Wynton Marsalis, Twyla Tharp, 'Groundhog Day,' Black artists: Your weekend in metro Detroit

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31-01-2025

Metro Detroit is punching back at winter weather with another packed weekend of great arts options in the region. Here are eight to catch between here and Monday:
In a first-ever collaboration between two historic, local civil rights organizations, the Detroit Branch NAACP and the Dayton, Ohio Branch NAACP have partnered with Detroit's Carr Center for 'Everyday People,' a vibrant display of paintings, photographs, sculptures, and mixed media works that immortalize the ordinary moments of life. With contributions from celebrated artists such as Dean Mitchell, Ronald Jackson, Kevin Williams, Robert Peterson, Sabrina Nelson, Mario Moore, and Ernie Barnes, this exhibition highlights the extraordinary in the everyday. Part one of this show opens Friday, Jan. 31, with a reception from 5-8 p.m. and runs through April 11.
The Carr Center at the Park Shelton, 15 E. Kirby St., Detroit. thecarrcenter.org. Free to attend.
Wynton Marsalis and the 15-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) return to the University of Michigan's Hill Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 1, for a celebration of the cool jazz and hard bop movements in American jazz history. JLCO saxophonist Sherman Irby is the co-music director of this program, which explores the shared themes of these two genres. The performance includes reinterpretations of iconic recordings by Miles Davis, the Modern Jazz Quartet, the Max Roach-Clifford Brown Quintet, Horace Silver, and Art Blakey, alongside newly commissioned works by Benny Green and Luther Allison.
Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor. ums.org. Limited tickets remaining, starting at $46.
Sunday at 4 p.m. at Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater, UMS will host a screening of 'The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit,' the first documentary film that explores the dynamic story of Detroit's innovative and influential jazz musicians. Set within Detroit's dramatic rise and fall as an industrial power and the struggles and triumphs of its African American community, the film features interviews with many great Detroit jazz musicians. Writer and producer (and former Free Press reporter) Mark Stryker will discuss the film in a Q&A after the screening.
Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor. ums.org. Free; sign up at link.
Related: Documentary debuting at Freep Film Fest explores Detroit as powerhouse of musical culture
More: 'More Than Motown' Black History Month lecture will explore Detroit's rich musical legacy
Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp celebrates her 60th anniversary with a Coast-to-Coast tour featuring her Olivier-nominated 'Diabelli,' set to Beethoven's masterpiece the Diabelli Variations. The first and only choreographer to take on the intensely demanding and demonically complex work, Tharp makes visible the elegant humor and depth of the composer's layered genius. The program also features a new work, 'SLACKTIDE,' in collaboration with composer Philip Glass, their first since 1986. A reimagining of Glass's 'Aguas de Amazonia' score is augmented with new music and accompanied live by Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion, performed on a unique collection of custom-designed percussion instruments. They'll perform twice: Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway St., Detroit. detroitopera.org. Tickets start at $30.
While covering the annual Groundhog Day celebration in upstate New York, a jaded weatherman (Bill Murray at his finest) lives the same day over and over again in the life-affirming 1993 cult classic "Groundhog Day." The beloved film will be screened at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2 (Groundhog Day itself!) at Detroit's Redford Theatre.
Redford Theatre, 17360 Lahser Rd., Detroit. redfordtheatre.com. Tickets $7 general admission, $5 for kids and seniors.
Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Friends of African and African American Art will present the 32nd Annual Alain Locke International Award to artist and Michigan native Titus Kaphar for his work as an artist, sculptor, and filmmaker, creating socially and politically powerful works that reflect on the experiences of Black Americans and his own life story. The Alain Locke Recognition Award will be received by Detroit-based artist and former Free Press photographer Rashaun Rucker, renowned for his drawings, sculptures, printmaking, and installation art.
Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit. dia.org. Free with registration; a reception will follow.
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Detroit's Wasserman Projects gallery will open its winter 2025 season on Saturday with a solo presentation of Gerhardt Knodel's new and recent work in 'Imagined Futures,' a colorful exhibition that invites us to drift into his immersive and magical world. Multiple dimensions of Knodel's four-year adventure through Sumatra inspire reflection on the potency of cultural inheritance as a resource for contemporary action. Saturday's opening will include a reception with the artist from 5-8 p.m. The exhibition will remain on view through April 26.
Wasserman Projects, 3434 Russell St. #502, Detroit. wassermanprojects.com. Free to attend.
Friday from 5-7 p.m. at the University of Michigan's GallerDAAS hosts the opening reception for 'Devotion,' a powerful exhibition of paintings by Jonathan Harris and murals by the School of Jon Onye Lockard. Harris (1988 – ) and Lockard (1932 – 2015), both native Detroiters, span generations and time, but their art engages in similar topics of current events and the issues of the African Diaspora. Using vibrant colors and powerful themes, the two artists have attained reputations for their commanding styles of painting that reveal their incredible imaginations.
GalleryDAAS, inside Haven Hall, 505 S. State St., Ann Arbor. Free to attend.
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Wynton Marsalis, 'Groundhog Day' and more: Your weekend in metro Detroit