A series of eight concerts featuring world-class, Detroit rooted musical artists
All concerts include delicious food, beverages & desserts

TASLIMAH BEY RAGTIME BAND
MARDI GRAS CELEBRATION
Saturday, January 30 • 8 pm

Jazz history comes alive when accomplished Ragtime pianist Taslimah Bey plays the music of Jelly Roll Morton, Scott Joplin, and New Orleans. Her all-star quartet features big bandleader, saxophonist Ben Pruitt, bassist Marion Hayden, and percussionist Djallo Djakate Keita. Bey, Detroit’s resident Ragtime master, was mentored by and has performed with Charlie Gabriel, leader of the famed New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band, as well as the late, great Marcus Belgrave, and others. A creole-style feast during intermission—complete with jambalaya, red beans, rice, and corn bread—will get you in the spirit for a joyous concert in one of our most palatial homes! Dress up in your favorite Mardi Gras masks and attire if you desire.

Saturday, February 20 • 8pm
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
JAZZ TRIBUTE

Dobbins-Krahnke Weed-Barefield Quartet

Our annual Black History Month concert features an outstanding lineup: drummer Sean Dobbins, bassist Kurt Krahnke, pianist Tad Weed, and guitarist A. Spencer Barefield. Award-winning percussionist Dobbins is known for his work with jazz greats such as Louis Smith, Benny Golson, Joey DeFrancesco, and many more. Dobbins and Barefield can be heard on the new Blue Note Records “Detroit Jazz City.” Weed is a powerhouse who has toured and recorded internationally with such legends as Carmen McCrae, Charles Lloyd, John Pattitucci, Woody Herman and others. Krahnke is also know for his work with jazz and blues heavy-hitters, including Joe Henderson, Sonny Fortune, Pinetop Perkins, Leon Thomas and others. This concert will pay tribute to preeminent 20th century Black Jazz composers, such as Duke Ellington, Cedar Walton, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk.

Saturday, March 19 • 8pm
VICTORY GHANNNAM
WORLD MUSIC QUARTET

Crossing genres from Middle Eastern, to jazz, Flamenco, rock ’n roll, and exotic belly dancing music, Victor Ghannam’s dazzling command on the oud and qanoun has earned him worldwide recognition. He’s performed throughout the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, including appearances on NPR’s Prairie Home Companion, and with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s “Sounds of Babylon” series. A founder of the National Arab Orchestra, he’ll perform with fellow members, famed Iraqi-born violinist Qusay Al-Ali, Ons Boukraa, one of Tunisia’s premier percussionists, and Gursharan Yash Singh Sandhu. Born in India, Sandhu plays the riq, as well as the Hindustani tabla and Carnatic mridangam, percussion instruments of classical Indian music with ancient Hindu traditions. It will be an evening filled with hypnotic sounds and global magic.

Saturday, April 9 • 8 pm
PUBLIQuartet

Dubbed “independent-minded” by The New Yorker and “Leaders of the New School” by Symphony Magazine, PUBLIQuartet’s creativity lends a fresh perspective to the classical music scene. Known for their technical mastery and joyful performances, PUBLIQuartet (PQ) incorporates classical and contemporary works, original compositions, and improvisations. Often collaborating with young composers, they are dedicated to presenting new works for string quartet.

Detroit-born violinist Jannina Barefield Norpoth had an early classical start, soloing twice with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in her teens. She is now based in New York, working with PQ musicians: violinist Curtis Stewart, violist Nick Revel and cellist Amanda Gookin. An award-winning ensemble, PQ was selected as the Concert Artists Guild’s 2013 New Music/New Places Ensemble. In 2015, PQ received the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and sold-out their debut recital at Carnegie Hall. PQ has performed in diverse venues and programs, from Lincoln Center and SubCulture to the Detroit Institute of Arts, Dizzy’s Club, Newport Jazz Festival, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Nantucket Musical Arts Society, and the Music of Now festival at Symphony Space. They have collaborated with members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, JACK Quartet, Nadia Sirota, and amazing jazz artists, Billy Childs, Bob Stewart, and Don Byron.

Saturday, May 21, 8 pm • Garden Concert
ORQUESTA LA INSPIRACION

Concert Sponsor: Be Well Medical Center

It’s no wonder our annual Latin Jazz World Music concert is a favorite. Orquesta La Inspiracion, founded by Puerto Rican congera Ozzie Rivera and under the musical direction of pianist Bill Meyer, is a large ensemble of some of the Detroit area’s most talented and knowledgeable Latin musicians. La Inspiracion features a hot horn section led by saxophonist Chris Kaercher, explosive percussions driven by top Latin musicians including Ozzie, well respected Latino bassist Eddie Caraballo, and soulful vocals, including the charismatic, dynamic team of Armando Vega and Dulce Checkler. The rhythms of salsa, merengue, cumbia and Afro-Caribbean jazz are sure to entice the audience to dance and sway out of their seats, and on a star-filled evening the lawn will be the dance floor. Festivities are held in a tent in a beautiful Palmer Woods ­garden, with a very tasty Latin-style meal served during intermission.

VIDEO: 2015 Orquestra La Inspiracion Click here to view

Friday, June 17, 8 pm • Garden Concert*
PLANET D NONET (PD9)
SOUTH AFRICAN PROJECT

PD9’s Township Jazz Project focuses on great South African jazz artists, including Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela, the Brotherhood of Breath, Winston “Mankunku” Ngozi and others. It’s an exciting mix of Apartheid-era Township African melodies and rhythms, with some avant garde leaning soloists. Musicians include saxophonists Justin Jozwiak, Daniel Bennett, and Joshua James, co-bandleader James O’Donnell on trumpet and percussion, trumpeter Ken Ferry, trombonist John Tbone Paxton, pianist Phillip Hale, Damon Warmack on electric bass, Akunda Hollis on djembe, and bandleader percussionist RJ Spangler. Well known on the Detroit jazz scene, Spangler earned his first Motor City Music Award in 1982 with a band he co-founded, the Sun Messengers. After 15 years as a Messenger, RJ directed Detroit blues guitar master Johnnie Bassett’s band and travelled worldwide with him. With O’Donnell, Spangler is the guiding force behind PD9, an incredibly busy band known for playing swing, blues, space-age jazz and classic American songs.

Saturday, June 18, 8 pm • Garden Concert*
Blues to Broadway, Jazz & Beyond:
DAVID ALAN GRIER QUARTET

Broadway, film, comedy and TV star David Alan Grier returns to his hometown Detroit for this very special concert. Grier’s mastery of Mississippi Delta Blues and songs by Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters may come as a surprise, but his steel guitar and thundering voice evoke an authenticity few can attain. He is equally powerful in the American Songbook jazz tradition, and will certainly include works from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess—he played Sportin’ Life in the recent Broadway production, for which he received a Tony nomination and accolades from The New York Times: “stand-out role of the rakish, drug-dealing Sportin’ Life.”

Grier’s Detroit band includes internationally recognized virtuoso musicians: guitarist A. Spencer Barefield, Toronto bassist David Young, and drummer Djallo Keita. Young is a Juno award-winning composer who worked extensively with the great Oscar Peterson and many jazz legends. Grier and Barefield recently performed together in San Francisco’s “Night at the Blackhawk” concerts, a reunion for the two whose friendship goes back to childhood.

Grier is a three-time Tony and Grammy nominee for his work in The First (he starred as baseball legend Jackie Robinson), RACE, and Porgy and Bess. Trained in Shakespeare at Yale School of Drama, where he received an MFA, Grier has had starring roles in Dreamgirls, A Soldiers Play, and others in film, theatre and TV. He’s won Emmys for his work with the cutting-edge comedy TV shows In Living Color and his Comedy Central Chocolate News.

He has been in many top movies with stars such as Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington, and currently stars in the new NBC TV hit, The Carmichael Show. In early December 2015, Grier starred as the Cowardly Lion in the TV musical extravaganza The Wiz with Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and other superstars.

The Music in Homes grand finale is sure to be a stunning evening. Be sure to help us give David a warm Detroit homecoming.

* All concerts include a delicious light dinner, beverages and dessert during intermission. Concerts in May and June are held in spacious tents set in the gardens of homes. You may tour a ­portion of the home prior to the concert. In the case of severe weather, Palmer Woods Music in Homes (MIH) will move the concert to the beautiful art deco Detroit Unity Temple or other appropriate nearby venue. Tickets are not refundable. MIH reserves the right to make program changes if necessary.

PAST CONCERTS

Saturday, December 26 • 8 pm
JAMES CARTER QUARTET

A. Spencer Barefield, Marion Hayden, Djallo Keita

James Carter photo by ©Barbara Barefield

Join us for the kickoff of our 9th year of Palmer Woods Music in Homes with a pre-New Year’s Eve ­holiday celebration featuring Detroit’s international saxophone sensation, James Carter.  It is rare to hear Carter in intimate settings as he fills enormous theaters around the world. Extraordinarily virtuosic, Carter soloed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Neeme Järvi in 2002 and 2003, performing a saxophone concerto written for him and commissioned by the DSO.

Composer/guitarist A. Spencer Barefield, who describes Carter as “the John Coltrane of our era” will join him. Carter and Barefield can be heard on Blue Note Records new release “Detroit Jazz City” with other legendary Detroit artists. In the 1980s-’90s, Barefield and Carter toured the world with jazz legend Lester Bowie and others. A Kresge Arts Fellow, Barefield has received numerous awards for his music. Bassist Marion Hayden and percussionist Djallo Djakate Keita completes this incredible ensemble of world-acclaimed jazz stars.

Detroit Free Press Mark Stryker describes Carter and Barefield’s 2015 Detroit Jazz Festival performance, “It was nice to see Detroit guitarist Spencer Barefield ... giving the group a slightly edgier profile ... James Carter played as he always does, which is to say he had enough gusto ... to blow down the One Campus Martius building nearby.”

This concert promises to be a very special evening of stellar traditional and contemporary jazz. Share a champagne toast, ­delicious food, and memorable music to ­celebrate the New Year in a majestic room designed for chamber music­. Soaring carved wooden walls and ­a bay window stage with sparkling stained glass surround this enchanting space inside an ­English Tudor built in 1925.

VIDEO: 2008 Mardis Gras Celebration

Our very first Palmer Woods Music in Homes Mardi Gras Celebration in January 2008 featured the legendary clarinetist/vocalist Charlie Gabriel, who is now one of the leading members of the famed New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band.

The musical heritage of Charlie Gabriel can be traced back as far back as the 1850s. Great-grandson of New Orleans bass player Narcesse Gabriel, grandson of New Orleans cornet player Martin Joseph, and son of New Orleans drummer and clarinetist Martin Manuel Gabriel, Charlie is truly a living legend. At eighty-one (plus) years old, the extensive list of musicians with whom he’s played includes well-known PHJB alumni Kid Howard, Kid Sheik, Jim Robinson, and George Lewis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preservation_Hall_Jazz_Band