Detroit's Concert of Colors is always a great celebration of diversity, music from around the globe, and, especially recently, the city's astonishingly varied musical scene.
Grammy-Award winning producer Don Was, who pulled together the weekend festival's signature Detroit All-Star Revue show this past weekend, told me that this gig is his favorite night of the year during my recent interview with him. If the broad smile I saw on his face much of the time throughout the Saturday show as he introduced each act and backed many of them on bass is any indication, he continues to love the show every bit as much as we do.
Friends we talked to after the show agreed with us in thinking that the All-Star Revue lived up to its name and Was manages to outdo himself each year as he pulls together yet another stellar show of homegrown talent.
While I looked forward to seeing Jimmy Ruffin perform, he and Niagara ended up not being able to make the Revue. But Was simply dipped into the deep reservoir of Detroit talent with great late additions Andre Williams, who by many accounts was the first rapper back in the 1950s, and up-and-coming R&B/pop artist Mayaeni rounding out the Revue bill.
Ninety-three-year-old blues queen Alberta Adams pretty much owned the room, amazing the audience with a particularly strong and vibrant performance. Adams and guitarist Dennis Coffey earned two well-deserved standing ovations for their Revue numbers, while show closer Kim Weston had everyone on their feet dancing and singing along with "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)".
As fabulous as the Detroit All-Star Revue always is, it is just one evening of the multi-day Concert of Colors festival.
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra kicked off the Concert of Colors with a pair of standing-room-only performances at the festival's newest partner and presenter, the Detroit Institute of Arts. Conductor Chelsea Tipton II led the DSO through two spirited programs of classical and popular pieces, many of them familiar to the audience from movies, television, or cartoons. Orchestra musicians seemed to enjoy the casual vibe and proximity of the audience, many of them staying after the shows to mingle with concertgoers, and Tipton mentioned that he was particularly pleased to see so many children enjoying the shows with their families.
We also caught Tien-Huicani performing on the DIA's theater stage on Friday. I've never associated the harp with Mexican folk music, but that changed after this show-especially after several of the group members took turns playing the harp and three of them all played it at the same time at one point in the show!
We enjoyed the Irish folk music of the Codgers, accompanied by Terry Murphy, on Saturday afternoon. I love hearing and seeing more unusual, at least to me, instruments, so I liked watching and listening to this group as they used several Irish instruments like the bodhran (drum) during their time onstage.
Saturday was certainly a great day for me to see a lot of the more unusual instruments used in shows by Kenge Kenge, a Kenyan benga group, used a lot of great African percussion instruments. The group expressed a special pride in the fact that they came from the same region and clan as "His Excellency, your President Obama" before closing their show with their tribute to him, their "Obama for change" song that swept You Tube and the rest of the Internet over the past year.
Sunday saw another performance of the DSO with a program featuring a concerto for the oud, a stringed instrument that is one of the most popular instruments in Arabic music. The concerto, commissioned by the DSO, featured Simon Shaheen, oud virtuoso and the piece's composer.
The cream of the Latin music scene in Detroit took the stage with members of several groups banded together for a program celebrating Latin song and dance.
We were truly torn between seeing Mavis Staples close out Sunday evening on the Main Stage, or catching sacred steel guitarist Calvin Cooke on the Diversity Stage. We ended up seeing most of Staples' show, where she previewed a handful of songs from her not-yet-released album (it has a September release date), and catching the last few numbers from Cooke, where high notes included his performance of "Help me make it through" while the audience danced, swayed, and sang along with his uplifting message of unity and good things to come.
As always, the Concert of Colors was over too soon, and the overlapping schedule meant we sometimes had to make hard choices about what acts we would see, but that just makes me anticipate next July's 2011 Concert of Colors even more.
I'm also hoping they'll resume the Concert of Colors Groupie support program next year. The festival is free, but Groupies supported the Concert of Colors with a donation, receiving perks like reserved seating at Main Stage shows (giving you more flexibility when it came to attending shows on both stages) and a T-shirt (which I missed out on this year because the shirt's popularity meant vendors ran out the size I wanted before I went to buy one). The program was also simply a nice way for individuals to help the festival continue through some challenging years.
Want to hear some of the great Detroit talent we saw at the Detroit All-Star Revue? Check out The Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music on My Damn Channel, where Don Was will post clips from this year's revue in coming months. You can also check out clips from the 2008 and 2009 Detroit All-Star Revues at the site.
Looking for links to some of the artists mentioned in this article? Check Where I live: Concert of Colors 2010 lineup revealed with Zozo Afrobeat show at Detroit Institute of Arts.
Come back Friday to check out a few more of my photos from the Concert of Colors.
Note:
"Where I live" posts are part of a series of periodic stories about special events and people in, and around, metro Detroit. "Where I live" posts are stories I'll post in addition to my regular schedule of stories about attractions around the larger Midwestern region. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
These are fabulous photos! I'm sure it was challenging getting those kinds of shots with the strange lighting and people in motion.
Posted by: Sarah V. | July 22, 2010 at 07:15 AM
Sarah-Thanks!
This was the first time I used my new lens-a Canon 70-200 f/4L. Tim's been after me for eons to get this lens as I've always been so disappointed when I've taken these types of photos in the past. It was an indulgence/investment for me, but I was pretty pleased with what I got this year. Way more keepers :)
Posted by: Dominique King | July 22, 2010 at 07:29 AM