Documentary debuting at Freep Film Fest explores Detroit as powerhouse of musical culture
"There's no city that's had as much to do with the development and evolution of American musical culture as Detroit."
That statement is made early in the new documentary film “The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit,” which will make its world premiere at this weekend’s Freep Film Festival on Saturday. The movie goes a long way toward making its case.
Related: Freep Film Festival kicks off with story of extraordinary Downriver basketball team
It’s a passion project guided by former Detroit Free Press arts reporter Mark Stryker as an extension of his critically acclaimed 2019 book “Jazz from Detroit.” Both take deep dives into the rich and monumental history of Detroit’s jazz community and its impact on the entire global genre.
“We really wanted to capture the spirit and soul of the city through the music, the musicians and the resiliency of Detroit. All those things we tried to bring together in a coherent, entertaining and informative fashion,” said Stryker, who wrote and co-produced the doc.
The movie is directed and edited by Daniel Loewenthal, who also co-produced the project along with Roberta Friedman.
“Roberta and I, we’re not Detroiters,” said Loewenthal, “so it was discovery for us. We discovered so much about the city. We had been there 10 years before. We did a project there, (so) we thought we knew a lot about Detroit. But we didn’t know a lot at all, and it was just a real process of discovery — a lot of really wonderful surprises and a lot of wonderful people.”
More: Detroit Jazz Festival unveils 2024 artist lineup, led by artist-in-residence Brian Blade
Stryker witnessed their journey and hopes the film draws more people to seek out the experience of discovering Detroit as a cultural powerhouse.
“They got here, and this whole world opened up to them,” he said. “And I think that mirrors, in some ways, the feeling that a lot of people have about Detroit. They either don’t know anything about the city, or they have a preconception about it. It’s not until you get here and you begin to meet the people, (and) you begin to understand the layers of history and culture here, that you begin to get a sense of the real character of the city.
“And so we hope that the film will provide that for people to see it around the country, a window into the real character and culture of Detroit.”
An impressive roster of jazz luminaries appear throughout the film to provide color and perspective. Behemoths of the jazz world including Regina Carter, Louis Hayes, Sheila Jordan, Charles McPherson, Pat Metheny, Christian McBride, James Carter, Terence Blanchard, Rodney Whitaker and more were interviewed for the production, which also features the last major interview with legendary pianist and educator Barry Harris before his death in late 2021.
More: Detroit-born pianist Barry Harris who taught jazz greats in 1950s dies at 91
“Thank God, we got Barry Harris,” Stryker said. “He’s a real hero in the film. He is the bebop guru, and the real core of what this music is about and its relationship to the city. The legacy is all embodied in Barry, and the way we’ve put together the materials does a really good job of bringing all that.”
The film also explores the former glory and sweeping destruction of Detroit’s storied Black Bottom and Paradise Valley neighborhoods.
More: How Detroit destroyed Black Bottom and built Lafayette Park:The inside story
“The first hour of the film, we see the flowering of African American culture and life in Detroit,” said Stryker. “And you see the potential and what it is, and you see the extraordinary, beautiful blooms that has produced in terms of the music and culture. And then you see it systematically destroyed after falling in love with it. I think that is a really powerful undercurrent to the film.
“It is a celebration of music and culture in Detroit, but it is also a warning and a reminder of what’s been lost along the way, and what might have been had our history gone differently. The film has moments that do make you angry, as well as moments that elate you. It’s all in there, but that’s Detroit. Parts of it make you want to cheer with joy, and other parts of the history make you want to weep. That’s part of the Detroit experience.”
Stryker said he enjoyed the experience of putting the film together and getting an opportunity to take what he’d previously put on the written page and bring it to life.
“I got really excited about the notion of taking the story and putting it on the screen,” he said, “because you can hear the music and you can see the city and you can reach more people than you can with a book. It was exciting to me that there was another layer here for the work that I’ve been doing for a long time, and the film allowed us to tell the story with a slightly different lens than I do in the book.”
Through the highs and even the lows, “The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit” is, above all else, a love letter to the Motor City.
“I would feel good about us if we’ve created a way to make the discovery of the city more accessible,” Stryker said, “and to understand the greatness of the city.
“It’s not just a place where cars are made, you know.”
“The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit” will premiere at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 13, in the Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave. After the film, Free Press Editor Nicole Avery Nichols will talk with Stryker, Loewenthal, Friedman and bassist-composer Robert L. Hurst III.
A second showing will take place at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Birmingham 8 Powered by Emagine, 211 S. Old Woodward Ave. After the showing, Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield will talk with Stryker, Loewenthal and Friedman.
Sunday’s showing is currently sold out, but seats remain for the Saturday screening. General admission is $15.
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Doc debuting at Freep Film Fest explores Detroit as musical powerhouse
