
was music in Detroit before Motown in the 1960s. Detroit has a remarkable
jazz history, which contributed to the Motown Sound. The exhibit tells
the story of jazz in Detroit from 1920-1960 through period photos, maps,
and recorded music. Several photos are those of Detroit native Bob Douglas,
now a Los Angeles resident and a nationally known jazz photographer. In
the late forties Douglas was a photographer for the Michigan Chronicle
and the Detroit edition of the Pittsburgh Courier. Other photos are by
James "Beans" Richardson, a veteran Detroit bassist who was
a member of the house band at the Blue Bird Inn in the forties and fifties.
Richardson is still active as a musician.