Schedule
Thursday, June 4
1a. The N’Namdi Arts Center
52 & 66 E. Forest – grnnamdi.com
Art Exhibition
Pathe Jassi Trio
8:00pm – West African Jazz
Bass player Pathe Jassi fuses the best of Senegalese and Detroit jazz traditions.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Miles Long
9:30pm – Urban Jazz | Funk
Warner boasts a repertoire that runs the gamut from Living Colour to Coltrane, with plenty of original material in the mix.
1b. Detroit Artists Market
4719 Woodward – detroitartistsmarket.org
Art Exhibition & Sale
Caravan of Thieves
8:00pm – Acoustic Swing
Their new and unique bran of gypsy flavored songwriting and high intensity show has won Caravan of Thieves immediate praise.
Tally Hall
10:00pm – Indie Pop Rock
Tally Hall returns from NYC with their infectious blend of ’60s pop harmonies, playful sense of humor and indie rock sensibilities.
Friday, June 5
2. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
315 E. Warren – maah-detroit.org
Listening Party w/Leon Ware
6:00pm
Hear some of his many hits, and stories about their making, from this icon of soul music history.
Leon Ware
8:00pm – R&B | Soul
Songwriter, singer and producer Leon Ware makes his first-ever hometown appearance performing his signature style of highly romantic soul music that has resulted in hit recordings by Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, The Isley Brothers, Quincy Jones and many other music celebrities at Motown and Stax.
Exhibitions at the Museum:
Freedom’s Sisters (Seniors – $5, Adults – $8, Youth – $5)
Motown vs. Stax Records (Seniors – $5, Adults – $8, Youth $5)
Saturday, June 6
3. Scarab Club
217 Farnsworth – scarabclub.org
Art Exhibition & Sale
Midsummer LitFest
8:00pm-12:00am – Poetry | Jazz | Blues
Featuring Mark Doty
8:00pm – Poetry
National Book Award 2008 winner, author of seven books of poems and three memoirs, Mark Doty, considered “a star of contemporary American poetry,” will read from his latest and favorite works.
Midsummer LitFest also features NYC poet Barry Wallenstein with Detroit’s jazz musicians Ron English & Jef Reynolds, and includes a selection of the area’s finest Jazz, Poetry and Blues performers. Produced in conjunction with M.L. Liebler and Springfed Arts.
Wayne State University Press book sale
12:00pm – 9:00pm
Stock up for your summer reading with books from Wayne State University Press. The Press will be selling a huge selection of used and new books in the garden at discounts of 20% to 80% off retail price! A variety of authors will also be on-hand throughout the day to chat about their books and sign copies.
Complete Schedule
5:30-7:00pm: Made in Michigan Writers from The Wayne State University Press read & sign in the Scarab Club Garden | James Tottis, author of The Guardian Building | Jean Alicia Elster, author of Who’s Jim Hines? | M.L. Liebler, author of Wide Awake in Someone Else’s Dream | Vievee Francis, author of Blue-Tail Flye | Mariela Griffor, author of Exiliana.
7:00pm: Michael C. Jones – Detroit’s Dancing Poet
7:05pm: Legendary Detroit Poet and Jazz Musician Faruq Z. Bey reads & performs
7:30pm: Terry Blackhawk
7:40pm: Well known Metro-Detroit poet and MDW Instructor Dawn McDuffie
7:50pm: Well known Metro-Detroit poet and MDW Instructor Mary Jo Firth Gillett
8:00p: Mark Doty – Internationally acclaimed poet & writer and winner of the 2008 National Book Award in Poetry
9:00pm: Internationally Acclaimed New York City jazz poet Barry Wallenstein
9:30pm: Award winning Detroit Slam Poet Cassie Poe
9:45pm: National Slam Champ and Arts Educator Aire Dee
10:00pm: The Detroit Legacy Sessions | Poetry & Music from 3 Detroit legends Robert B. Jones, M.L. Liebler and Faruq Z. Bey performing selections from their brand new CD.
10:30pm: Black Hat featuring poet Caroline Maun with Frankie the K and Dr. James Hart
11:00pm: Tonja Dudley Bagwell Hosts MDW Lit Fest Open Mic
This event is free and open to the public. Second Floor Lounge open 12pm-Midnight. Union Street sandwiches and beverages will be available for purchase.
Thursday, June 11
4. Magic Stick and Alley Deck
4120 Woodward – majesticdetroit.com
Hot Club of Detroit
8:00pm – Jazzy | Gypsy
Hot Club of Detroit is an electrifying and visionary jazz and gypsy ensemble that spins the traditions pioneered by Django Reinhardt and company into a refreshing and contemporary sound.
Brooklyn Qawwali Party
10:00pm – Jazz | World
The thunderous, buoyant dance rhythms of this 11-piece orchestra capture the joyful spirit of Pakistani folk music with five jazzy horns, guitar, bass, harmonium, three percussionists, and plenty of funk and fun.
Friday, June 12
**Updated L&O Performance Schedule**
5. Detroit Institute of Arts
5200 Woodward – dia.org
In conjunction with the DIA’s Friday Night Live!
(Free for Detroit residents and members; non-residents: Seniors – $6, Adults – $8, Youth – $4)
L&O
**8:00pm and 9:00pm** – French Chansons | Swing Ensemble
Hailing from Paris France, L&O is comprised of the beautiful stylings of Laure who sings in French, Spanish and English, and Olivier, composer and violinist, leading intimate, polished ballads, Spanish rhythms and an exotic swing ensemble.
Exhibitions:
Learning by Line: The Role of Drawing in the Eighteenth Century- The eighteenth century, characterized by social and political unrest culminating in the French Revolution (1789-99), was also marked by artistic innovations. Artists and collectors traveled throughout Europe in great numbers, creating and purchasing works of art, many of them drawings. The art of drawing was more than an aesthetic exercise; it also became a way of obtaining and conveying knowledge and of ordering and understanding a quickly changing world.
Of Life and Loss: The Polish Photographs of Roman Vishniac and Jeffrey Gusky- This exhibition, organized by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, includes around 90 black-and-white photographs taken by two photographers: Roman Vishniac, who photographed throughout Poland’s Jewish communities in the mid-1930s, and Jeffrey Gusky who photographed many of the same Polish sites during the 1990s.
Complete Schedule
- Museum hours are 10am-10pm
- Detroit residents free with ID
- 6pm-9pm: Drawing in the Galleries (galleries TBA)
- 6pm-9pm: Drop In Workshop (activity TBA)
- Guided tours meet in the Farnsworth Lobby on Fridays (1pm, 6pm, & 7:30pm)
- Audio tours for Adult and Youth available in English, Spanish, and Japanese ($2) in the Farnsworth Lobby
- Free Multimedia Tour of Rivera Court available at Rivera Information Desk
- CafeDIA is open 11:30am-2:30pm, and 5pm-9pm
Saturday, June 13
6. Detroit Science Center
5020 John R – detroitsciencecenter.org
Midsummer Nights Children’s Fair
Hudson Vagabond Puppets – “Butterfly: The Story of a Life Cycle”
4:30pm, 6:30pm, and 8:30pm – Puppetry
The life cycle of the monarch butterfly, following the amazing metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to adult butterfly, culminates in an incredible 1,500-mile round trip journey to Mexico, on-stage, presented through larger-than-life puppetry and mask performance.
Midsummer Youth Artists Market and Children’s Make-n-Take Activities: 4:00pm-10:00pm
Exhibitions:
“Star Trek” the Exhibit (Children/Seniors – $11.95, Adults – $15.95)
The exhibition will be open the entire time. last exhibit entry is an hour before closing.
“Star Trek: The IMAX Experience” (Children/Seniors – $8.95, Adults – $10.95)
The movie will be running in the Chrysler IMAX Dome Theatre at 4:30pm, 7pm, and 9:30pm.
“Star Trek” the Exhibit & Movie (Children/Seniors – $17.95, Adult – $21.95)
Take $3 off museum admission after 4:00 p.m.Also Showing:
5:30pm: “Views of the Universe” in the Dassault Systemes Planetarium
7:30pm: ”Engineering Adrenaline,” a Toyota Engineering Theater Show
Thursday, June 18
7. Detroit Public Library
5201 Woodward – detroitpubliclibrary.org
Thornetta Davis
7:30pm – R&B | Soul
Local singing sensation, Thornetta Davis, has a rich, soulful voice that reaches through the microphone to both soothe and excite.
Linton Kwesi Johnson
9:00pm – Poetry
Reading from his third book of poetry, Jamaican-born and London-based dub poet, Linton Kwesi Johnson, shares his award-winning style of reggae poetry, a genre of writing he helped to originate.
Reception & Book Signing from 6:30pm-7:30pm
Friday, June 19
8. Whitney Restaurant
4421 Woodward – thewhitney.com
Garden Party
The Guggenheim Grotto
8:00pm – Folk | Pop
Dublin, Ireland duo, Guggenheim Grotto, mix multi-instrumental pop/folk with sampling, electronic techniques and poetic lyrics set to rhythmic pop melodies.
Oscar Lopez
10:00pm – Latin Guitar
Letting the passion and fire within his soul loose through his fingertips and onto the guitar strings, Oscar Lopez, a world-class musician and two-time Juno award winner, plays with a soulful energy and fiery intensity that captivates and entertains.
Saturday, June 20
9. Ellington Lawn
Mack Avenue just east of Woodward
East Village Opera Company
8:30pm – Opera | Rock | Classical
Traditional operatic pieces transformed into modern musical arrangements that combine a classical string section with a powerhouse rock band.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra & Project Bandaloop
10:30pm - Symphony | Aerial Dance
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra appears in a late-night outdoor concert performing the Overture to “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The repertoire will include works by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Hindemith, and Stravinsky. San Francisco’s gravity-defying aerial dance troupe, Project Bandaloop, add their beautiful, vertical choreography to this special performance.
West Willis Village
10:00am – 6:00pm
Before you come to the Midsummer Nights evening show on Saturday, June 20th, consider dropping by the West Willis Village for a special birthday party and neighborhood celebration. The growing array of businesses that now comprise the “West Willis Village” will celebrate their collective birthdays with music, acrobatics, children’s activities, and food. All activities are FREE!
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.
Thursday, June 25
10. Wayne State University Community Arts Auditorium
450 Reuther Mall – wayne.edu
Street Painting Exhibition
June 24th and June 25th
12:00pm-8:00pm – Street Art
Documentary: “A Great Day in Harlem”
(courtesy of the Detroit International Jazz Festival)
6:30pm – Film
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.
WSU Detroit Jazz Collective
8:00pm – Jazz
Professor Chris Collins leads a swinging ensemble of Jazz Department faculty, Detroit jazz artists and outstanding WSU jazz students.
The Bad Plus
9:30pm – Jazz Piano Trio
Combining elements of modern avant-garde jazz with rock and pop influences, The Bad Plus create a powerful mixture of personality and performance, and a progressive musical stew that defies traditional labels.
Friday, June 26
11. Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
4454 Woodward – mocadetroit.org
LEMUR: League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots
Installation: 8:00pm-12:00am
Performances: 8:45pm & 10:30pm – Music | Technology
LEMUR builds robots that are new types of sculptural musical instruments. The robots will perform with human beatboxer and vocal performance artist, Adam Matta, and will be shown in an inter-active installation controlled by the audience.
Slavic Soul Party!
9:30pm & 11:15pm – Balkan Worldbeat
A fiery 10-piece Balkan brass band from NYC, Slavic Soul Party! delivers some of the most danceable rhythms melding Gypsy, East European, Mexican and Asian jazz and soul.
Saturday, June 27
12. Canfield Street Party
Canfield Street between Cass & Second
The Lovell Sisters
8:00pm – American Roots Music
These three young women, Georgia-based sisters fuse virtuosic playing and vibrant vocal harmonizing in a dynamic musical interaction between contemporary bluegrass, country and folk influences.
Orishas
10:00pm – Latin Hip Hop
Orishas is a Latin hip-hop group whose work is influenced by the hip-hop movement as well as both Latin and Cuban rhythms. The members emigrated from Cuba and now reside in Europe. After producing 4 studio albums, Orishas has sold more than 750,000 copies of its albums in Europe and has received two Grammys. In 2007, they collaborated with Puerto Rican group, Calle 13, on the song “Pa’l Norte”. The song won a Latin Grammy for Best Urban Song.
Facebook
Twitter