Don Was is a busy guy. He’s the president of Blue Note Records, the iconic jazz label. He has an office in the Capitol Records Tower, the 13-story building in Hollywood that was built to resemble a stack of records. He’s been a figure on the LA music biz scene for decades. He’s 72 years old. So what’s he doing playing a club date in Cleveland on a Thursday night in February?
Let’s just say he’s leaving LA for a short-term rendezvous with two of his lifelong loves: his hometown of Detroit and playing music. The bassist, producer and executive is bringing his new band, the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, to the Music Box Supper Club on February 11.
Pay attention to that name. it’s Pan-Detroit because Detroit music contains multitudes: from the one-chord blues of John Lee Hooker to the elegant pianism of Tommy Flanagan to the soaring sanctification of Aretha Franklin to the riotous sneer of Iggy Pop. It’s all in there and to Was’ finely attuned ear, it’s all of a piece–and uniquely Midwestern.
“There’s something that happens in the Midwest working-class towns like Detroit or Cleveland,” Was said. “When I grew up Detroit was like a one-industry town, right? So everybody’s in the same boat, and as a result you get a pretty honest population in these working-class towns and the music reflects that.”
He cites Hooker’s music as emblematic of the phenomenon. “It’s about as raw and unpretentious as you can get. You almost think the groove is going to just fall apart, but it doesn’t. It’s soulful and it’s and it grooves twice as hard as anything you’re going to hear out of New York or LA.”
Was is a veteran of the music scenes in those two coastal behemoths, first with his band Was (Not Was) (remember “Walk Your Dinosaur?”), then as a producer for artists as diverse as Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Wayne Shorter, the B-52s and the Rolling Stones.
Still, Detroit–the music and the city where he still has a home–is the bedrock on which his life in music has been built. “I try to get there at least once a month,” Was said “I love Detroit. It’s a great place to be.”
It’s also a great place to find musicians who embody the soul of the city, the pan-Detroit sound. “I’ve been playing with Dave [McMurray} for 45 years,” Was said of the Ensemble’s saxophonist. “Luis Resto, the keyboard player, I hired for his first session when he was a teenager back in 1980 and he’s been Eminem’s collaborator. [Trombonist] Vincent Chandler has the jazz studies program at Wayne State University.
“John Douglas who’s a great jazz player, has done a lot of time touring with versions of The Temptations and Four Tops and Bettye LaVette for a long time. {Drummer] Jeff Canaday, he’s the youngest guy in the band, but he’s played with Michael Henderson David McMurray’s group.” Vocalist Steffanie Christi’an, guitarist Wayne Gerard and percussionist Mahindi Masai round out the group.
With a band as versatile as this one, don’t expect a rote jukebox evening of Detroit’s greatest hits. “We don’t really limit ourselves to that,” Was said of his setlist. “We’ve got some Yusef Lateef, we got a Henry Threadgill song, I think we’ll do.some Curtis Mayfield, a couple of Was (Not Was) songs, some Grateful Dead, Cameo–a little bit of everything.”
As for the bass player who began playing around Detroit in the tumultuous ‘60s and who has an executive job with a big entertainment conglomerate, what keeps him going at 72?
“Well, thankfully I’m healthy, so nothing hurts too badly,” he said with a chuckle. “So I feel good, but there’s something that happens when you play live, and as you get better, you experience it more. It is the most exhilarating feeling I know, and you just get addicted to it.
“At 72 I’m aware that I’ve got, if I’m lucky, 10 years of good hands left before I got to start fighting my fingers as opposed to letting them lead the way. And I want to get better. I just want to do it more and more and more. So I’m on a mission here.”
Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, Thursday., Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m., Music Box, 1148 Main Avenue, Cleveland, Tickets $35-55 available here.
NOTE: This article was written by a real human being. No artificial intelligence or generative language models were used in its creation.
Red beans and ricely yours,
jc
