10:00am-11:00am – Energy Workshop with Betty Lane in Source Booksellers
11:30am-1:00pm – Aerial Yoga Detroit Flyhouse @ Willy’s Lofts
1:00pm-6:00pm – DJ “Drake” and the Urban Organic Collective
2:00pm-6:00pm – Children’s Activities @ Willy’s Lofts parking lot
2:00pm-4:00pm – Charlie Prophet Quartet – Straight-up jazz and R&B
4:00pm-4:30pm – Funky “Flava” Fashion Show by Flo Boutique
4:30pm – Children’s Dress-Up Parade – “What I Want to Be When I Grow UP!” (kids bring their own costumes)

The West Willis Village is located on Willis Street, between Cass and Second Avenues. Free secured parking is available at the corner of Woodward and Willis. For more information, contact 313.831.4901.

For more information, contact the University Cultural Center Association at 313.577.5088.

Pathe Jassi is a bass player from Senegal who now calls Michigan home.  Before moving to the United States, he made a career for himself playing along with legendary West African singers like Youssou N’Dour of Senegal and Cheikh Lo of Burkina Faso.  Pathe is now a regular in the Detroit jazz scene, and his performance Thursday night will undoubtedly fuse the best of Senegalese and Detroit jazz traditions.  Check him out in this video with John Arnold freestyling on vocals:  John Arnold & Pathe Jassi.

Most of you probably remember Malcolm-Jamal Warner as playing the role of Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show.  Believe it or not, he has grown up(!) and since then has developed into a talented musician and spoken word artist.  His jazz/funk band, Miles Long, has frequented the L.A. club circuit to packed houses, played in numerous jazz festivals, and is only now making 
their way to Detroit. We’re pleased to feature Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Miles Long at the N’Namdi Arts Center this Thursday at 9:30pm. Mr. Warner will sign CDs and take photos with fans – we hear he will hang out till the line ends. Check out Malcolm-Jamal Warner in his appearance on BET’s Lyric Cafe: Malcolm-Jamal Warner on Lyric Cafe-Training Daze.

UCCA was recently introduced to Caravan of Thieves and is pleased to present this dynamic acoustic gypsy jazz band to a Detroit audience. Within their first year together, Caravan of Thieves have managed to win immediate praise for their new and unique brand of alt gypsy acoustic music and their high intensity show. We’re just happy they could fit Midsummer Nights into their busy touring schedule. Check them out in action: Caravan of Thieves on You Tube.

Who is Tally Hall, you ask? Don’t mistake their ties for Geek Squad garb… they’re an indie pop rock band formerly from Ann Arbor!  Now living in the Big Apple, Tally Hall is definitely making a name for themselves with their catchy tunes and internet shows.  They’re wacky, witty, definitely entertaining, and to top it off, impressive musicians — definitely a band to watch out for.  Be sure not to miss their outdoor performance at the Detroit Artists Market at 10pm. Check out Tally Hall on the Late, Late Show: Tally Hall on The Late, Late Show

Featured Midtown Venues:

The N’Namdi Arts Center
52 & 66 E. Forest
www.grnnamdi.com
313.831.8700

Detroit Artists Market
4719 Woodward
www.detroitartistsmarket.org
313.832.8540

Current Exhibition: 2009 All-Media Exhibition, a juried exhibition of contemporary art by 48 Detroit and Michigan artists. 

Midsummer Nights in Midtown spotlights a different Midtown venue each evening of the series, presenting an admission-free performance by international, national and local guest artists ranging from acclaimed musicians to award-winning poets and authors, and large-puppet theater for children.  In total there will be more than a dozen participating venues and over 25 performances amid the state’s premier arts and cultural institutions, neighborhood galleries, and entertainment facilities.

The month-long series begins on Thursday, June 4th with a double-billing at two Midtown galleries – The N’Namdi Arts Center featuring Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Miles Long, and the Detroit Artists Market presenting Tally Hall.  The once-Cosby Show youngster, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, now a celbrated musician in his own right, appears with his Los Angeles band.  Ann Arbor’s upbeat rock band, Tally Hall, returns triumphantly from New York City.

American poet and 2008 National Book Award winner, Mark Doty, headlines the “Midsummer LitFest” on Saturday, June 6th at the Scarab Club.  Considered “a star of contemporary American poetry”, Doty is the author of seven books of poems and three memoirs.  Coordinated with Springfed Arts and WSU English professor, M.L. Liebler, this progressive literary festival will also include readings by national and regional poets and authors, and music by noted jazz musicians.

The Detroit Science Center will host the “Midsummer Children’s Fair” on Saturday, June 13th, featuring the Hudson Vagabond Puppets’ latest production, “Butterfly: The Story of a Life Cylce”.  This evening of non-stop, hands-on fun includes twenty-four young creatives in the Youth Artists Market and more than a dozen imaginative children’s make-and-take crafts for all ages – as well as the Detroit Science Center’s huge variety of novel installations and educational experiences.

Detroit vocalist and perennial favorite, Thornetta Davis, opens for the London-based, Jamaican-born poet, Linton Kwesi Johnson, who is credited as creator of the hybrid genre of reggae poetry.  A book signing will start the evening at the Detroit Public Library Main Branch, Thursday, June 18th.

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra will perform selections from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Saturday, June 20th, in a late-night outdoor conccert held on the lawn adjacent to The Ellington parking structure, across from Orchestra Hall.  San Francisco’s extraordinary aerial dance troupe, Project Bandaloop, will add their beautiful, gravity-defying vertical choreography, performing to the dulcet sounds of the celebrated hometown orchestra.  Opening the evening’s open-air music and dance festivities is NYC’s East Village Opera Company, a rock gropu composed of two guitarists, a bassist, a percussionist, a string quartet and a vocalist!  Combining a classical string section with a powerhouse rock band, EVOC transforms traditional operatic pieces into modern musical arrangements that have toured the world.

Wayne State University’s Community Arts Auditorium hosts a special evening of jazz, Thursday, June 25th, featuring special guests The Bad Plus.  This Minneapolis acoustic jazz trio performs modern avant-garde jazz with influences of rock and pop, Professor Chris Collins leads the WSU Detroit Jazz Collective bringing together Jazz Department faculty, Detroit Jazz artists and outstanding WSU jazz students presenting new music arranged and composed by the members.

Presented by the Detroit International Jazz Festival, this evening’s screening of, A Great Day In Harlem, will include introduction of the jazz fest’s own “A Great Day In Detroit” photo.  This Academy Award nominated documentary tells the story behind the legendary August 1958 photograph of 57 of the world’s greatest jazz stars who snapped a picture that day that would live forever.

The “Canfield Street Party”, Saturday, June 27th will close the month-long celebration with an evening of special guests, featuring the Lovell Sisters and the internationally known Orishas.  Orishas, a two-time Grammy Award winning trio, combines hip-hop with classic Cuban beats, will be a can’t miss event to conclude this summer series.  Food & drink stations supplied by the Traffic Jam & Snug Restaurant, and a retail booth area showcasing some of Midtown’s finest boutique businesses.

Midsummer Nights in Midtown is co-produced by the University Cultural Center Association and Wayne State University with sponsorship from MASCO, Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, and Wayne State University.