Midwest Guest

Midwest travel links for August 2010

Check out these great Midwest-related stories I've read online this past month:

• Colorful Caribbean Floats-Charlie spotted some beautiful flashes of color while riding his bicycle through Detroit recently, discovering a workshop and artists creating floats and costumes for the city's Annual Caribbean International Festival Parade. Check out his story and photos of the workshop and the subsequent parade at Bikes, Books & A Little Music.





• Chicago and Milwaukee: Large Public Art and Placemaking-Public art pieces in Chicago like The Bean and a huge American Gothic sculpture are big tourist draws. Jeramey takes a look at <heh> Chicago's latest piece of public art and argues that Milwaukee could benefit from emulating Chicago's penchant for large pieces of statement art. Oh, and check out Milwaukee's Bronze Fonz, which is exactly what you probably think it is-the Fonz of Happy Days fame immortalized as (you guessed it) a bronze statue.

• Backyard Adventures: 100 Acres at the Indianapolis Museum of Art-Check out this outdoor arts park at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Arrows Sent Forth. Traveling with kids? This story also has some great tips about the terrain, rest rooms, parking, picnicking at the museum, and more.

• Evansville Otters Baseball for Southwest Indiana-There is still a bit of time to take in a baseball game this season, and Erik takes readers to a game with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League at Indiana Insider Blog. I enjoyed hearing about the team's historic 95-year-old ball park and its connection to the movie, "A League of Their Own".

• Thriving in the BWCAW-Join Rob and his family on a canoe adventure in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It's been a while since we visited the area ourselves, but I vividly remember the quarter-mile downhill portage and the quarter-mile uphill portage we did during one of our day trips, so I can feel Rob's pain as he talks about two miles worth of portages during his trip at The Intense Traveler. But it's all worth it!





• Looking at the End of Summer from the Lighthouse Steps- The marble, Albert Kahn-designed William Livingstone Memorial Lighthouse on Detroit's Belle Isle is a real beauty, so I particularly enjoyed taking a closer look at this unique tower at Belle Isle Home.

• Road Trip Music: Indiana-Kerry explores the Midwest and its music at Music Road. Check out this profile of Indiana folksinger Carrie Newcomer (born in Michigan, by the way) and other Midwest musician profiles at Kerry's site.

• Discovering Musical History on Race Street-Michael takes us to historic Herzog Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, in his Soapbox Cincinnati story. Popular music legends like Hank Williams, Patti Page, Flatt & Scruggs, and Bull Moose Jackson (an early R&B artist whose song, "Big Ten Inch Record", some music fans may remember best as an Aerosmith cover) all recorded at Herzog Studios.

• Highway 100-Travel the length of this Minnesota highway via video in a matter of minutes! I enjoyed this little virtual vacation at the Nokohaha blog.





• 7/79 video takes views on unique visual tour of Cincinnati's center-Driving into the Ohio River? Seeing Cincinnati-area landmarks like the Roebling Bridge or The Ascent in nearby Covington, Kentucky, from the air? Randy posted this virtual vacation on Urban Cincy.

Do you know of any other Midwest-related blogs I should check out?

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Where I live: Explore the world of music, enjoy a taste of tropical style in Dearborn, Michigan

Summer may be nearing its end, but things are heating up at the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan. The museum offers a hot musical menu and a taste of tropical style with its fall season of Global Thursdays concerts and a new exhibit featuring the fashions of famed Hawaii-based designer Alfred Shaheen.

 Music for every taste

Organizers envision Global Thursdays as an extension of Detroit's annual Concert of Colors celebration of diversity and city pride. Global Thursdays, much like the Concert of Colors, brings music from around the globe to metro Detroit with the goal of celebrating diversity and developing unity through music.

Photo courtesy of AANM
• The series kicks off September 9 with Jesus "Chuy" Negrete, who plays guitar and harmonica, as an early celebration of Mexican Independence Day (September 16). The talent of Negrete, the founder and director of the Mexican Cultural Institute in Chicago, as a story teller who shares the Mexican experience through words and music led author/historian Studs Terkel, no slouch as a story teller himself, to dub him "the Chicano Woody Guthrie".

Photo courtesy of AANM
• Composer and violinist Riad Abdel-Gawad brings a unique style of Arabic music to the AANM on October 7. His music combines and integrates a variety of Western and Eastern musical genres-not fitting neatly into any specific genre, yet encompassing many of them at the same time. The native of Cairo, Egypt, is the premiere artist and musical educator in this music that preserves and protects its Arabic roots.

Photo courtesy of AANM
• Composer/guitarist Sean Blackman merges music reflecting his own Armenian roots with the rhythms of Senegal and Brazil for the final concert of the fall Global Thursdays series on November 4. Blackman settled in Detroit specifically to work with the city's amazingly deep talent pool of the ethnic musicians, and this show promises to feature some of the best Detroit-area ethnic musicians. This sounds like an especially intriguing show for music fans interested in unusual instruments and sounds as it combines the sound of Blackman's nylon-string guitar with unusual instruments like the oud, kora, and kanun.

Tropical treat

Fashion fans are in for a real treat as a free reception prior to the Riad Abdel-Gawad concert on October 7 serves as a preview for Alfred Shaheen: Fabric to Fashion, an exhibit featuring dozens of vintage textiles, garments, and photos.

Shaheen, a Lebanese American engineer, is primarily responsible for popularizing the men's Hawaiian shirt, as well as developing many mid-20th-century textiles and technical innovations in the industry, according to AANM Director of Communications Kim Silarski.

"On the cover of his "Blue Hawaii" album, Elvis Presley wears a Shaheen shirt," she says.

Shaheen created garments using imported material in the years immediately following World War II, but quickly realized the economic and environmental wisdom of creating his own fabrics at home in Hawaii. Innovations like mass producing silk-screened textiles and production sewing techniques, plus an in-house training department, established him as a leader in the islands' industry.

"He did for clothing what Ford did at the Rouge, start to finish, designing and finishing his products under one roof," says Silarski.

Shaheen maintained his factory and production on Oahu, even as his company distributed his informal tropical styles reflecting Hawaiian, South Pacific, and Asian culture worldwide.

Photo courtesy of AANM

Those styles remain popular today says Silarski, who is a real fan of Shaheen's work.

"Shaheen vintage shirts and dresses go for hundreds on eBay," she says.

Don your best tropical attire and enjoy complimentary refreshments at the opening reception for the Shaheen exhibit at 5:30 p.m. on October 7. The exhibit runs through March 13, 2011 and is free with museum admission.

Tickets for each Global Thursdays concert are $10. Purchase tickets at the door, or order online in advance until 5 p.m. the day prior to each show.

Global Thursdays concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. in the AANM's 156-seat auditorium, which is on the lower level of the museum at 13624 Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, Michigan. Free parking is available in the lighted lot behind the museum.

Also be sure to watch the AANM site for upcoming events like the museum's annual film festival December 2-5.

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

Where I live: Detroit Symphony Orchestra kicks off another noteworthy season

Join the Detroit Symphony Orchestra this 2010-2011 season for a noteworthy menu of classical, jazz, and popular music sure to appeal to every taste.

Here are just a few highlights of the schedule to whet your musical appetite as the DSO sets the scene for the season's October 1 start.

On the classical side, the new DSO season reflects a further extension of Music Director Leonard Slatkin's vision of bringing exciting new music to Orchestra Hall with multiple world and DSO premieres, along a healthy helping of work by contemporary classical composers, while including many familiar audience favorites in the schedule.

See some of the cream of Michigan's classical talent crop with special performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 commemorating the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, and 100th anniversary of his death. These Symphony of a Thousand concerts, presented in collaboration with the Michigan Opera Theater, University Musical Society, University of Michigan, and Michigan State University, take place on March 18 at the Detroit Opera House and on March 19 at Ann Arbor's Hill Auditorium.

Classical music lovers are in for a real treat as the Music Director Leonard Slatkin directs DSO performances of all nine Beethoven symphonies in a series of three weekends this spring. Immerse yourself in Beethoven's masterful music starting with two concerts during the weekend of March 24-26, continuing with two more concerts during the weekend of April 8-10, and culminating the weekend of April 14-16 with performances of the Beethoven's beloved Symphony No. 9. Each of these performances includes a little lagniappe of the master's work with some favorite short selections and overtures.

This year's DSO season also offers plenty of options beyond its great classical concerts with its Jazz and Pops series that include many events especially suited for families or a special date night.

Treat your family to a Halloween weekend program featuring music from films like Ghostbusters, Harry Potter, The Dark Knight, and more. Grammy Award-winning composer Victor Vanacore conducts the October 28-31 Trick or Treat program. 

Some of our favorite memories of going to the DSO came while hearing some of our favorite winter holiday music performed by the orchestra. Warm up with the DSO as they come Home for the Holidays December 16-19 with a program of favorite carols and a visit from a special red-suited, white-bearded guest (which was a highlight of the show when I saw it several years ago)!

Families should also enjoy Disney in Concert: Magical Music from the Movies, April 28-May 1. The DSO performs some of the most well loved tunes from Disney films like The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast, accompanied by animated images projected on screens above the orchestra.

Jazz shows are always among my favorite performances when I've attended shows at Orchestra Hall, and this season's Paradise Jazz Series features some concerts sure to be future favorites.

Cooler days arrive with the start of autumn, but experience the warm embrace of Caribbean rhythms and jazz riffs as Michel Camilo opens this DSO season on October 1 with an energetic Big Band-Caribe. Composer and pianist Camilo, a multiple Grammy-Award winner in jazz, classical, and Latin music, also serves as the DSO's Jazz Creative Director.

Other jazz series performances include Tony Award-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater paying tribute to Billie Holiday (November 5), the Grammy Award-winning quartet Manhattan Transfer with a Christmas program (December 14), and ten-time Grammy Award winner Bobby McFerrin bringing his innovative vocal style to the Orchestra Hall stage (March 3).

Check the DSO web site for a complete season schedule, pricing, and purchasing information. Subscription and series packages are already available for purchase, and single performance tickets for the 2010-2011 season go on sale August 30.

 

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

Where I live: Driving hunger from metro Detroit at Forgotten Harvest's 2010 Champagne Cruise

Sip champagne for a serious cause and support Forgotten Harvest's effort to drive hunger from metro Detroit at the food rescue group's annual Champagne Cruise on August 20 at Westborn Market along Woodward Avenue in Berkley, Michigan.

I always look forward to this event, held the Friday evening before the official Saturday date of the massive Woodward Dream Cruise, which draws more than 40,000 vintage vehicles and as many as 1 million spectators to metro Detroit for a celebration of classic cars. Cruisers generally hit Woodward with their vintage vehicles on the warm weekends throughout much of the summer leading up to the official cruise date, with the action along the cruising strip reaching a peak as the Friday of the Champagne Cruise approaches. The Champagne Cruise's combination of timing, and its Woodward-side location, makes it one of the primo places to view some great cars while helping fund Forgotten Harvest's food rescue operation.

Forgotten Harvest rescued 19.4 million pounds of food otherwise destined for the trash and delivered it to emergency food providers to feed hungry metro Detroiters during Fiscal Year 2009-2010. Rescued food comes from donors like Champagne Cruise host Westborn Market and other donors like area grocery stores, restaurants, caterers, farmers, and wholesale food distributors.

What makes these numbers even more amazing to me is the fact that they represent a doubling of the numbers I saw last year, meaning that donors are digging even deeper into their pockets to help fellow metro Detroiters in an economy that continues to struggle.

But the Champagne Cruise is an evening of fun and good food for attendees.

Forgotten Harvest sets up a huge tent in the parking lot at Berkley’s Westborn Market. The market puts out an amazing array of cheeses and produce for guests to sample, while a handful of other area restaurants and caterers set up stations for a mini Taste Fest of some great metro Detroit eats.

And, yes, the Forgotten Harvest crew packs up the unused food at the end of the evening for distribution to area soup kitchens, food pantries, and shelters.

This year, Champagne Cruise attendees will again dance to the music of The Sun Messengers (the "Official Band of the Detroit Pistons") and hang out in a special viewing area that offers a ringside seat for the car cruising action along Woodward.

I've always admired Forgotten Harvest for its approach to addressing the dual problems of hunger and waste by rescuing perfectly good food from disposal and getting it into the hands, and stomachs, of those who need it most.

Forgotten Harvest's responsible stewardship of their donated money and goods is also impressive. The charity is justifiably proud of its record of spending 95-plus percent of its funds on food programming and less than 5 percent of its money on administrative or fund raising costs, earning an "exceptional" rating from Charity Navigator.

So, I don't feel badly about plopping down $150 per ticket to support the group and its mission.

For all the seriousness of Forgotten Harvest's mission, the Champagne Cruise definitely puts the "fun" in "fund raiser".

I wouldn't miss it!

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Photo Friday: More photos from Detroit's 2010 Concert of Colors

Kenge Kenge

We took a slew of photos at Detroit's 2010 Concert of Colors last weekend, and you can check out the photos I posted earlier this week with a recap of the festival at Where I live: Detroit's 2010 Concert of Colors is a celebration of diversity and city pride.

Tien-Huicani


Simon Shaheen with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

I've usually been disappointed with concert photos I've taken at indoor venues in the past, but I had a difficult time narrowing down this year's Concert of Colors photos to the 18 images I posted here and in my recap article.

Southwest Detroit Latin Super Session


The Codgers

The reason for that? I finally broke down and bought the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens Tim has been bugging me for quite some time to buy. He thought I'd be far happier with my concert photos and some of the architectural interiors I'm so fond of shooting with this lens, and he finally convinced me to make the investment in it.

Tien-Huicani


Mavis Staples


Dennis Coffey

The lens gave me a decent combination of speed at a relatively light weight that allowed me to capture more of the action onstage during the various acts. Spending the extra money to buy the IS (Image Stabilizer) version of this lens was also well worth it, allowing me to shoot many of these images at as low as 1/60th of a second at 1600 ISO. I shot nearly all of the photos on these two posts recapping the 2010 Concert of Colors with this lens.

Kim Weston

It certainly performed well under fire as this weekend was the first time I'd used it, and I hope you enjoy the resulting photos.

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Where I live: Detroit's 2010 Concert of Colors is a celebration of diversity and city pride

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

Midwest travel links for June 2010

Here are some interesting blog posts about the Midwest I read in the past month:

• 18th Annual Detroit Concert of Colors July 16-18, 2010-Tim previews one of our favorite summer events. Check out his story and fabulous photos from recent Concert of Colors festivals at The Wandering Photographer.

• Crossroads Guitar Festival brings guitar legends and their contemporaries together-I enjoyed this quick recap of this Chicago festival to benefit Eric Clapton's Crossroads Centre (a rehab facility in Antigua) at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Rock Hall Blog.

• Around Cadillac Square-I've driven past this spot, and gone past the Cadillac Center stop on Detroit's People Mover, many times, but I've never really seen Cadillac Square up close. Let Belle Isle Home show you around this great little urban gem.

• Biking in Detroit: The City on Two Wheels-Most people think of cars when they think of the Motor City, but there are a lot of other great ways to get around Detroit. Let Becks of Detroit Moxie show you how to use some pedal power to get around the D.

• Exploring the Cleveland Metroparks-I've seen a bit of Cleveland's much-loved "Emerald Necklace"-a chain of parks that pretty much circles the city. Check out this story at What Locals Like About Cleveland Plus to find out more about the parks and the vision of the young engineer in 1917 that resulted in this beautiful green legacy enjoyed today by residents and visitors alike.

• Flint River Kayaking-I enjoyed this story of a river's rebirth from at Flint Expatriates. Gordon rediscovers this great little river near Flushing, Michigan, and learns something about second chances and stereotypes.

• June on the Farm-I appreciate the value of being a tourist in my own town, so I really appreciated Linda giving us this great look at spring on her Minnesota family farm at Travels with Children.



Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens' great ball park


• Fort Wayne Tin Caps Baseball is Great Family Fun-I've written about the joys of minor league sports and advocated those events as budget-friendly alternatives where you can usually score a seat much closer to the action than you can at a big-league venue. Join Erik at the Indiana Insider Blog for fun on a Friday night in Fort Wayne with the Tin Caps baseball team.

• Falling in love at White River State Park-Amy gives us ten great reasons to fall in love with this urban park, chock full of green spaces and waterfront, in Indianapolis at the Indiana Insider Blog.

• The Ford Bridge Then and Now-You know that a post about a great bridge will always catch my eye, so I enjoyed this story about the historic Ford Bridge that spans the Mississippi River to connect Minnesota's Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis at the Nokohaha blog.

• City Profile: Milwaukee by UrbanMilwaukee-Milwaukee is another place I've only driven through on the way elsewhere, but it's a place I've always wanted to spend some time visiting. Meanwhile I can visit the Ubanophile blog for virtual tour of the city that includes photos of their striking art museum from Dave of UrbanMilwaukee.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Where I live: Don Was, The Concert of Colors, and the great spirit in Detroit

You may know Don Was best these days as a Grammy Award-winning music producer, especially on the heels of his work on previously unreleased tracks included on the recent reissue of the Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main Street", but promoting his hometown and its deep well of new and vintage talent remains particularly close to the metro Detroit native's heart.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Was about the upcoming 18th annual Concert of Colors (July 16 to 18) and what is a highlight of the three-day diversity and world music festival for me, the Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue.

Don Was at the 2008 Concert of Colors

Was' enthusiasm for the Revue, a "Super Session" featuring an eclectic bill of metro Detroit artists from multiple eras and musical genres was readily apparent to me when I watched him introduce each act and back many of them on bass during Revues in 2008 and 2009. His enthusiasm for the upcoming third annual Revue was every bit as apparent during my phone conversation with him.

Thornetta Davis and Don Was at the 2009 Concert of Colors

"It's my favorite night of the year," he said. "There's a great spirit and great music."

Was appeared on the main stage at the 2005 Concert of Colors with Algerian singer Cheb Khaled, who benefited from Was' talent as a producer on the "Love to the People" single for the US release of his "Ya-Rayi" album.

The festival's chill vibe impressed Was, but it was a post-concert dinner that really wowed him.

"I went out to dinner afterwards with [Concert of Colors founder] Ismael Ahmed, and we just clicked," said Was. "He's the man I wish I was."

So several years later, when his friend "Ish" asked Was if he'd like to put together a program Concert of Colors, the answer was an enthusiastic "yes!"

Ismeal Ahmed at the 2009 Concert of Colors

"The thing I love about the Concert of Colors is that it uses music as a metaphor for society," said Was. "It's like a band where the whole is more than the sum of its parts."

Was believes that the Concert of Colors is especially important to Detroit.

"I think it's amazing that while Detroit is in such an economically disastrous situation, the people here have such a great spirit. That great spirit can overcome adversity."

The ability of the Concert of Colors to persevere and continue to thrive over the past couple of years is also meaningful to Was.

"That bodes well for the future of the city," he said. "The Concert of Colors is a real testimony to Ish and the other organizers there."

Was produced the first Detroit All-Star Revue at the Concert of Colors in 2008. That first revue was a hit and quickly became a Concert of Colors tradition.

Concert of Colors Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue curtain call, 2008

This year's third annual Detroit All-Star Revue features performances from Alberta Adams, Dennis Coffey, Marshall Crenshaw, Doop & the Inside Outlaws, Electric Lion Sound Wave Experiment, Ingray, Motor City Horns, Niagara, Outrageous Cherry, Jimmy Ruffin, The Satin Peaches, SRC Gary Quackenbush, Jere Stormer, Sun Messengers, and Kim Weston.

"Part of the charm of the show is that it's meant to be a real collage of styles. This is the indigenous music of Detroit," said Was, noting that the Concert of Colors is a world music festival.

Was spends time throughout the year searching out talent for the Revues on the Internet, at clubs, through word-of-mouth, and through generally networking with friends.

Marshall Crenshaw grew up in Berkley around the same time Was grew up in Oak Park and is a long-time friend, while guitarist and legendary Funk Brother Dennis Coffey's wife provided the connection to Kim Weston. Jimmy Ruffin contacted Was earlier this year about producing something for him, and Was seized the opportunity to ask Ruffin if to appear in this year's Revue.

Encouraging pride in the "D" and nurturing Detroit's rich music scene are but two goals of the Revue.

"We want people to have fun and feel good when they leave," added Was.

Don Was at the 2009 Concert of Colors

 

Was spends a lot of time in Detroit and remains busier than ever these days.

He hosts "The Motor City Hayride" on Siirus XM Radio's Outlaw Country Channel every Saturday evening at 10 p.m., taping many of the shows here with guest including Tiger pitcher Nate Robertson, author Elmore Leonard, former UAW president Ron Gettelfinger, and singer Mitch Ryder.

Was also teams up with Ford Motor Company this year on a video contest aimed at finding new indie talent. The Gimme the Gig contest, tied to the launch of Ford's 2011 Fiesta, continues through December when Was selects a winner and produces some of their music.

Was, who won a Grammy Award for Producer of the Year in 1995 and who produced Bonnie Raitt's 1990 Grammy Award Album of the Year "Nick of Time", continues to work with a variety of artists in a variety of genres. Check out some of his recent projects and see clips from the 2008 and 2009 Detroit All-Star Revues at The Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music on My Damn Channel.

 

Thanks again to Don Was for a great interview and to Kim with the Concert of Colors for helping to make it happen.

 

Be sure to check out my earlier article, Concert of Colors lineup revealed with Zozo Afrobeat show at Detroit Institute of Arts, for more about the festival and links to the artists performing throughout the three-day event.

 

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

Where I live: Detroit Symphony Orchestra's summer season strikes the right note for summer fun

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra kicked off their summer season this past weekend with showings of the Hitchcock thriller "Psycho" and the family fantasy film "The Wizard of Oz". Sure, you might catch these flicks on cable, but that simply can't compare to seeing them in a classic theater with a score played live by the DSO.

You don't always think about a film's scoring, but seeing "The Wizard of Oz" with the DSO and conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos reminded me how a good score enhances a film's story. I've seen this movie many times, often at home on television, but watching this classic became a whole new experience on the big screen with a live score. Just as the film's shift from black and white emphasized the vibrant colors of Dorothy's odyssey in Oz, the live score emphasized the experiences Dorothy and her friends encountered along the way.

The audience included many families with young children, and the program held the rapt attention of the youngest audience members until an enthusiastic ovation at the program's conclusion.

Missed it? The symphony's summer season includes several other programs that are great ways to introduce your family to the symphony or a great way to spend a date.

• See the DSO for free (with vehicle admission fee) at the park with a trio of concerts this coming weekend. The DSO performs at 8 p.m. Friday at Kensington Metropark, at 8 p.m. Saturday at Metro Beach Metropark, and at 8 p.m. on Sunday at Stony Creek Metropark.

  The personable Thomas Wilkins, who we always enjoy seeing, conducts these "Harmony in the Park" concerts, which offer a selection of classical and popular pieces. You can bring lawn chairs and score a seat near the concert stage, but it's possible to hear the concert from many areas within the park. One year, we enjoyed hearing the DSO at Stony Creek from afar as we barbecued dinner in an outlaying picnic area.

• Celebrate the holiday weekend (July 1-4) with the DSO at The Henry Ford in Greenfield Village. Steven Reincke conducts the 18th annual "Salute to America" concert, which features Michael Runyan on harmonica and pre-concert entertainment by the River Raisin Ragtime Revue, a Michigan-based theater orchestra. The concert includes patriotic and popular music, capped by a fireworks finale.

• Enjoy music under the stars by Lake St. Clair July 9 and 10 at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House. Arrive as early as 6 p.m. to enjoy the home's architecture and grounds. The program begins at 8:30 p.m. and concludes with a fireworks finale.





• I 'm a real fan of silent films, and regular Midwest Guest readers may remember me mentioning the July 15 showing of the 1926 Mary Pickford film "Sparrows" when I previewed the Detroit Film Theater's summer season. The DSO partners with the DFT for a showing of this film with live accompaniment by the orchestra at The Max, making this free program a great opportunity to hear the DSO in their home venue.

• Next up is one of my favorite summer festivals, the Concert of Colors. This free diversity and world music fest kicks off July 16 at the Detroit Institute of Arts with performances by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra before moving to The Max July 17 and 18. The DSO again performs on Sunday with a program of Western and Arabic classical music conducted by Tito Muñoz featuring Simon Shaheen on the oud, an Arabic stringed instrument. Check my Concert of Colors story article for a preview of the entire three-day fest.

• The DSO presents "Summer Nights" shows featuring classical and popular music at the Meadow Brook Music Festival July 22-23, July 30-31, and August 1. The DSO premiere of composer Kenji Bunch's piece commissioned by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Committee in 2009 happens July 30.

• Fans of world music mark your calendars for August 15, when the orchestra cedes the stage to Silk Road Ensemble and Yo-Yo Ma with multi-cultural music and instrumentation at The Max. The program includes arrangements of traditional music from countries like India, China, and Persia, and extending to Europe and the Americas.





• We've always enjoyed jazz shows at The Max, seeing trumpeters Bryon Stripling and Irvin Mayfield perform in recent years. Given my love of jazz and silent flicks, I'm pretty jazzed about the August 26 program with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Marsalis and his septet perform a live soundtrack accompaniment to the new silent film "Louis", the story of trumpeter Louis Armstrong's life and music. Marsalis executive produced the film and composed much of the music for it. This show is one of a six-city U.S. launch for the film.

Check the DSO Web site  for complete information about the summer schedule, repertoire, pricing, and purchasing tickets.

I received tickets to "The Wizard of Oz" program from the DSO. I've also attended numerous DSO programs at my own expense, and knowledge gained from those prior experiences informs the content of this article as well.

 

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

Where I live: Opa! Fest celebrates Greek music, dance, food, and culture in Troy, Michigan

We have so much fun each year at Opa! Fest because the annual event at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Troy, Michigan, truly feels like a celebration.

Greek music, dancing, culture, and food (oh! the food!) is again on the menu June 25-27 at Opa! Fest on the St. Nicholas grounds, and it's definitely a party worth attending.

The festival, now in its 17th year and the largest ongoing Greek festival in metro Detroit, has many of the things you'd expect to find at a church fund raiser, like kids' games, raffles, food and beer tents.

If you love Greek food and baked goods, you absolutely need to get the Opa! Fest early in the day as some of the most popular selections are gone by early afternoon.

You can get a hand stamp that will get you back into the festival, so you can get your food fix, take your pastry purchases home, and return later in the evening to enjoy some Greek beer or Ouzo while watching the entertainment.

Last year, we had an early lunch of hot and cold dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves), sausage, spinach pie, feta cheese, and kalamata olives.

Then it was off to the bakery counter to buy some pastries and crusty bread to take home--all baked by what appears to be an army of elderly Greek ladies and their helpers. Sure, you can get baklava, brownies, or chocolate chip cookies, but there are so many more options!

I had little clue how pastries with names like thiples, galatobouriko, karithopita, kataifi, koulouria, kourambiedes, melomacarona, paximadia, tiropita, or tsoureki might taste. When I asked for suggestions, a young lady behind the counter hastened to help me--and when a kid behind a cookie counter enthusiastically says "these are my favorites", I pay attention. She helped me make some great choices!

The entertainment each day generally starts with performances by the youngest Greek dance groups, followed by progressively older dancers and ending in the evenings with the most skilled teen and adult dance groups.

I enjoy seeing the dancers' traditional costumes, and the church often has a display of some of the more intricate costumes.

Want to learn some Greek dancing? Be sure to check out the dance lessons on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Opa! Fest usually schedules plenty of local talent to entertain the crowds, but organizers occasionally book a bigger name act.

Three years ago, Opa! Fest featured sixth-place finalist from the fourth season of American Idol and Tony-award nominee, Constantine Maroulis, and the internationally known Pavlo, the Toronto-based "Greek God of Guitar" played last year.

While both of those acts drew big crowds, it's the food, dance, and fun most folks seem to come for at Opa! Fest each year. The festival drew 11,000 people in 2008, with an entertainment bill of local talent.

Enigma, a seven-piece Detroit-area band featuring a mix traditional Greek music and contemporary Greek music like Laika (Greek pop music), performs throughout all three days of the festival this year.

While much of the action takes place outside, there are cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, and a marketplace inside.

Drop a couple of dollars into the tin-can raffle boxes to take a chance on winning a big basket full of gifts. I was lucky enough to win a basket full of Greek food products one year.

St. Nicholas is a beautiful church, so you should make sure you visit the sanctuary for a look at the unique architecture and religious art or to just catch a few moments of quiet time during the festival.

Admission is $2 (children under 12 get in free). You can donate three cans of food for Gleaners in lieu of the admission charge.

Parking is free at nearby Walsh College, and there is limited handicapped parking only at the church. The church provides free, continuous shuttle service between the college and the church, and we've never had to wait more than a few minutes for a ride.

 

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