Alice Coltrane, born Alice McLeod in Detroit in 1937, is one of the many Motor City jazz musicians profiled in a Night Lights program.
When longtime music and arts journalist Mark Stryker joined me to discuss his recent book Jazz From Detroit, the broad sweep of our conversation meant that a few of the city's many significant musicians ended up getting little or no mention in the resulting two-part program ("Made In Detroit: Jazz From The Motor City", Part 1 and Part 2). If you want to pursue a deeper dive into some individual Detroit jazz legacies, check out these previous Night Lights shows:
The Fantastic Jazz Harp Of Dorothy Ashby
Donald Byrd: The Hardbop Years
Rookie Of The Year: Curtis Fuller '57
Bud's Buds: Barry Harris And Toshiko Akiyoshi
Charles McPherson's Post-Bird Bop
Last Of The Lions: Gerald Wilson
These programs, which date back over the past dozen years, were not done with the artists' Detroit jazz heritage in mind. It's further testament to the wealth of musicians that the city produced in the 20th century. For more on how the Detroit jazz scene sustained its vitality to the present day, listen to Made In Detroit: Jazz From The Motor City, Part 2.
