Hey Detroiters! Welcome back to Culture Canvas.
Are any of you spending your summer walking, biking, or just relaxing at the more than 300 parks across the city?
The Detroit Park Coalition recently published a pocket guide that lists many of the activities offered at each of the major parks, from Belle Isle to Rouge Park to Palmer Park.
The organization also has been hosting its summer concert series Sounds From the Park in collaboration with Detroit saxophonist Marcus Elliot. The musician and the coalition were one of the winners of the Joyce Awards in 2024. Spearheaded by the Joyce Foundation, the regional grants program supports artists of color in major Great Lakes cities. They proposed Sounds From the Park, which kicked off June 14 at Chandler Park. The next concert takes place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Eliza Howell Park as part of the Sidewalk Festival.
I talked to Elliot on how Sounds From the Park came together, his musical beginnings, and what the reception has been so far for the concert series.
Editor’s note: This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.
BridgeDetroit: How did this partnership between you and the Detroit Parks Coalition come about?
Elliot: We won the Joyce Awards together, and we proposed this project of DPC commissioning me to compose music for five different parks, and each piece would be inspired by the parks and the stewards of the park.
BridgeDetroit: Detroit has so many wonderful parks! Did you have a hand in deciding which parks you will be performing in?
Elliot: Detroit Parks Coalition really helped me out in terms of selecting which parks that I should do. I told them that I wanted to make sure I had representation of the different areas of Detroit, so some on the east side, some on the west side. But this whole project is really to celebrate all of Detroit parks. This isn’t us being like, ‘Oh, these are the best five parks’ or anything like that.
BridgeDetroit: What do you have in store for Saturday’s performance at Eliza Howell Park for the Sidewalk Festival?
Elliot: Every performance is completely different. So, the music is completely different, but also the musicians and the instrumentation. For Chandler Park, the first one, we had a saxophone quartet with drums and piano. That was a house/ techno sort of thing that we had going on there. At Clark Park, I had three percussionists and a bass player, piano player and a drummer. For this one, I actually have a string quartet with me, led by King Sophia, and I have Ian Finkelstein on piano and Caleb Robinson on drums. So yeah, this music is going to have a lot of beautiful strings. Every park has a theme as well, so this park’s theme is “Reverence for Nature,” because there’s just so much beautiful access to nature at Eliza Howell; more so than a lot of the other parks.
BridgeDetroit: I read that you started playing professionally when you were 15 years old. What led to your interest in playing the saxophone?
Elliot: I started playing the saxophone when I was 11 years old, so it’ll be 24 years in September. I was supposed to get my instrument on September 11, 2001, but that didn’t happen because of everything that went down. A week later, we (Elliot and his parents) went to go pick up the instrument. My parents got there and it was two times more than what they thought it was going to be to rent the instrument. They were trying to figure out what they were going to do, you know? And I remember they both were talking about it, and they looked at me and they’re like, ‘Son, I don’t know if we’re gonna make this work.’ One of my friends’ parents overheard them talking. She had a son who played the saxophone, but he stopped playing once he got into high school, so she had a tenor saxophone just sitting in a closet. She was like, ‘If you all want this, you’re more than welcome to have it.’ So, we drove over to her house and we picked it up and I started playing. I always keep that story in mind because it really was a gift to be able to play the instrument and to begin my studies and begin something that became much more than just a hobby for me. It’s just one of those things. If I was there five minutes earlier or later, if they were there five minutes earlier or later … it’s really something else.
BridgeDetroit: Were you playing in a school band?
Elliot: Yeah, it was a middle school band. I grew up in the Highland/Milford area, so it was Highland Middle School. I had an incredible band director during that time. Then when I got into high school, I started really getting into jazz and that’s when I got involved in the Civic Youth Ensembles, which is affiliated with the DSO (Detroit Symphony Orchestra), and that’s where I met my cohort of musicians that I actually still play with to this day. Once I got plugged into that, it was truly off to the races. I couldn’t be stopped at that point.
BridgeDetroit: Is that when you realized that you had to do music every day?
Elliot: When I was about four years old, my parents got me a Casio keyboard and I loved that thing. I took it everywhere. I’d take it in the car with me because it was battery powered. I would write music and I would play things that I heard on commercials and I was obsessed with it. That’s the first moment where I was like, ‘Oh yeah, this is what I do.’ It’s definitely not an easy path. It’s definitely gotta be something that you’re called into. By the grace of God, I’ve been able to share this gift.
BridgeDetroit: What’s the reception been like for the first two Sounds From the Park performances?
Elliot: The reception has been, to tell you the truth, a little bit overwhelming, as to how much of an effect the music has been having on people. Another aspect of the music is I have these interviews that I’ve done with different park stewards and people that visit the park and the community. We did a lot of interviews this past year, so we’ve been taking those interviews and I’ve been both placing it in the music and also writing a lot of the music around the interviews. We play these interviews of people in the community talking, sharing their stories and sharing why the parks are important to them and then we have the music happening. I think the combination of both of those things is having a strong effect on the listener. To hear those stories and then to hear the music that’s tied with it seems to be a really, really powerful experience. I’m amazed at how potent the combination of those two things actually are together.
One of the reasons why I was so excited about this project is because the places where I feel like I can hear or kind of connect with the creator, with God, is when I’m writing music and when I’m in nature. Those are two real places where that connection really happens for me, so to bring those two worlds together in this way, it’s really a gift.
As always, have a great week!
Cheers,
Micah
313 Scene
- Nonprofit The Vision Detroit launched in 2023 to give young artists across all mediums free and low-cost opportunities to practice and perfect their craft. The organization hosts general open mic nights, open mics dedicated specifically for poets, writer’s workshops and more.
- The Detroit Artists Market is back and better than ever. When a burst pipe caused massive flooding damage at the DAM in January, the nonprofit art gallery was forced to shut down for most of the year. But on Saturday, it reopened to the public with Hot DAM!, an annual exhibition featuring more than 40 local artists. (Detroit Metro Times)
- Known for its Latin-inspired, Detroit-style street food, Midtown spot Shell Shock’d Tacos won over judges with its Taco de Pollo in this year’s Taco Showdown Sunday at Eastern Market. Making it to the final round, Shell Shock’d was up against Tacos Wuey Detroit and a newcomer that recently opened in southwest Detroit. (Detroit Free Press)
- During a concert July 25 at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheater, R&B singer and Detroit native Kem was presented with framed proclamations, formally declaring July 23 — the singer’s birthday — as Kem Day in Detroit. (Detroit Free Press)
- Look for plant-based food hub operator Detroit’s Quiana “Que” Rice and her team on the upcoming Season 18 of the Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race.” Premiering at 9 p.m. Aug. 3, the Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race: Truckin’ Awesome” pits nine teams in a race to food truck glory. (Detroit Free Press)
- One of the most beloved sandwich makers in Metro Detroit — Balkan House, home of the döner kebab — will close its original location in Hamtramck in September. Owner Juma Ekic cites a variety of factors, but is ultimately planning to close her restaurant at 3028 Caniff sometime after Labor Day weekend ahead of her lease ending in April because the building is in need of repairs. Operating hours at the Ferndale Balkan House recently expanded, and once Hamtramck closes, Ekic will expand hours even further, hopefully staying open as late as midnight. (The Detroit News)
What’s Going on in the D?
- The Joe Louis Greenway Partnership is hosting its latest DJ Selector Series event from 6-9 p.m. Wednesday at the greenway, located at 7241 McDonald. The event, which takes place twice a month, features a guest DJ who’s making a difference in the community. This week’s DJ will be Jermaine Ruffin, the vice president of neighborhoods at Invest Detroit. The event is free, but people can register at Eventbrite.
- The Belle Isle Art Festival returns to the riverfront park Saturday and Sunday. The free event will feature 100 professional artists around the country, as well as emerging teen artists from the Mint Artists Guild. Food trucks and a beer tent will also be available at the festival, as well as family-friendly activities and a secret art garden to showcase botanical artists and gardening specialists.
- Organizations Avenue Community Services and University Commonwealth are hosting its annual Jazz on the Ave event from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday along Livernois between Pembroke and Clarita, also known as the Avenue of Fashion. Combined with Customer Appreciation Day, the free event will feature performances, art exhibits, a fashion show and parade.
- R&B legends Earth, Wind and Fire are coming to the Fox Theatre at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are still available on Ticketmaster, starting at $69.
- Plant Ant Theatre is hosting its monthly event Mixtape Friendship 5000 at 10:30 p.m. Saturday at its Hamtramck headquarters. A music-related discussion kicks off comedy from veteran Detroit improvisors where songs from the audience become part of the show. Tickets are available on Eventbrite and a suggested donation of $7 is encouraged.