7 p.m., presentation by the author, followed by book signing
8 to 10:30 p.m., Rodney Whitaker Quartet
“Jazz from Detroit” is a landmark — the first book to explore Detroit’s pivotal role in shaping the course of modern and contemporary jazz from the 1940s until the present day. Written by an award-winning former music critic with the Detroit Free Press, the book sweeps authoritatively through 75 years of jazz history and chronicles the indispensable contributions of dozens of musicians nurtured by Detroit. As Stryker writes in the book’s preface, “The history of jazz and the history of jazz from Detroit are indivisible. You can’t tell one story without the other.”
Bassist Rodney Whitaker is one of more than two dozen Detroit-bred musicians profiled in the book. The longtime director of jazz studies at Michigan State University boasts a resume that includes Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Kenny Garrett and dozens of other major figures.
Advance Praise for “Jazz from Detroit,” published July 8, 2019 by the University of Michigan Press
“Deeply researched and expertly rendered, Mark Stryker’s Jazz from Detroit has provided a diligent and insightful window into every aspect of how Detroit came to be one of the major centers of modern American musical research. This is an important and highly entertaining document that will stand as a definitive testament to the musical culture of Detroit.” — Pat Metheny
“Jazz from Detroit is a masterpiece—one of the most insightful books about this music ever written. Mark Stryker’s perceptive commentary will resonate with both aficionados and newcomers to jazz.” — Ethan Iverson
“There is no other city like Detroit: the musicians, the vibe, the people. Thank you, Mark Stryker, for Jazz from Detroit.” — Sonny Rollins
“With a smooth and deeply informed style Mark Stryker in Jazz from Detroit writes authoritatively about the city’s almost matchless contribution to the history of jazz. His profiles of some of the iconic figures in jazz are so insightfully drawn, so musical that you are tempted to stop reading and listen to their recordings.” — Herb Boyd, author of “Black Detroit: A People’s History of Self-Determination”
“Jazz from Detroit by Mark Stryker is a vital new piece of scholarship that’s also a real pleasure to read.” — Nate Chinen, author of “Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century”
Visit www.jazzfromdetroit.com to learn more about “Jazz from Detroit.”
About the author:
Mark Stryker is an author and award-winning arts reporter and critic based in Detroit. Stryker covered jazz, classical music and the visual arts for the Detroit Free Press for 21 years from 1995-2016. His many national prizes include two ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for music writing about bassist Ron Carter and composer Elliott Carter, as well as several reporting awards for coverage of the Detroit Institute of Arts and City of Detroit bankruptcy. Before arriving in Detroit, he worked for the South Bend Tribune and the Dayton Daily News. He also worked as a jazz saxophonist. Born in Bloomington, Ind., Stryker earned a bachelor’s degree in American history from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in journalism from Indiana University.