Detroit Public Library Exhibition (2/09 - 6/09)
DETROIT
JAZZ PHOTOARTGRAPHY
EXHIBITION
“Straight Ahead”
A Celebration of Detroit’s Musical Genius
Detroit has been a spiritual vortex for musical genius. Although this vibrant city has global recognition as “Motown”, at its root, is a broader musical tradition which includes the music of Africa; the spirituals; the gospels; the “down home” blues; the Swing of the 20’s – 30’s; the Be-Bop era of the 40’s – 60’s which advanced improvisational modal and complex harmonies that echo, in symbiotic fashion, the socio-political climate of those times. This tradition continues in Detroit today and is advanced, in part, by the African Classical Musicians and Vocalists (Jazz Artists), presented in this exhibition. Great jazz musicians are channels, musical prophets, who reflect and express the cultural context and the spiritual needs of the people in the universal language of music. This exhibition represents only a small sampling of those giants and unsung stalwarts who have emerged on the Detroit jazz world stage. It is the intent of this artist to broaden this exhibition in the future.
- Charles Ezra Ferrell Exhibiting Artist & Photographer
Wesley “Skip” Norris, Jazz Artistic Director of the premiere Jazz Café at The Music Hall of Performing Arts, and nationally recognized “jazzologist”, is the author of the didactic notes which accompany each photograph and detailed pencil drawing in this exhibition. Norris stated, “Ferrell’s vision is both grand and magisterial in its content and structure.”
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