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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
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Big Sean to join Detroit Symphony in June for an evening of orchestral hip-hop
One of the most unconventional concerts of Big Sean's career will happen June 29, when the rapper joins his hometown Detroit Symphony Orchestra for an evening of music. The Detroit star will lead an Orchestra Hall bill that includes fellow rappers Skilla Baby, Tee Grizzley, Illa J, Nasaan and Queen Naija for a show blending hip-hop and orchestral arrangements, complete with a DSO segment honoring the late J Dilla. The show is presented in part by the Detroit Pistons, where Big Sean serves as the creative director of innovation. Ticket proceeds will benefit the Detroit Pistons Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan and Big Sean's Sean Anderson Foundation. It's the second big hip-hop-meets-symphony show on the books for this summer: Atlanta rapper Jeezy will play the Fox Theatre Sept. 12 with his own orchestral spin on the hits. Tickets for the Big Sean-DSO concert start at $75 and will go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday through Ticketmaster. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Big Sean to join DSO in June for an evening of orchestral hip-hop
Chicago Tribune
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Review: CSO music-director-to-be Klaus Mäkelä faces his orchestra — and the work ahead
At a Chicago Symphony rehearsal this week open to the press and orchestra donors, music director designate Klaus Mäkelä halted the orchestra while working on Dvořák's Symphony No. 7. 'We know it will be a long line, yeah?' he said to the violins. As he said it, the young conductor assumed the stance of an explorer, shielding his eyes and pointing to an imagined horizon. Reflecting on Mäkelä's appearances on April 24 and May 1, I returned again and again to this directive. Both concerts evinced the infectious energy and sonic dazzle that inspired the CSO to hire him in the first place. But they also probed ensemble areas which require investment and attention — that 'long line,' so to speak, made even longer by the fact that Mäkelä doesn't fully assume the CSO post until 2027. Last week, he returned to Gustav Mahler, the composer whose symphony sealed Mäkelä's partnership with the CSO and who will be the subject of an upcoming orchestral summit in Amsterdam, another home-base-to-be for the Finnish conductor. His choice of repertoire was characteristically ambitious: Mahler's Third Symphony, the longest in the standard repertoire at about 100 minutes long. This time around, Mäkelä didn't relay the same end-to-end momentum and delicious abandon as 2023's Fifth — still a high bar for Mahlers at Orchestra Hall, under any baton. Instead, Mäkelä's Third dwelt on the CSO's impassioned ensemble sound. He had much to love: After a sleepy couple of months at Orchestra Hall, hearing the CSO give their all under Mäkelä was like a blast of fresh alpine air. (The orchestra was similarly energized under conductor Jaap van Zweden, which bodes well for their forthcoming tour to Amsterdam's Mahler Festival together.) The first movement is pocked with all-orchestra rests, which tend to give the music an air-clearing effect. Under Mäkelä, the silences themselves sung, articulating the music's bleakness rather than offering a respite from it. If a symphony must embrace everything, as Mahler's old saw goes, it must, too, embrace silence. After a mostly moment-by-moment first movement, a reverent sixth and final movement hit that point home, its spaciousness calling back to the symphony's introduction with far-sighted acuity. Last week's Mahler 3 also marked Mäkelä's first CSO appearance with singers. Based on Thursday's performance, vocalists — both solo and ensemble — seem to be in good hands. Contralto Wiebke Lehmkuhl sang her fourth-movement solo with elemental authority, her phrasing thoughtful and vowels warmly rounded. In the fifth movement, the treble voices of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Uniting Voices Chicago (formerly Chicago Children's Choir) melded, handsomely, into one ringing body. It helped that Mäkelä cloaked the orchestra's sound ever so slightly for the benefit of the soloist and singers, just as he did for last year's Shostakovich cello concerto. Even Lehmkuhl's low-middle range landed squarely for listeners in the lower balcony. Against the Mahler, Mäkelä's Dvořák 7 (continuing through this weekend) came away as a more cohesive musical statement. In performance, Mäkelä maintained that 'long line' through the entire piece: Returning motives varied slightly but effortlessly, as though being sung in real time. The string hiccup beginning the Scherzo theme was whistle-clean; rather than beating through busy sections, Mäkelä resurrected his favored move of pointing at instruments with moving lines, or, occasionally, mouthing along to them. The third movement melted into the fourth with ease, making natural bedfellows of two very different movements. The performance seemed to just flow as though coasting across the score, rather than the Mahler's burrowing. The ride was bumpier on the rest of the May 1 program. Programming Pierre Boulez's 'Initiale,' a brass septet, was a great idea in theory: The late conductor-composer's centenary has been mostly overlooked at Orchestra Hall, and at four minutes long, the piece is plenty audience-friendly, not to mention a showcase for the storied CSO brass. Instead, the performance was dispiritingly coarse, only gaining confidence and clarity as it went on — which, for a piece that short, is too little, too late. Pianist and artist-in-residence Daniil Trifonov's appearance with the orchestra, playing Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2, also improved as it went along. The fearsomely talented pianist tends to follow his own whims behind the keyboard — a guarantee of fresh and sometimes idiosyncratic performances, like Thursday's. (Mäkelä again impressed in his solo support role here, catching Trifonov's fluctuations with eagle-eyed precision.) All the Trifonov hallmarks were there: rubbery, supple hands that glide across the keyboard, and an unabashed interiority that gives the sense, at times, that Trifonov is playing for an audience of one. Trifonov carried that spirit forward into the final Allegretto grazioso movement, its first notes beginning with the same awed hush as the end of the Andante. More uncharacteristically, the typically impeccable pianist tripped a couple times in Thursday's performance: a note flub in the first movement, a brief brain freeze in an exposed moment in the second. One wonders if that, on top of the concerto's immense bulk, played into the exacting Trifonov's decision to leave audiences with just a whiff of an encore: Chopin's Prelude No. 10, all of 30 seconds long. CSO musicians delivered on the concerto's big solo moments, mostly. Principal cellist John Sharp sang above the haze of the Andante with a noble tone and tender phrasing. So did assistant principal horn Daniel Gingrich, his sound willowy and fluid. Less so for his colleague, principal horn Mark Almond, whose opening horn call kicks off the concerto. Almond has seen a few strong performances in recent months, including a poised turn in Jaap van Zweden's Mahler 7 last month. But his features in Mäkela's concert weeks — in Mahler 3 and the Brahms — sounded tentative in the extreme. Mahler 3 likewise saw some good nights for principals and troubled nights for others. Principal trumpet Esteban Batallán returned for these concerts with a post horn solo to remember, wistfully sounding from Orchestra Hall's rafters. (Mahler's score directs the soloist to emulate the effect of a horn call moving closer; in these performances, Batallán actually did so, playing his first solo from the fifth floor corridor, his second from the entrance to the hall's ceiling, and his final solo directly above the stage, on a catwalk.) Concertmaster Robert Chen, settling back into the orchestra after a pinched nerve, saw opposite fortunes in the first movement, with stoic solos that often trotted ahead of his colleagues and Mäkelä's beat. Ups and downs in various principal seats only made trombonist Timothy Higgins' contributions, leading that section, all the more commendable. After winning the CSO's principal trombone audition last month, Higgins, of the San Francisco Symphony, has joined the orchestra for some trial weeks, starting with van Zweden's Mahler 7. But it was Mahler 3, and the first movement's many trombone solos, that were his true testing ground. Over the course of the movement, brawny eloquence gave way to vulnerability, as though he was curling inwards — a unified statement across the movement's sprawl. A week later, Higgins was MVP again as an anchor in the rough tides of the Boulez. If the deal gets sealed, Higgins will be Mäkelä's second hire to the orchestra after violinist Gabriela Lara — also a standout player. The last three weeks would indicate he's passed, colors a-flying. Hannah Edgar is a freelance critic. The Rubin Institute for Music Criticism helps fund our classical music coverage. The Chicago Tribune maintains editorial control over assignments and content. Program repeats 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and again 3 p.m. on Sun., May 4; tickets $75-$399 at Also worth noting The arts calendar has gotten fuller in recent weeks. Chicago Opera Theater announced its coming season, with Chicago premieres of works by Kurt Weill and Antonio Salieri, while the Grant Park Music Festival and CSO have grown theirs slightly. Grant Park adds a performance by violinist Joshua Bell on Aug. 6, and the CSO tacks on concerts of John Williams' film music (June 23, 2026), the Ravi Shankar Ensemble (March 22, 2026) and ranchera star Aída Cuevas (Sept. 26). Symphony Center's jazz series also announced its 2025-26 season programming this week, and with it a new guest curator model. Kate Dumbleton, director of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, and Mike Reed, drummer, venue owner and festival programmer, are each tasked with curating a concert in the spring. The full SCP Jazz lineup is as follows; tickets are on sale Aug. 6 at Bassist Christian McBride and pianist Brad Mehldau playing duo, 8 p.m. Oct. 10; tickets $39-$119. Herbie Hancock (note Sunday date), 8 p.m. Oct. 26; tickets $55-$199. Joshua Redman Quartet feat. singer Gabrielle Cavassa, playing selections from 2023's 'where we are' and the forthcoming 'Words Fall Short,' 8 p.m. Nov. 7; tickets $39-$119. 50th anniversary of Marvin Gaye's 'I Want You' with singers José James and Lizz Wright, 8 p.m. Feb. 6, 2026; tickets $39-$119. Double-bill of saxophonist Nubya Garcia and singer Somi, curated by Kate Dumbleton, 8 p.m. March 13, 2026; tickets $29-$119. Miles Davis centenary tributes by pianists Gonzalo Rubalcaba and John Beasley, 8 p.m. March 27, 2026; tickets $39-$119. Drummer and curator Mike Reed explores his 'Chicago Inspirations,' including a tribute to bassist Fred Hopkins and a suite of compositions written by Chicagoans between 1980 and 2010. 8 p.m. May 1, 2026; tickets $29-$119.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Hair Wars, reggae, 'Carmen,' and more: Your weekend in Detroit
At last, a Detroit weekend with no snowstorms! And just in time for a packed schedule of amazing arts options in the city. Here are just six to get you started. On Sunday, Feb. 23, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Detroit Institute of Arts, a selection of Hair Wars stylists will demonstrate some of their innovative hair creations in a drop-in style demonstration. Throughout the day, these stylists will work with various models to create works of art from hair. With videos and images from past Hair Wars shows, this demo offers a fun experience into this unique, Detroit-born entertainment. Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Free with general admission; general admission is free for residents of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. Bizet's timeless opera 'Carmen' will be performed live, twice only, by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) this weekend – on Friday, Feb. 23, at 8 p.m., and on Sunday at 3 p.m. Conductor Jader Bignamini will lead the DSO through the fiery passion and gripping drama with help from Audivi, the Ann Arbor Youth Chorale and an all-star cast of vocal soloists in a thrilling celebration of the music behind one of opera's most iconic masterpieces. Featuring mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges as the bold and magnetic Carmen, this symphonic production marks the 150th anniversary of Bizet's masterpiece. Orchestra Hall, 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Limited seats available; tickets start at $25. Also this weekend: Wild party, erotic art exhibition The Dirty Show returns to Detroit for 2 weekends Also this weekend: 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' at Detroit Repertory Theatre delivers a solid performance Also at Orchestra Hall on Saturday at 8 p.m., the SFJAZZ Collective will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a retrospective featuring works from icons such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, and more; as well as selections from the '20th Anniversary Suite,' which was collectively composed by the current band and inspired by the history of the ensemble. Under the direction of Chris Potter, this lineup of the Collective – including David Sánchez, Mike Rodriguez, Warren Wolf, Edward Simon, and Kendrick Scott – is among the most dynamic ever; ensuring each performance is fresh, fun, and full of surprises. Orchestra Hall, 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Tickets start at $19.95. Saturday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m., Detroit Opera will premiere 'Rinaldo.' Handel's Baroque blockbuster is viewed through the lens of a child's fantasy in a contemporary pediatric ward. The young patients venture on a heroic journey, where knights, sorcerers, monsters, and magic are used as a salve for unimaginable challenges. Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo leads the cast in Louisa Proske's reimagined production, conducted by Detroit Opera Music Director Roberto Kalb. Two more performances follow on Feb. 28 and March 2. Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway St., Detroit. Tickets start at $30. Saturday from 2-5 p.m., Detroit's Galerie Camile will present an artist talk in conjunction with its latest exhibition, 'Living Frequency: Honoring the Legacy of Black Artists in Detroit.' The exhibition, curated by local artist James Charles Morris in collaboration with Galerie Camille director Marta Carvajal, features a dynamic mix of emerging and mid-career artists from the city, including Joe Cazeno III, Ijania Cortez, Darian 'Saint' Greer, Breianna Jackson, Tylear Jefferson, Jonathan Kimble, James Charles Morris, Brian Nickson, Joshua Rainer, Phillip Simpson, Miriam Uhura, Oshun Williams, and Jacob Zelecki. The show remains on display through Feb. 28. Galerie Camille, 4130 Cass Ave., Ste. C, Detroit. Free to attend. Also this weekend: Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Joss Stone brings intimate show to Detroit's Sound Board Saturday from 5:30 p.m. – 10 p.m., Detroit's Redford Theatre will host a Caribbean Winter Fest, presented in partnership with the Caribbean Cultural and Carnival Organization and Detroit's Concert of Colors. The special event will celebrate Black History Month with music, culture, and community. Reggae superstar Duane Stephenson will perform along the Soca All Stars, Uprizin Steel Pan, High Energy, and Indinka Band. Redford Theatre, 17360 Lahser Rd., Detroit. Free admission. Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hair Wars, reggae, 'Carmen,' and more: Your weekend in Detroit
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Don Was bringing his new Pan-Detroit Ensemble to Ann Arbor's Blue Llama this weekend
Musician and record producer Don Was is one of Detroit's creative giants. The multi-Grammy-winning impresario has produced albums for a wide range of artists, with sales totaling close to 100 million albums. Since 2011, he has served as president of the mighty Blue Note Records label, and for the last four years, he's also co-hosted 'The Don Was Motor City Playlist,' a weekly, live radio show on WDET-FM. This weekend, he'll bring one of his most recent projects, the nine-member Pan-Detroit Ensemble, to Ann Arbor's Blue Llama Jazz Club for two evenings of musical exploration. The band includes longtime collaborators like Blue Note artist Dave McMurray on sax and Eminem's Oscar-winning collaborator, keyboardist Luis Resto. Additional musicians include trombonist Vincent Chandler, trumpeter John Douglas, drummer Jeff Canaday, percussionist Mahindi Masai, guitarist Wayne Gerard, and vocalist Steffanie Christi'an. Was said the band's formation was inspired by a call he got two years ago. 'Last May,' he said, 'we did a show at Orchestra Hall. It was part of a series Terence Blanchard was putting together on Detroit jazz, and he called me two years before, when they were booking the series, to ask if I wanted to do a night. I said, 'Of course,' but I didn't have a band together. About six months before, I started to panic: 'What are we going to do for this thing?' So, following the advice I dispense to artists I'm producing or artists on the Blue Note label, I thought, 'Well, pick the things that make you different from everybody else and make that your superpower.' 'So, I thought, the thing I've got for me is there aren't that many people who dropped acid and went to the Grande Ballroom to see The MC5 play, who are still making records, so just be yourself. Go back to Detroit, get in a room with people who grew up listening to the same stuff as you, who knew the Grande Ballroom, but also knew Electrifying Mojo, and also knew Donald Byrd, and also knew John Lee Hooker, and also knew Mitch Ryder, and play like they came from Detroit.' Was assembled the band just for the Orchestra Hall gig originally, but the group found they enjoyed playing together so much that they booked an entire tour and are still at it. 'I just picked musicians I've worked with who listened to each other,' he explained. 'There are only two genres of music, as far as I'm concerned – there's selfish music and generous music. Selfish musicians get up there saying, 'Look how many notes I can squeeze into one bar of music'; they're showing off for you. Generous musicians are listening to everybody else who's playing and trying to create something that touches people, that helps them. It gets under their skin and makes them feel something. 'These were all generous musicians. That was the common link; that's what I look for. 'Who do you want to play music with for two hours a night?' It's really like going to a party or just being in a conversation, or inviting people over for dinner. Who would you like to spend time with? Because playing music is like conversation.' Also this weekend: Wild party, erotic art exhibition The Dirty Show returns to Detroit for 2 weekends Also this weekend: Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Joss Stone brings intimate show to Detroit's Sound Board Was said the band will perform a mix of originals and covers during their Llama stop. 'We've thrown in a couple of Was (Not Was) songs,' he said. 'There's one from a movie score that I did, but there's also a Yusef Lateef song and a Curtis Mayfield song, and a couple of Grateful Dead songs. And they all kind of fit together. It's not like some weird anthology record, because we do it in the style of these nine people playing together. There's a real unity to what we're doing. I think it's pretty unique, although it's not easy to describe to people. I guess you could call it maybe soul jazz. 'They're great songs. I've toured with (Grateful Dead founding member) Bob Weir since 2018, and so much of what I learned from Bobby is applied to this band in terms of having the structure, but then having that structure be fluid. As (another founding Grateful Dead member) Phil Lesh said, 'Never play the same thing once.' It's a great line, but even if we play the same song two nights in a row, we do it really different each time, and you can't take the spirit of adventure out of it.' Was also reflected on his highly successful run at Blue Note Records and is looking forward to further big scores there. 'In these days, it's a great accomplishment just to keep the doors open on a record label,' he said, 'but we're doing really well. Last year, we had a lineup of albums I would stack up against any year in the company's history. I think we've got a roster that rivals what people consider to be the glory days of the 1960s – young, innovative artists. I'm really proud of the musicians we have, and I'm pleased with the way we keep the catalog in circulation for everybody to hear in all sorts of ways, from audiophile to just low-grade streaming, if you want that. It's a lot of work, but it's been one of the great joys of my life to be able to serve that music.' Running perhaps the world's best-known and prestigious jazz label affords Was a highly unique view of the genre's past, present, and future. 'When I first got the gig at Blue Note,' he recalled, 'one of the things we had to figure out was why the music recorded even 60, 70 years ago at that label still seems relevant and vibrant and current. It still works, but it doesn't sound like a museum piece, and I think the main reason for that is that the founders of the label signed artists who had mastered the fundamentals of music that preceded them, but then used that knowledge to create something brand new and push the threshold of music. 'You can see that in the music they recorded in 1948 with Thelonious Monk. You can hear it in the music that Art Blakey and Horace Silver made to create hard bop in the Fifties. You can hear it in what Herbie (Hancock) and Wayne (Shorter) were doing in the Sixties, and Ornette (Coleman) and Eric Dolphy. You can hear it in 'Afro Blue' on 'Black Radio,' Robert Glasper's groundbreaking album that kind of changed the face of music. So that's where it's got to go. If there's going to be a future, it can't turn into a museum piece where you rehash what went before. You learn what came before, but then you use that knowledge to expand the music.' See also: 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' at Detroit Repertory Theatre delivers a solid performance He said that future will also depend on the people who make the music. 'It depends on what they listen to, leading up to the moment you press the record button. What's floating around in their heads? That's the beauty of jazz. It really depends on the individuals. If you listen to Robert Glasper, you can hear everything that he's listened to in his life when he solos. You can hear everything from Monk to Bonnie Raitt to McDonald's commercials get quoted in the course of one solo.' Was called jazz 'a rebellion against the status quo.' 'There's no question about it,' he said. 'It's music that's popular in all these really disparate cultures. All over the world, people relate to this music, but it comes from people being sent over from Africa and having their culture and language and tradition stifled. (Music) became a secret language for expressing that frustration. That's what those scales and the feel of that music is based on, and even though it's become a lot more sophisticated, that's still the root of it. And I think that's why it speaks to everybody. 'Look, the guys who founded Blue Note were guys who fled Nazi Germany. Yeah, completely different circumstances – but the reason they loved American jazz so much was because it addressed exactly what they were going through. It's a universal kind of struggle, and it's a universal language.' Despite touring, the Pan-Detroit Ensemble has also been hard at work on an album Was described as 'about 75% finished now' and aims for a release in the first half of this year, if he can block out time to finish. 'We really love being in this band,' he said. 'It's weird – that doesn't always happen. Some of these guys I've known a very long time, but we had never all gotten together in one room to play before. From the second we started, there was just this chemistry, which I really believe comes from growing up in Detroit and absorbing the rich tapestry of sound that's available to everybody there, and we just clicked. 'So I'm gonna stick with this band until I drop.' Don Was & the Pan-Detroit Ensemble will play at Ann Arbor's Blue Llama Jazz Club (314 S. Main St.) on Friday, Feb. 21, from 7-8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. -10:30 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 22, from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. and 9-10 p.m. As of press time, all performances are sold out. Visit for information. Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Don Was bringing his Pan-Detroit Ensemble to Ann Arbor's Blue Llama
