The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit

While Detroit music may mean Motown Records to some, this dynamic film documents that you can’t tell the history of jazz without telling the history of jazz from Detroit – and even Motown would not have been possible without jazz in the Motor City.

Through copious interviews of the giants who shaped the sound and a compelling narrative inspired by Mark Stryker’s 2019 book, Jazz From Detroit, the film reveals how many internationally-renowned jazz greats – Hank, Thad, and Elvin Jones, Milt Jackson, Yusef Lateef, Donald Byrd, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, Ron Carter and many more – were Detroiters and the powerful role that city and its culture have played creating this music.

By connecting the dots between Detroit’s unique history and its innovative and influential legacy of Black musical excellence, the film is, as DownBeat calls it, “a landmark.”

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Following the presentation, there will be a 30-minute Q&A with the audience.