20th Concert of Color Delivers a Motor City Throwdown
A landmark year for a beloved Detroit music festival will be both celebratory and a little sad, as Concert of Colors unites One Metropolitan Area Under a Groove with headliner George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, at 8:30 p.m. Sun., July 15, on the Meijer Main Stage, Orchestra Hall, while also paying tribute to the legendary Detroit jazz/avant garde innovator Faruq Z. Bey, who passed away late last month.
Presented this year by its first-ever title sponsor, the Ford Foundation, the 20th Concert of Colors kicks off at 8 p.m. Sat., July 7 as Meshell Ndegeocello plays a Tune-Up Concert @ New Center Park, courtesy of the festival’s newest partner, Midtown Detroit Inc. Festival partners include the Arab American National Museum, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and ACCESS.
On Thu., July 12 the main festival kicks into gear at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History with family-friendly hip-hop maestro Mike-E and his AfroFlow & Friends; picks up speed Fri., July 13 at the Detroit Institute of Arts with PuppetSlam Detroit! and two sets by Quebec’s De Temps Antan; then pegs the odometer at the Max M. Fisher Music Center Sat. and Sun., July 14-15, led by the 5th anniversary of the Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue Revue (8:15 p.m. Sat., July 14, Meijer Main Stage, Orchestra Hall); the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with special guests Wu Man (China’s most famous traditional musician, making her DSO debut) and Eric Jacobsen (3:30 p.m. Sun., July 15, Meijer Main Stage, Orchestra Hall); and Detroit’s own crazy man Clinton closing out the festival in one of the city’s finest, most historic venues – a once-in-a-lifetime combination.
Bey, thought to be about 70 at his passing, gave a mystical, transcendent performance on the inaugural Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue at the 2008 Concert of Colors; view that performance HERE. He was set to return to this year’s Revue, which features an all-Detroit-jazz lineup to mark its 5th anniversary. Bey is best known for leading the jazz/avant garde outfit Griot Galaxy. During a meeting yesterday, Was, Revue guest curator Marion Hayden and Concert of Colors founder Ismael Ahmed agreed that Bey would absolutely remain on the Revue in spirit and via a special tribute already being planned.
Confirmed to appear on the 5th Detroit All-Star Revue are: Marion Hayden, James Carter, Sheila Jordan, Regina Carter, Marcus Belgrave, Wendell Harrison, Amp Fiddler, Dennis Coffey, A. Spencer Barefield, Joan Belgrave and Surprise Special Guests to be announced.
As president of the renowned jazz record label Blue Note, Was – the multiple Grammy Award-winning producer who grew up in Oak Park, Michigan – has arranged for rehearsals of this year’s Revue to be recorded and issued as a benefit CD for food programs at Detroit’s Focus: HOPE. And as it has every year since the Revue began, the website My Damn Channel www.mydamnchannel.com – one of TIME Magazine’s 50 Best Websites of 2011 – will produce music videos of each Revue live performance; click HERE to view 2008-2011 Revue videos and dozens more videos of Was-endorsed acts.
More July 14-15 highlights:
Joining the aforementioned headliners on the Meijer Main Stage, Orchestra Hall are the Tito Puente, Jr. Orchestra (Latin/jazz), Malika Zarra (world/jazz), and Oliver Mtukudzi and The Black Spirits (African traditional/pop).
On the Comerica Diversity Stage, listen for Universal Xpression (Caribbean), BlackMahal (Punjabi punk), indie rockers The Bell Beat and Native American fusion by Joe Reilly and the Community Gardeners.
The University of Michigan – Detroit Center/Michigan State University Community Music School Outdoor Stage has a fascinating range of performances that tap our region’s club scene and burgeoning grassroots talent, including BombaRica (Latin), DJ Captn20 (dance/electronic) and swingin’ jazz vocalist Ben Sharkey.
New for 2012 is a Food Truck Meet-Up on the Max M. Fisher Music Center grounds July 14-15, led by Scott Moloney, who owns Ferndale’s Treat Dreams ice cream shop and has been organizing highly successful food truck gatherings in Midtown, Royal Oak and elsewhere in recent years. The trucks will offer diverse menus reflecting the Concert of Colors mission to celebrate the many cultures and ethnicities in metro Detroit and our nation by presenting music from around the world, including the indigenous music of Detroit.
The food trucks join traditional vendors offering food, drink and merchandise inside and outside the Center; an old-fashioned ice cream social returns to St. Patrick’s Church behind the Center as well. And throughout the weekend, kids and families may enjoy family-friendly performances and a hands-on crafts area.
The complete lineup for the 20th Concert of Colors appears at www.concertofcolors.com. All performances and museum admission are free and open to the public. Visit the website for artist biographies and links, schedule updates and other news.
The festival partners salute the 2012 slate of corporations, media outlets and community groups making this year’s event possible as well as all those that have supported it in ways large and small throughout its 20-year history. On behalf of our audiences and our region, Thank You!