Branford Marsalis has been named the 2006-07 Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Jazz Creative Director and will lead off a panel of esteemed musicians and jazz educators in Detroit.
On Wednesday, April 11, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra will pay its respects to “Jazz Appreciation Month” with its first DSO Jazz Symposium. The event is free and open to the public (reservations are necessary) and will be held in the Music Box at the Max. M. Fisher Music Center.
In addition to Marsalis, the panel will include award-winning jazz pianist and Associate Professor at the University of Michigan Geri Allen; Dr. John Edward Hasse, Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the founder of Jazz Appreciation Month; author, poet and critic A.B. Spellman; Mack Avenue Records A&R Vice President Al Pryor; and Rodney Whitaker, jazz bassist and director of the jazz program at Michigan State University.
Nationally recognized classical and jazz critic Mark Stryker of the Detroit Free Press will moderate the Symposium. The panel will discuss topics involving the future of jazz education, race and culture in the development of jazz, and the impact technology will have on the future of jazz.
“Jazz is a critically important part of DSO history, ever since the 1940s when Orchestra Hall was the Paradise Theater,” said DSO President and Executive Director Anne Parsons in a press release. “It is also a huge part of what makes Detroit such a great music city.”
On May 17, Marsalis will make a return trip to Detroit with his quartet to appear on the DSO’s LaSalle Bank Paradise Jazz Series. Ticket information is available at the official DSO website.
Originally Published