Subscriptions starting at $97 on sale now at dso.org/jazz
Terence Blanchard returns as DSO’s Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair for 2023–2024 Paradise Jazz Series season, performs with conguero Poncho Sanchez on April 19
Guest artists include Makaya McCraven, Endea Owens, Kenny Garrett, Branford Marsalis, Don Was, Kris Johnson, and more
Detroit, (April 12, 2023) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) today announced the 2023–2024 Paradise Jazz Series featuring six concerts on the Orchestra Hall stage, with ticket packages now available for purchase. The new season’s artists include Terence Blanchard (Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair at the DSO), Poncho Sanchez, Makaya McCraven, Endea Owens, Kenny Garrett, Branford Marsalis, Don Was, Kris Johnson, and more.
The series kicks off on Friday, October 13, 2023 with a star-studded double bill featuring Makaya McCraven and Endea Owens. Paris-born, Massachusetts-raised, Chicago-based drummer, composer, and producer Makaya McCraven is a multi-talented "cultural synthesizer" whose inventive process and intuitive, cinematic sound defies categorization. Makaya presents his latest project, In These Times, his most ambitious and personal album to date that topped Billboard Charts and made “Best Of” lists for NPR, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times. One of jazz’s most vibrant emerging artists, the Detroit-born Grammy Award-winning bassist Endea Owens makes her Paradise Jazz Series debut with her band The Cookout. One of jazz’s most vibrant emerging artists, Detroit-born Grammy Award-winning bassist Endea Owens makes her Paradise Jazz Series debut with her band The Cookout.
On Friday, November 17, 2023, the Paradise Theatre Big Band led by Grammy Award-nominated trumpeter, composer, and arranger Kris Johnson, represents a multi-generational group of musicians who were raised in the Detroit traditions of versatility, mentorship, and innovation. The ensemble honors the legacy of Detroit’s Paradise Valley and Black Bottom neighborhoods that served as a beacon of Black culture from 1920–1950. During the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s hiatus from their famed venue on Woodward Avenue, Orchestra Hall reopened as the Paradise Theatre from 1941–1951, hosting some of the most well-known acts and big bands in Black entertainment from across the country.
On Friday, February 23, 2024, saxophonist Kenny Garrett takes Orchestra Hall stage. Garrett has made marvelous sounds for more than 30 years. Having worked with Miles Davis, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, his career is a roll call of legends. Recognized as one of modern jazz’s brightest and most influential living masters, Garrett’s latest project sees the saxophonist “at the top of his game” (Glide Magazine).
On Friday, April 5, 2024, saxophonist Branford Marsalis presents an evening of music in Orchestra Hall. Marsalis is a visionary musician who sets the standard. Growing up in the music-rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, his career beginnings included Art Blakey’s legendary Jazz Messengers. Forming his own quartet in 1986, Marsalis leads a group that has long been recognized as “one of the most cohesive, intense small jazz ensembles on the scene” (Associated Press).
On Friday, April 19, 2024, DSO Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair and trumpeter Terence Blanchard and conguero Poncho Sanchez together will present an exciting program expressing “Latin jazz in perfect form” (Offbeat) inspired by the musical collaboration of Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo in the 1940s. Two modern masters in their own right, multi-Grammy Award-winners Blanchard and Sanchez make the ideal pair to recall, reimagine, and advance the powerful rhythms of the past.
The series wraps up on Friday May 24, 2024, with prolific Detroit-born bassist Don Was. Was is a six-time Grammy Award-winning bassist, record producer, and president of the legendary jazz label, Blue Note Records. As a co-founder of the group Was (Not Was), he has long sought to weave the city’s rich legacy of jazz, R&B and rock n’ roll into a new, exotic strain of music. His latest band, The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, is a further step in that quest.
Subscriptions are on sale now for the 2023–2024 Paradise Jazz Series, beginning at $97 for the entire season. Subscribe by visiting dso.org/jazz, calling 313.576.5111, or visiting the DSO Box Office (3711 Woodward Avenue, Detroit; open Monday-Friday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.). Single tickets for Paradise Jazz Series concerts will go on sale at a later date. Details about webcasts for select jazz concerts next season are to be announced.
Currently in its 24th season, the Paradise Jazz Series is named for and honors the legacy of the Paradise Theatre, the historic Detroit jazz venue that was on the site of Orchestra Hall from 1941–1951. The DSO is one of few major American orchestras to present regular jazz programming on its main stage. Learn more about the series at dso.org/jazz.
The Paradise Jazz Series is supported by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, Huntington, MGM Grand Detroit, and DownBeat magazine.
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2023-2024 PARADISE JAZZ SERIES
All concerts at Orchestra Hall within the Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center (3711 Woodward Avenue, Detroit).
Programs and artists subject to change.
Please note: the DSO does not appear on these performances.
MAKAYA MCCRAVEN: IN THESE TIMES WITH THE URBAN ART ORCHESTRA
ENDEA OWENS & THE COOKOUT
Friday, October 13, 2023 at 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Makaya McCraven, drums
Junius Paul, bass
Matt Gold, guitar
Joel Ross, vibes
De'Sean Jones, tenor saxophone
Marquis Hill, trumpet
Greg Ward, alto saxophone
Endea Owens, bass
Urban Art Orchestra, ensemble
Paris-born, Massachusetts-raised, Chicago-based drummer, composer, and producer Makaya McCraven is a multi-talented "cultural synthesizer" whose inventive process and intuitive, cinematic sound defies categorization. Makaya presents his latest project, In These Times, his most ambitious and personal album to date that topped Billboard Charts and made “Best Of” lists for NPR, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.
Raised in Detroit and one of jazz’s most vibrant emerging artists, Grammy Award-winning bassist Endea Owens has toured with Wynton Marsalis, Diana Ross, Solange, and Jon Batiste. Endea makes her Paradise Jazz Series debut with her band The Cookout.
PARADISE THEATRE BIG BAND
Friday, November 17, 2024, at 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Kris Johnson, trumpet/bandleader
Paradise Theatre Big Band, ensemble
Led by Grammy Award-nominated trumpeter, composer, and arranger Kris Johnson, the Paradise Theatre Big Band represents a multi-generational group of musicians who were raised in the Detroit traditions of versatility, mentorship, and innovation. Formed by the Detroit Symphony in 2022 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Paradise Theatre, this dynamic ensemble features some of the most talented musicians from the Detroit music scene and prides itself on innovative arrangements and hard hitting, genre-bending performances.
The Paradise Theatre Big Band honors the legacy of Detroit’s Paradise Valley and Black Bottom neighborhoods that served as a beacon of Black culture from 1920–1950. During the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s hiatus from their famed venue on Woodward Avenue, Orchestra Hall reopened as the Paradise Theatre from 1941–1951, hosting some of the most well-known acts and big bands in black entertainment from across the country.
KENNY GARRETT
Friday, February 23, 2024 at 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Kenny Garrett, alto saxophone
Keith Brown, piano
Rudy Bird, percussion
Corcoran Holt, bass
Ronald Bruner, drums
Melvis Santa, vocals and piano
Kenny Garrett has made marvelous sounds for more than 30 years. Having worked with Miles Davis, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, his career is a roll call of legends. Recognized as one of modern jazz’s brightest and most influential living masters, Garrett’s latest project see the saxophonist “at the top of his game” (Glide Magazine).
AN EVENING WITH BRANFORD MARSALIS
Friday, April 5, 2024 at 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Branford Marsalis, saxophone
Branford Marsalis is a visionary musician who sets the standard. Growing up in the music-rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, his career beginnings included Art Blakey’s legendary Jazz Messengers. Forming his own quartet in 1986, Marsalis leads a group that has long been recognized as “one of the most cohesive, intense small jazz ensembles on the scene” (Associated Press).
TERENCE BLANCHARD & PONCHO SANCHEZ: CHANO Y DIZZY
Friday, April 19, 2024 at 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Terence Blanchard, trumpet
Poncho Sanchez, congas
Inspired by the musical collaboration of Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo in the 1940s, DSO Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair and trumpeter Terence Blanchard and conguero Poncho Sanchez express “Latin jazz in perfect form” (Offbeat). Two modern masters in their own right, multi-Grammy Award-winners Blanchard and Sanchez make the ideal pair to recall, reimagine, and advance the powerful rhythms of the past.
DON WAS
Friday, May 24, 2024 at 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Don Was, bass
Born and raised in Detroit, Don Was is a six-time Grammy Award-winning bassist, record producer and president of the legendary jazz label, Blue Note Records. As a co-founder of the group Was (Not Was), he has long sought to weave the city’s rich legacy of jazz, R&B and rock n’ roll into a new, exotic strain of music. His latest band, The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, is a further step in that quest.
Was has worked with a wide array of artists ranging from Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt, John Mayer, and Willie Nelson to Wayne Shorter, Charles Lloyd, Dr Lonnie Smith, and Robert Glasper. He won the Producer of the Year Grammy in 1995.
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About Terence Blanchard
Trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and educator Terence Blanchard has served as the DSO’s Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair since 2012. Blanchard has performed and recorded with many of jazz’s superstars and currently leads the celebrated E-Collective. He is also well-known for his decades-long collaboration with filmmaker Spike Lee, scoring more than 15 of Lee’s movies since the early 1990s. 2018’s BlacKkKlansman earned Blanchard his first Academy Award nomination, with a second Academy Award nomination in 2021 for Da 5 Bloods. In and out of the film world, Blanchard has received 14 Grammy nominations and six wins, as well as nominations for Emmy, Golden Globe, Sierra, and Soul Train Music awards.
A New Orleans native, Blanchard was childhood friends with Wynton Marsalis and studied jazz at Rutgers University. He was invited to play with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra in 1982 and later joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He debuted his first solo recording in 1991 and has released more than a dozen acclaimed albums since; he has appeared as a collaborator or sideman on a dozen more. Blanchard’s latest album with the E-Collective, Absence, features music written and inspired by jazz legend Wayne Shorter and was released by Blue Note Records in August 2021.
Blanchard has held artistic leadership positions at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, Monterey Jazz Festival, Berklee College of Music, and Henry Mancini Institute at the University of Miami.
Learn more at terenceblanchard.com.
About the DSO
The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. As a community-supported orchestra, generous giving by individuals and institutions at all levels drives the continued success and growth of the organization. In January 2020, Italian conductor Jader Bignamini was named the DSO’s next music director to commence with the 2020-2021 season. Celebrated conductor, arranger, and trumpeter Jeff Tyzik is the orchestra’s Principal Pops Conductor, while Oscar-nominated trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard holds the Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair.
Making its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, the DSO offers a performance schedule that features PVS Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. One of the world’s most acoustically perfect concert halls, Orchestra Hall celebrated its centennial in 2019-2020. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in seven metro area venues, as well as a robust schedule of eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings.
A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts, which also reaches tens of thousands of children with the Classroom Edition expansion. With growing attendance and unwavering philanthropic support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to embrace and inspire individuals, families, and communities through unsurpassed musical experiences.