Ford Auditorium is seen through a window in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. (WWJ Photo/Florence Walton)

An eyesore at Detroit’s Hart Plaza could soon be demolished.

Ford Auditorium could come down as early as May to make way for a 5,000 seat amphitheater similar to Chene Park. Built in 1955 by the Ford family and auto dealers, the auditorium has sat vacant on the city’s riverfront since the Detroit Symphony Orchestra left in 1989.

The mayor’s group executive of planning, Carla Henderson, says it’s like a monster sitting in the middle of all the progress going on, so the vacant auditorium needs to be eliminated.

Mayor Dave Bing’s Chief Governmental and Civic Affairs Officer Kirk Lewis says the mayor is looking for a company to demolish Ford Auditorium.

“Mayor Bing is very concerned about the transformation of the city of Detroit. And as we look at the riverfront, we see Ford Auditorium as a symbol of blight,” says Lewis. He adds that, right now, they’re focused on transforming that area into the gateway for the city.

Copyright, 2010. WWJ Newsradio 950, All Rights Reserved.

MLK High School Band (WWJ Photo/Pat Sweeting)

It’s a battle of the bands to kick off a fundraiser for music education in the Detroit Public School District.

Bands from Cass Tech, Detroit School of Arts High School, Martin Luther King Jr, Mumford, Renaissance and Western International kicked off the campaign in Hart Plaza Wednesday.

Band directors say being a part of a school band enhances teamwork skills, discipline, organization and time management. The experience of learning and playing an instrument also develops creative thinking and the left side of the brain that is recognized for processing language.

Each band will perform and be judged by the music directors from MSU, WSU and Grand Valley.

If you’d like to contribute click here or to make a donation by check, please make the check payable to the Detroit Public Schools Foundation and mail it to:

Detroit Public Schools Foundation
18th Floor, Fisher Building
3011 W. Grand Boulevard
Detroit, Michigan 48202

The program is supported by the Detroit Public Schools Foundation and McDonald’s.

© MMX WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved.

detroitjazzfest.com

It’s another Labor Day Weekend full of festivals and fun in Southeast Michigan.

Detroit will play host to the Detroit International Jazz Festival, September 3rd through the 6th.  Now in its 31st year, the festival takes place over several city blocks in downtown Detroit – from Hart Plaza to Campus Martius – with five stages and 100 acts. You’ll also find educational activities for the kids, giant puppets, fireworks, late-night jam sessions, opportunities to meet the artists and more.

The best part? Jazz Fest is FREE.

Entitled “Flame Keepers – carrying the torch for modern jazz,” this year’s event will pay homage to trailblazers Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Betty Carter, Lester Bowie and Gil Evans. The lineup features world-renowned pianist Mulgrew Miller, trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, conductor/composer Maria Schneider and master drummer Roy Haynes, along with a host of other national artists, emerging artists, Detroit-based artists and outstanding student ensembles. 

For a complete Jazz Fest concert schedule, CLICK HERE.

You should consider stopping by Hamtramck as the city celebrates its annual Labor Day Festival tradition Saturday to Monday. The festival will take place on Joseph Campau street in the heart of Hamtramck.

The Hamtramck Labor Day Festival celebrates the city’s multicultural pride with a variety of ethnic food, vendors, carnival rides, a parade and a delicious menu of local music including Mitch Ryder, the Polish Muslims, Howling Diablos, Hush and more.  Don’t miss the fashion show on Saturday, the Pierogi-Eating Contest, Sunday — and, did I mention, $3 beers? Visit hamtownfest.com for more information.

Also, this weekend, it’s another Metro Detroit tradition: Bring your family and friends to the Michigan Peach Festival in the picturesque Village of Romeo. Continuing all weekend through Monday, the event features the Peach Festival Tennis Tournament, Knights of Columbus spaghetti dinner, Las Vegas games, live music, plenty of food and free fun activities for the kids on Saturday at Romeo Village Park.

Peach Fest wraps up Monday with a children’s parade, fine arts and crafts with over 140 exhibitors and the festival floral parade starting on Main Street at 1:30 p.m. CLICK HERE for all the details.

Head to Oakland County and you’ll find more than 200 performances on ten stages, a juried fine arts show, and more than a sampling of the best food Metro Detroit has to offer, as Ford Arts, Beats & Eats moves to a new venue this Labor Day Weekend.

Now in its 13th year, the popular summer festival is expected to draw Michiganders by the thousands to downtown Royal Oak. You can expect to pay $10-$15 for parking and $3 per-person for admission.  Children under 3 get in free. CLICK HERE for complete details.

On Monday, celebrate in the true spirit of Labor Day in downtown Detroit. The Prestigious Detroit Labor Day Parade  will step off at 9 a.m. in front of the Fox Theatre, heading down Woodward Ave. to Hart Plaza.

This year’s parade will be led by Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) musicians and the Detroit Federation of Musicians  in support of their fight to save the orchestra. (See photos from last year’s event)

For more Labor Day Weekend ideas, visit www.digdowntown.com.

(Copyright 2010 WWJ Radio.  All Rights Reserved.)

Story By: Detroit Free Press

Bands, floats, cheers set stage for DPS’ school year

Blue T-shirts flooded Woodward Avenue this morning as hundreds of people danced and cheered their way to Hart Plaza for the Detroit Public Schools’ second annual back-to-school parade.

 
Paraders passed out candy, literature about schools, backpacks and T-shirts to the boisterous paraders that lined Woodward. The crowd was fairly thin but didn’t lack in enthusiasm.

Darrell Wilson, 24, a 2004 graduate of Cass Technical High, cheered as the bands passed by. He and classmate Keith Selph, 36, went to watch the parade while on a break from Wayne County Community College District’s downtown campus.

“I think this is good because it will give parents motivation to bring students back to DPS and to show that DPS is trying to do something good for the city,” Wilson said.

 
Elected officials such as City Council President Charles Pugh, Rep. David Nathan, D-Detroit, and school board vice president Tyrone Winfrey marched on beat behind a band that preceded the final float.

Waving from the final float were Mayor Dave Bing, activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, comedian and activist Bill Cosby, and Robert Bobb, the district’s emergency financial manager under whose watch the parade was launched last year.

[ione_media_gallery legacy_id="1444541" src="http://hothiphopdetroit.com"]

DPS officials are hoping the parade and other back-to-school events will help ensure enrollment is at least 77,314 this year to avoid budget cuts.

This year’s parade is bigger, louder and longer than last year’s, parade-goers said. About 40 floats and bands took part this year, according to DPS officials.

DPS parent and teacher Andrea Williams, 37, of Detroit, attended last year’s event, too.

“It’s a lot bigger and has a lot more big wigs,” she said. “DPS us still investing in itself and will turn into a great institution!”

‘I want them to stay motivated’

Earlier, as the crowd gathered, parents were hoping the parade would inspire and motivate students and families as they head back to class.

Andria Robinson of Detroit said she hopes today’s excitement lasts throughout the year.

“I want them to stay motivated. I want the teachers to teach these kids. Give them work and explain it to them,” she said.

 
Teresa Vaughan agreed.

“They’re getting everybody juiced up. I just don’t want it to end today.”

[ione_embed width="600" height="490" src="http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=5732"]

[ione_embed width="600" height="490" src="http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=5732"]

Story By: Detroit Free Press

Bands, floats, cheers set stage for DPS’ school year

Blue T-shirts flooded Woodward Avenue this morning as hundreds of people danced and cheered their way to Hart Plaza for the Detroit Public Schools’ second annual back-to-school parade.

 
Paraders passed out candy, literature about schools, backpacks and T-shirts to the boisterous paraders that lined Woodward. The crowd was fairly thin but didn’t lack in enthusiasm.

Darrell Wilson, 24, a 2004 graduate of Cass Technical High, cheered as the bands passed by. He and classmate Keith Selph, 36, went to watch the parade while on a break from Wayne County Community College District’s downtown campus.

“I think this is good because it will give parents motivation to bring students back to DPS and to show that DPS is trying to do something good for the city,” Wilson said.

 
Elected officials such as City Council President Charles Pugh, Rep. David Nathan, D-Detroit, and school board vice president Tyrone Winfrey marched on beat behind a band that preceded the final float.

Waving from the final float were Mayor Dave Bing, activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, comedian and activist Bill Cosby, and Robert Bobb, the district’s emergency financial manager under whose watch the parade was launched last year.

[ione_media_gallery legacy_id="1444541" src="http://hothiphopdetroit.com"]

DPS officials are hoping the parade and other back-to-school events will help ensure enrollment is at least 77,314 this year to avoid budget cuts.

This year’s parade is bigger, louder and longer than last year’s, parade-goers said. About 40 floats and bands took part this year, according to DPS officials.

DPS parent and teacher Andrea Williams, 37, of Detroit, attended last year’s event, too.

“It’s a lot bigger and has a lot more big wigs,” she said. “DPS us still investing in itself and will turn into a great institution!”

‘I want them to stay motivated’

Earlier, as the crowd gathered, parents were hoping the parade would inspire and motivate students and families as they head back to class.

Andria Robinson of Detroit said she hopes today’s excitement lasts throughout the year.

“I want them to stay motivated. I want the teachers to teach these kids. Give them work and explain it to them,” she said.

 
Teresa Vaughan agreed.

“They’re getting everybody juiced up. I just don’t want it to end today.”

[ione_embed width="600" height="490" src="http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=5732"]

[ione_embed width="600" height="490" src="http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=5732"]

Billed as “the largest Arab and Caldean festival in North America,” the event features a variety of Arab and Chaldean food, cultural exhibits, a fashion show and plenty of live entertainment, through Sunday.  More info here.

Farther south in Trenton, the rivers will be roaring. It’s the 60th Annual PNC Roar on the River — taking place at the Trenton Rotary Club.

The event features APBA/UIM Power Boat World Championships along with free live music, entertainment, fireworks, food and drinks, and a classic car show. More info here.

On the east side, the Metro Jazz Festival is taking place on the Macomb Community College South Campus. This free musical extravaganza consisting of world class national recording artists each night as well as the hottest regional and local acts performing throughout the day. More info here.

In an attempt to find homes for hundreds of homeless dogs, puppies, cats and kittens, the 9th annual “Pet-A-Palooza” will take place on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday,  11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Palace of Auburn Hills.  It’s one of the largest animal adoption events in the nation! Details here.

The Ann Arbor Art Fairs, which closed early Friday because of severe weather, is up and running on its final day Saturday. The fairs stay open until 6 p.m. More info here.

Check out digdowntown.com for more weekend ideas.

   (Copyright 2010 WWJ.  All Rights Reserved.)

What a time that was. According to reports, over 83,000 people came down last weekend to Hart Plaza in Detroit to take part in the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. Truly, the best artists in this genre were there, representing many countries and continents besides those from Techno’s birthplace, Detroit.

The view from the hotel room at the Greektown Casino-Hotel. Canada can be seen across the river behind the Renaissance Center (left).

Two observations: the performers that were the most successful (in our opinion), that connected with the audience on a performative level, we’re those that actually had people on stage playing an instrument in addition to the laptop and turntable-driven music. The other was that many groups, no matter where they were from, incorporated many microtonal elements, that is, riffs and patterns that did not adhere to any equal-tempered scale. In fact, many of these were retro analog timbres that grunted and groaned in between the notes, sounding very vocal-like (in all octaves) and sometimes imitative of a guitarist’s bending of the strings.

It should be said too that, even though dance music was to the fore at night, that, during the day, the main stage was reserved for ambient artists and experimenters from all over who, with their dedicated followers in attendance, were so grateful, as was I, to hear their work on such a massive and very clean sound system.

The "Made in Detroit" logo created by Robert Stanzler in 1981.

We had to miss the third and final day to get back to our work and concerts here, BUT, the techniques and great vibes we brought back are going to last for some time. What a musical city, no matter the decade, no matter the style. Inclusive as hell. Everyone is welcome. We look forward to returning in the coming year.

May 29, 2010, Hart Plaza, Detroit – Evening performance excerpts by Josh Wink (USA), Claude VonStroke (USA), A-Trak (Canada), and Richie Hawtin a.k.a. PLASTIKMAN (UK).

Excerpts of the evening’s performances by Derrick Carter (Chicago), Kraak & Smaak (Netherlands), Rolando (Detroit), Robert Hood (Detroit), Ricardo Villalobos (Chile), and finishing the night on the Main Stage, hometown hero Kevin Saunderson’s INNER CITY (Detroit).

=========================================================

The Detroit Electronic Music Festival a.k.a. MOVEMENT 2010

The MMiXdown goes to Motown this coming May 29-31 for the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, also known as Movement, for its 2010 edition.

Time Out New York‘s Bruce Tantum described the festival in a recent article:

Detroit: It’s a prime example of urban decay; it’s the poster child for the failings of the capitalist system. But whatever its shortcomings, the city has one very big thing going for it: Its musical history is as rich as it comes. From the jazz and blues of its Black Bottom neighborhood, through the emotion-soaked soul of Motown and the cosmic grooves of Parliament-Funkadelic, to the jam-kicking punch of the MC5 and the Stooges, Detroit has long shown a sonic sensibility that outshines 99 percent of other towns its size. Since the mid-’80s (a quarter century—can you believe it?), one of the sounds that’s had the world cocking an ear toward Detroit is Techno, so it shouldn’t be surprising that one of the world’s leading celebrations of electronic dance music takes place in the Motor City. This coming Memorial Day weekend, that blowout—the annual Movement festival—takes over downtown Detroit’s Hart Plaza, with scores of after-parties helping to spread the techno gospel.

The three-day event attracts the top echelon of techno’s artists and DJs. This year’s headliners are hometown heroes Richie Hawtin (in his Plastikman guise), Juan Atkins (in Model 500 mode) and Kevin Saunderson (performing with his classic Inner City combo, the group responsible for late-’80s technopop hits like “Good Life” and “Big Fun”). And the rest of the scene’s elites will be on hand as well, with American stars such as Claude VonStroke and the Martinez Brothers mingling with international superstars like Ricardo Villalobos and Michael Mayer. (That’s not to mention wild cards along the lines of funk fiend Mr. Scruff and dubstep doyen Martyn, nor the dozens of other big names playing at unofficial ancillary events.) But despite the scope of the festival, Movement executive director Jason Huvaere sounded remarkably calm … “I only panic when I look at the calendar,” he jokes. “But it is a massive amount of work. When this festival began in 2000, I think a lot of people tried to treat it as a part-time job, and I can tell you, it is not. This is a 365-day-a-year job. We don’t have a couple of artists; we have 100 artists. We don’t have one stage; we have five. We don’t have 2,500 people every day; we have 25,000. The scale is immense.”

Read the full article HERE.

PLASTIK FANTASTIC Richie Hawtin’s set of brooding techno, performed in his Plastikman guise, is among the weekend’s highlights.

The Greektown Casino Hotel will be MMiXdown HQ while we attend the festival. Expect pictures, video, and other content when we get back (as long as we can stay away from those damn slot machines).

Detroit’s Movement festival runs May 29–31. Go to http://paxahau.com/movement for more info.

- Patrick Grant

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View from Jefferson Avenue

Russell Industrial Center

Compuware Building lobby