Marsha Music, Live from Hastings Street! @ ArtX Fest

[RickBeall]

When President Eisenhower signed the Highway Act of 1956, Black America did not realize that this would put an expressway right through their community. It was called "Urban Renewal". In Detroit, Hastings Street became the south bound service drive of I 75.

Hastings Street could have been Detroit's "Beale Street", but instead it is just an express way surface drive with a whole lot of fire hydrants hinting that this was once a teeming area.


Joe Von Battle, recorded "Hastings Street Opera" by "the Detroit Count". There was a part 1 and a part 2. The tunes describe a walk down Hastings street.


Here are a few sample lyrics.


The Corner Bar
"Onliest bar you walk in and get yourself a bottle of beer, and turn your head, and someone else is trying to drink it up."


Golden Bell on Frederick
"That's the onliest place you walk in, you have to shovel the sawdust off the floor 'fore you can buy yourself a drink."


Warfield Theatre on Farnsworth
"... sleeping hours till six o'clock."


Silver Grill on Theodore
"Onliest place you walk in to buy a drink, and you have to make the bartender and the owner drunk, 'fore you can get a drink."

Forest Club
"Onliest bar, you have to walk in, you get ready to buy a bottle of beer, you have to walk a mile after you get in the joint to get it. 'Cross the street,

Jake's Bar, he got all the trade Sonny don't want."


Mary's Bar on Garfield
"That's the onliest bar you can fight all you wanna fight, and nobody run out."


Willis Theatre
"Onliest picture show in town, if you missed the picture fifty years ago, you can see it at the Willis Theatre. Right now showing Rudolph Valentino, and 'The Lost World.' "


Leland Bar on Leland:
"Onliest bar in town, where the bartenders carry pistols, and when they serve you, they say, 'have you got any money?"


Dixie Bar: "One way out, never go in that joint!" --Detroit Count.


Joe's Taproom:
"Onliest bar in town wher the ladies can walk in and buy a bottle of beer, and they'll give 'em a dip of snuff."


And that gets us to Joe's record shop where all of this was recorded. Marsha will be opening the doors to her father's establishment on 4/14/2013, Sunday at 5 pm. If you are late ... you will be very late.

[Is this the world's wordiest "bump" ever?]

[RickBeall]

About 6 years ago I stopped and had my shoes shined at Red's Jazz Shoe Shine on Oakland Ave. I talked to a fellow who was a child when Hastings Street was in it's prime. He said to his 6 year old mind, the street cars on Hastings Street were like magic flying carpets that could take you to the ends of the earth where you could get all earthly delights.

How could a one mile stretch of street be the "ends of the earth"? How could the memory of a service drive with a lot of fire hydrants be so vivid? This was a memory from back in the day when Joe's Record Shop on the corner actually recorded the records that were sold. It was a different time from today's mass produced culture.

Step into a different world. The little girl who worked in her daddy's shop for years is throwing the doors open one last time on Sunday , April 14, at 5:00 p.m. at MOCAD on Woodward. Come on down!


Map
http://www.artxdetroit.com/2013-art-x-detroit/locations/mocad/

[Give us this day our daily bump ...]

[marshamusic]

I hope while Marsha is doing all the prep work with you guys, and listening to music and sermens she has not heard in 50 years, that she finds time to write down all the memories this must be dislodging.

She will be on fire by Sunday night! Incandescent!

Oh wow, thanks Rick! I'm sitting here now with Gannon synchronizing images and sounds. This is a gas! Yes, folks are reaching out from everywhere - Australia, Holland, England and Ireland - to tell me about the high regard they have for my father's work. one, who has been in Europe collecting these records for 50 years, even said that Joe Von Battle was his musical hero - period.

Some folks from my father's life have spoken with me - the harmonica player, Little Sonny as well as another important person - Dave Usher, who was a best friend of my Dad back on Hastings street. Usher was one of the white "hip cats" around Hastings, who hung at the shop and even produced some things with artists.

He was from a family of maritime folks, who ran a shipping business. He was in the record biz, but always kept his hand in the family biz on the water. He eventually became best friends with Dizzy Gillespie, and was his manager for decades, until Dizzy's death.

Dave was always dear to my family, and reached out to help my father after the Riots destroyed Daddy's shop. He had remained in the family biz and it eventually morphed into oil-spill clean up. I knew I would hear Usher's name on the news whenever there was a big oil disaster.

Well, his grandson reached out to me last week and has plugged me back into Dave Usher. He is an example of the amazing, multi-track lives of many cool Detroiters.

I'm up against the wall with preparations for the event tomorrow, but I wanted to poke my head in. If anyone can catch ANY of the remaining events at ArtX - not just mine - please do, because it is awesome.

....and btw Gannon is amazing, pure and simple.

[Zacha341]

I LOVE THIS KIND OF MUSIC... The ArtXFest events are great - I love how the magenta colored Icons are all over the area. I will try to come down tomorrow evening. I will be starting out at the Charles H. Wright Museum ArtXFest Emenent Artist readings at 2:00:

http://www.artxdetroit.com/2013-art-...oetry-award-2/

Then I will come on over to MOCAD.

[Gannon]

I'm making my apologies in advance today, because I suspect by tonight the fatigue is going to finally catch up with me. So if I end up a sullen, grumpy mess before the show...it is the lack of midnight oil reserves, we've done burnt 'em up.

I have mad respect for Juanita Anderson and her photog and editing assistant James. Seeing all of their work assembling some of the fresh video for this presentation last night at Old Main made it clear that this collaboration is fierce.

It was fun catching everyone's unique perspective on the story, then watching them add their portion to support it. Once again, props to Adam Stansfel and Brad Hales and everyone over at People's Records...the things these enthusiasts were able to produce from their collections have astounded me. These folks are historic scholars in every aspect of the term.

Surely they have affected Marsha in ways she'll be feeling for the rest of her days. If only I could've captured her response to some of the record albums I dredged up from a particularly productive estate sale visit last year! There is NO mistaking your passion for music, darlin'. No missing it, either.

Come out tonight, this should be a fantastic show. I'll be the grumpy one by the tech table, trying to keep myself awake. I can feel it already.


Cheers,
John

[Kathleen]

Best wishes, Marsha, for a fabulous show today!! Unfortunately we can't be there. Hope you will do your show again somewhere sometime in the future!!

Yesterday we had a chance to see the staged reading of Stephen Mack Jones' Cadillac Kiss at the Carr Center. Very interesting piece...with a lot of potential!!

Then last evening in the DFT auditorium, we enjoyed Mark Stryker's conversation with jazz saxophonist Charles McPherson...and the set of jazz that followed. Magnificent!!!

Don't miss today's Art X offerings!!!

[RickBeall]

Well, my wife and I are just back from Marsha Music's event.

It was great!

The organizers were smart enough to put her into a large auditorium-sized space.

Marsha is a great presenter. She projected her warmth and personality even into the back rows where we sat. As she talked, you could feel Marsha and her family starting to come to grips with her father's legacy.

Near the end, the rock 'n rollers in bell bottoms were tentatively finding their way to the 12th street store, buying the down home blues records the black community was moving away from ... and then the riots hit.

The legacy was blown to the four ends of the earth no less thoroughly and randomly than if earlier a baby girl had blown the parachute seeds off a dandelion over the dirt embankment that was to become I-75.

I told you it was heavy.

Gannon and crew did a great job with the visuals and sounds. Only in Detroit.

[Gannon]

Thanks, Rick.

Sorry we didn't get the chance to meet, I was a wee berserk.

Murphy is a motherfucker. And I learned a few things tonight. Had a great time, altogether. Given the snafu's, it was a miracle everything came off as semi-smoothly as it did.

Sorry you couldn't see the video so well in the back. We planned for two hundred, with an overflow of another hundred. Many more than that showed up...we never intended on anyone sitting off to the far right side. I couldn't believe the number of people who came out late on a Sunday night. That alone was awesome.

Marsha's story of her past is still evolving, and the derivative storyline regarding all of the spontaneous outpourings of love, memories, source documents, and the like is now taking on a life of its own as well.

I am going to go pass out now.

[Zacha341]

^^^ Yes, I came by and couldn't get in. Great it was so well attended : )

[Gannon]

^^^ Yes, I came by and couldn't get in. Great it was so well attended : )

Such a bummer...a group of Marsha's friends who drove together were also shut out. MOCAD's people said they were doing the most they could to fit everyone, but had to observe the fire department's maximum. Next time, we'll have a plan to connect to the next room's PA and scale the video displays.

And setup stadium seating. With roving refreshment vendors.

Plus, I'll invest in real presentation management software instead of the standard MacBook stuff. I couldn't believe that maxing either QuickTime or Preview to full screen forced iTunes to quit playing! Didn't see that one coming.

I am so beat, but cannot sleep...muscles twitching. Sorry to obsess, I ain't got much choice at the moment.


Oh, and we finally found Marsha's script. It was on the couch they were using before the crush-rush of the crowd when the show started. She did the whole thing without knowing her cues specifically...and only missed a few. She was amazing.

I had no idea where anyone was in the half hour leading up to the start, we were too busy sticking album covers to the wall. We tried to find all authentic JVB labels, but ended up only finding the Chess reissues of the Reverend Franklin sermons and albums representative of the period. I simply wanted to give the feel of her being 'surrounded by music', since that is such a foundational portion of her text and the implication of the entire story.

I got lucky having both the first Beatles album and that beloved Elvis one...got 'em at a garage sale up in Bloomfield last year.

OK, going to try sleep again. Wish me luck.

[marshamusic]

It was an amazing night. SRO at MOCAD and all out of the door; many were turned away, due to fire codes. No one expected it; we were asking for chairs from the whole facility.

I'm still exhausted; I suppose I am depleted, having spilled much about the Detroit history that my family experienced, as well as the personal tragedy of my father's demise.

In my facebook thank you, among others, I expressed my appreciation to the DetroitYes community and archives for all of the posts and writings that have oriented and informed me regarding the city's history - and I repeat that Thank You here.

There were a couple of DY guys who came, but it was so crowded I didn't get their names; sorry or I would give you a shout out.

The large crowd and an extended "standing O" made clear the desire of folks to hear more of this story that I told, and there are now talks about expanding the show into a documentary film and/or other presentation.

It was a pure pleasure to work with Gannon and to have him a part of my team, and I thank DetroitYes for being the place where he connected with me.

Here's a link to a very nice review of the event, by a photographer whom I'd never met, who came and took many photos:

http://photasticimages.net/blog/inde...y-re-captured/

It was a great night, indeed.

[Kathleen]

More Hastings Street history here....

Stage Play: Hastings Street, Friday-Sunday, May 10-19, 2013, 8pm Friday & Saturday, 4pm Sunday. Hastings Street swings with a jazzy beat and the low-down blues the 1940’s. For teenagers in Detroit’s “Black Bottom,” the 1940’s were a time of exploration and conflict. Hastings Street was at the heart of it all – filled with business and commerce by day; and bright lights, blues music, and danger by night. The Mosaic Youth Ensemble presents this return engagement!! The performances take place at the Detroit Film Theatre. $22; $32 priority seating. http://www.mosaicdetroit.org/home.htm

[Gannon]

More Hastings Street history here....

Stage Play: Hastings Street, Friday-Sunday, May 10-19, 2013, 8pm Friday & Saturday, 4pm Sunday. Hastings Street swings with a jazzy beat and the low-down blues the 1940’s. For teenagers in Detroit’s “Black Bottom,” the 1940’s were a time of exploration and conflict. Hastings Street was at the heart of it all – filled with business and commerce by day; and bright lights, blues music, and danger by night. The Mosaic Youth Ensemble presents this return engagement!! The performances take place at the Detroit Film Theatre. $22; $32 priority seating. http://www.mosaicdetroit.org/home.htm

Is that their production of the story of the children preparing for the Jabberwocky competition, and talking with their grandparents...who tell the story of Hastings Street?! If so...this is off-the-charts excellent. Heck, everything by Mosaic is, but the handling of this story...with a weaving drive-by visit by Langston Hughes, if I remember correctly...is purely genius.

Cheers!


Oh, I've not recovered yet either, Marsha. I have had easier weeks than this after finishing a marathon! Two nice gentlemen came up after the performance to gently critique the still imagery presentation, they were very polite but were asking for more in the middle...I think we need to tell people in advance that the gap is unfortunately the biggest portion of the story, and exactly what you've been struggling to make go away!

I want to do this again. Soon...

[marshamusic]

Is that their production of the story of the children preparing for the Jabberwocky competition, and talking with their grandparents...who tell the story of Hastings Street?! If so...this is off-the-charts excellent. Heck, everything by Mosaic is, but the handling of this story...with a weaving drive-by visit by Langston Hughes, if I remember correctly...is purely genius.

Cheers!


Oh, I've not recovered yet either, Marsha. I have had easier weeks than this after finishing a marathon! Two nice gentlemen came up after the performance to gently critique the still imagery presentation, they were very polite but were asking for more in the middle...I think we need to tell people in advance that the gap is unfortunately the biggest portion of the story, and exactly what you've been struggling to make go away!

I want to do this again. Soon...

Yes, we can get the kinks out and hopefully do it again.

Yes, it looks like this Mosaic production of Hastings Street is going to be awesome - and how appropo!

After my presentation on Sunday, the head of the Mosaic group
asked me to make a shorter presentation on Hastings St. to the Mosaic performers next week, and of course I will be glad to do so.