Articles
Bassist Redux: The Rhythm & Tempo of Ray McKinney
by Jim Gallert
McKinney, poet, musician, griot is another of Detroit’s fine bassists. He’s worked with Max Roach, Olatunji, Barry Harris and Roland Hanna, to name only a few. more »
Bobo Jenkins: A Bluesman’s Journey
By Fred Reif
Bobo (1916–1984) was quite a character, but more than anyone else at the time, singlehandedly breathed life into Detroit’s often-overlooked blues scene. more »
by Lars Bjorn and Jim Gallert
King (1911 – 1992) led the houseband at Detroit’s fabled Flame Show Bar, primary outlet for black entertainment in the 1950s. He was Music Director at the Fox Theater, wrote music for “A Century Of Progress”, arranger/music director for the Spinners. But he was much more than the sum of his many talents. Gallert (and Bjorn) chronicle his life and times. more »
Bebop and Beyond:
Sheila Jordan Speaks
By Charles L. Latimer
Although a bebopper at heart, Jordan has performed with musicians as diverse as trumpeter Don Cherry, vocalist Carla Bley, pianist Don Pullen and trombonist Roswell Rudd. more »
Baker's Keyboard Lounge:
A Detroit Classic
by Lars Bjorn and Jim Gallert
From its humble beginnings in 1934, Baker's grew into THE club in Detroit associated with jazz. Bjorn and Gallert provide a concise history of this world-famous nightspot. more »
Willie Anderson: Forgotten Detroit Piano Wizard
by Lars Bjorn and Jim Gallert
When Detroit pianists are discussed, Willie A is rarely if ever mentioned. Yet some musicians think he was the greatest of them all. more »
Mathew Rucker and the
Spirits of Swing
by Lars Bjorn and Jim Gallert
Trumpeter Mathew Rucker’s late-1930s band included his lifelong friend Bill Evans (Yusef Lateef) and future Motown session man Willie Shorter. He led bands in the city until he quit the music business to drive a cab. He ended up owning Blue Eagle Cab Company. more »
Blue Sensation:
The Todd Rhodes story
by Jim Gallert
Rhodes (1900 – 1965) had a career which spanned sixty years, from McKinney’s Syncos (later McKinney’s Cotton Pickers) to his own band, a red-hot R&B combo that recorded a series of brilliant discs for Sensation and King.
Johnny Allen: Detroit Piano Man
by Jim Gallert
Pianist, arranger, composer, bandleader… Allen led the Club Congo Orchestra, a focal point for younger Detroit musicians in the early 1940s, played with Bull Moose Jackson, Lucky Millinder, toiled in the Motown studios, worked at practically every club in the city.
Alma Smith: The Countess Of Swing
by Jim Gallert
Pianist Alma Smith has created music since she was a little girl in the 1930s. A child prodigy, Smith began working professionally while in her teens and never stopped! She's a fine Organist and plays a mean set of vibes – just ask Terry Gibbs! more »
