Our 2013 Concert of Colors experience drew to a close on Sunday evening (July 7) with one of my favorite events of the year, the Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue, but first, the day dawned with still more music from around the world.
We again made our first stop at the festival's outdoor venue, the Wolverine/Spartan Stage in the small park next to The Max (a.k.a. the Max M. Fisher Music Center) where Tailor ("spelled like the haberdasher" the announcer assured us) Hawkins set up his equipment to do an old-school house and techno music show with vinyl records.
The festival's youngest guests enjoyed a real treat as the Candy Band uncorked their happy and punk-tinged show of nursery rhymed and kid-friendly fare. Even though we don't have young children, we've seen this mom-band-with-a-twist group a few times around town and loved seeing the elementary school set singing along with the show and busting a move on the dance floor. We unfortunately missed seeing our favorite Candy Band song about monkeys at the zoo this time around, though.
The Concert of Colors established their home at the home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at the Max a few years ago when they lost their previous venue at Chene Park on the Detroit River, and part of the deal was to let the DSO be part of the festival's world music menu. This year, the DSO backed Ozomatli, lending a classical flavor to the band's Latin-hip-hop-rock show.
It was difficult to see the orchestra behind the band from our original main-floor vantage point near the stage, but it was especially fun and interesting to view the interplay of the venerable orchestra and Ozomatli from the venue's mezzanine section (the location of the dress circle seats during regular symphony shows.).
We managed to catch part of the zydeco set by Jeffery Broussard and The Creole Cowboys at the diversity stage next where the white-hat wearing good guys ripped through an energetic set of tunes featuring classic zydeco instruments like accordions and washboards.
Next, it was back to the Main Stage to check out a bit of the Universal Xpression show featuring a joyful performance by reggae legend Calypso Rose.
The Main Stage was set for the Detroit All-Star Revue featuring an aural tour of some of the best new and classic voices in the Motor City music scene.
I'd heard a lot about Detroit's Mosaic Youth Theater Singers, but I'd never seen these talented performers before, so it was a real treat to see them kick off the revue with a big song-and-dance number.
Drew Schultz and Detroit Legends was another act that spoke to encouraging young musical talent by spotlighting a new release called "Back to Class", a project that young percussionist Schultz conceived to honor classic Detroit talent and nurture up-and-coming Detroit talent. Schultz learned a lot about music and life by performing with some of the great Detroit soul talent as a very young man. He realized many of Detroit's music legends came through the Detroit Public Schools, and his debut record features many of them performing songs written, arranged and produced by Schultz as a benefit for the music programs in the Detroit Public Schools. Several of Shultz' special guests appeared with him on stage.
Other local favorites filling the Revue bill included the Howling Diablos, the classically bluesy Rev. Robert and Sister Bernice Jones, The Hounds Below, the HandGrenades, rap duo Passalacqua, Horse Cave Trio, Jeecy and the Jungle, guitar virtuosos Emanuel Young and Howard Glazer, Katie Grace, the soulful stylings of Pat Lewis and the powerful voice of Ty Stone.
Wayne Kramer of Detroit's legendary MC5 performed a rip-your-head-off version of his classic (and unexpurgated) "Kick Out the Jams" to close the show, leaving everyone defiantly optimistic about the Detroit music scene and appreciative of its wonderful rich history.
Concert of Colors founder Ismael Ahmed took the stage one last time to remind the audience about the festival's main message: We're all brothers and sisters unified by the music and that we should all take care of each other, which was the perfect note on which to conclude the concert experience for us.
Want to check out some of the music we heard for yourself? Here are some Amazon links for music from the Candy Band, Ozomatli, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Jeffery Broussard and The Creole Cowboys, Calypso Rose, Drew Schultz, Spyder Turner, The Hounds Below, Horse Cave Trio, the Howling Diablos, Jeecy and the Jungle, Emanuel Young, Howard Glazer, Katie Grace, Pat Lewis, Ty Stone and Wayne Kramer. I found that you can even get your own Fender Wayne Kramer Signature electric guitar with the Stars-and-Stripes design on it at Amazon!
Be sure to check out Tim's post from yesterday about Ozomatli's performance with the DSO at the Concert of Colors
© Dominique King 2013 All rights reserved
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