As a kid growing up on the other side of Eight Mile in Oak Park during the 1970s and 1980s, Sean Blackman was afforded opportunities to travel all around the world.
Well, through music, that is.
With Blackman’s mother working as a secretary to Armen Boladian, founder of Westbound Records in Southfield, she took home hundreds of records across multiple genres.
“She had quite an extensive record collection,” he said. “She’ll have like (Indian sitar player) Ravi Shankar, Harry Belafonte, (South African singer) Miriam Makeba, (South African trumpeter) Hugh Masekela. She had (Brazilian composer) Antônio Carlos Jobim albums. So, that music was being played in the house.”
Hearing that musical collage over the years made an impact on Blackman. He got his first guitar at 12 years old and went on to become a world music artist. This week, he will be one of the performers at this year’s Concert of Colors, which has become a Detroit summer tradition and one of the largest global music festivals in the country.
The free event kicks off at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Detroit Film Theatre inside the Detroit Institute of Arts with a multimedia performance by Iranian-Canadian musical duo Niyaz. Concert of Colors runs until Sunday at multiple locations around Midtown.
Headliners include R&B/gospel singer Mavis Staples, who rose to fame in the family group The Staple Singers; 70’s R&B band War; Nigerian musician Femi Kuti and Latin band Spanglish Fly.
Along with musical performances, the festival will include food, vendors, a panel discussion on activism in art and children’s activities.
Also this weekend is the African World Festival at Hart Plaza. Organized by The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the festival runs from Friday through Sunday and will feature soul and gospel headliners The Dramatics, Midnight Star and Sounds of Blackness. Plus, there will be performances by several Detroit artists, youth activities and an African safari attraction with animatronic animals, said Jonathan Jones, the youth and family programs manager at the Wright Museum.
He said having the African World Festival on the same weekend as Concert of Colors wasn’t intentional, but he encourages people to check out both events.
“There are some amazing acts performing at the Concert of Colors. There’s plenty of time to float in and out of both spaces, and if you hop on the QLINE, you don’t even have to drive,” Jones said.
Bridging the gap between art and activism
Concert of Colors takes place at various venues across Midtown throughout its five-day run: the Detroit Historical Museum, the Sosnick Courtyard outside the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Michigan Science Center, the Detroit Film Theatre and the DIA.
But for Friday’s performances, the festival is returning to the place it called home for its first 13 years – Chene Park, now known as the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre. Shows that night include Dayton funk/jazz collective The Luv Locz Experiment at 6 p.m., Moroccan group Bab L’ Bluz at 7:15 p.m., and Staples at 9 p.m.
Concert of Colors founder and WDET host Ismael Ahmed said he’s heard from festivalgoers over the years that they wanted to see the event return to its original venue.
“It was a happy opportunity to do it, especially because it’s the (40th) anniversary of The Aretha,” he said.
Meanwhile, Blackman will be performing at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Detroit Historical Museum alongside fellow Detroit artists Victor Ghannam and Dave McMurray. The three will perform Eastern jazz under the name Hye Salam. “Hye” means Armenian and “salaam” is a greeting in Palestine, Blackman said. Having a jazz group was Ahmed’s idea, he said.
“He (Ahmed) called me and told me to call up Victor Ghannam and he said, ‘Put an Eastern jazz band together,’” Blackman said. “Victor and I, when we connected about it, we said, ‘Neither of us are deemed jazz, at least what people know jazz to be, anyway.’ So, we decided to invite Dave McMurray.”
Later on Thursday, Third Man Records will feature shows from experimental music group Nebula Sound Ensemble at 8 p.m. and group Beautiful Noise at 9 p.m. led by Detroit musician Gretchen Gonzales Davidson.
“They’ll set up two different performances, one in the factory and in the record store, and she’s (Gonzales Davidson) bringing together groups of people with no set musical agenda, but who are great musicians and will come up with the sounds that are their very own,” Ahmed said.
On 1 p.m. Saturday at Spotlite Detroit, the Arab American National Museum will present a panel titled, “The Homelands in Our Bodies: Embodying Artivism,” with writer Ijeoma Oluo, musician Firas Zreik, poet and activist Tongo Eisen-Martin, musician Raymond “SouFy” Elwart Jr. and artist Cyrah Dardas. Raed Fayez, the founder and director of nonprofit YallaPunk, will serve as moderator.
Ahmed said “artivisim” is about creatives using their cultural power to address social issues. It fits in with the festival’s theme of “Get up, stand up for your rights.”
“Concert of Colors has always been focused on the question of equity and diversity and the rights of regular people and this is a period where a lot of that is under attack,” Ahmed said. “I think culture is underestimated, both in its ability to bring people together and to stand up for what’s important in our lives. It’s not the only way, but it’s certainly an important way.”
‘Universal history and culture’
Besides the African safari, new to the African World Festival this year are VIP areas, which will be located in the upper and lower levels of Hart Plaza, Jones said.
“Not only will they get a chance to have a meet and greet with some of the artists that are coming, but we’re also going to have a special yoga session that’s going to be pretty much exclusive for our VIP members,” he said.
In addition, VIP attendees can listen to a live broadcast of online jazz station WJZD, watch live food demonstrations and check out panel discussions catered to women and men. A single VIP pass is $150.
To keep the kids entertained, there will be face painting, arts and crafts sponsored by the DIA and Detroit Public Schools Community District, a youth stage featuring singers and African drumming and dancing sessions hosted by cultural arts organization Heritage Works.
“There will also be some field day activities, so there will be some hopscotch, jump rope, sack races, and all of those things will be specifically geared at our youth,” Jones said. “It’ll be pretty hot this weekend and the (Dodge) fountain will be open, so they can just hang out and play in the fountain a little bit. It’ll be a great time for everybody.”
Jones said at a time when Black history is being diminished or erased, he’s glad events like the African World Festival are still around.
“The festival allows for us to truly understand that this is not a selected history and culture, but this is a universal history and culture,” he said. “There is no aspect of the global landscape that has not been touched, impacted and uplifted through African and African American history and culture, and the African World Festival gives us the opportunity to see that in a very concentrated way, so that people can actually see themselves reflected in a variety of aspects. It’s in our food, it’s in the way we talk, the way we walk, the way we move and dance. It is a part of everyone.”