Motor City Josh and The Big Three
The Kalamazoo State Theatre will be kicking off its annual Budweiser Blues Series this Friday. The series features a variety of blues musicians each month through April. Theatre staff say the goal of the blues series is to mix big names with lesser known local acts. This will be Motor City Josh and The Big Three’s first time playing in the series. WMUK talked with front man Josh Ford about his melting pot rhythms and carefree style.
Detroit born Josh Ford, better known as Motor City Josh, was introduced to the blues at a young age.
[Josh Ford]“ “My father got my into the blues. He used to take me to concerts when I was little. I saw Buddy Guy and Junior Wells at a small bar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida when I was 12 years old. There might have been 100 people there, it was 10 bucks to get in. And that show pretty much changed my life.”
[Josh Ford]“Buddy Guy took his guitar off, set it down on our little cocktail table in the front row, and reached into his back pocket and pulled out a drum stick and started playing the guitar with a drum stick.”
Even though Ford was influenced by many traditional blues artists, his own music is far from the familiar groove associated with classic blues. Ford’s music is a mixed bag of blues, funk, rock, country, and a bit of swing.
[Josh Ford] “I’m not 70 years old, I’m not black and I didn’t come up on a plantation. So I’ll never be traditional blues anyway, so I might as well enjoy myself and play whatever I want.”
Ford says adding these different genres into his shows energizes the crowd.
[Josh Ford] “I get bored playing medium tempo shuffles all night and it’s nice first and foremost for everybody on stage. We enjoy ourselves by doing different varieties of things. And usually when we have fun, the people in the crowd have fun.”
On a typical Motor City Josh album, you’ll probably find a few songs about freedom, lost love, and...fishing. Almost all of Ford’s albums have one song about his favorite hobby. This is because Ford writes most of his songs while trying to reel in a bass. In 2009, Ford made an entire album about fishing called Stringer with the Blues.
[Josh Ford]”Most people make a Christmas album to sell records, but they don’t actually like Christmas enough to make one sincerely about Christmas. But I sincerely like fishing enough to make a whole album about it.”
Motor City Josh and The Big Three will be playing at the Kalamazoo State Theatre on January 20th at 8 p.m. alongside another Michigan band, Harper and the Midwest Kind. Go to W-M-U-K dot org to look at the full Budweiser Blues Series line up.
"American Dance"
A rare collaboration between two Kalamazoo arts entities is taking place on Saturday. The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra is hosting a program called “American Dance” and members of Wellspring/Cori Terry Dancers will perform original choreography to music by American composers John Adams and Philip Glass.
It’s been 20 years since Wellspring Dancers performed in a KSO “Symphonic Series” concert. Choreographer and artistic director Cori Terry says maestro Raymond Harvey gave her free rein to pick music she wanted to choreograph to, a process that took her eight months. She says she feels an emotional connection to the pieces she chose.
At Wellspring Theatre last week her dancers went through a dress rehearsal. For the first number they are wearing flowing pants and robes in turquoise and cinnamon-colored fabric, accented with a bright citron color.
[Cori Terry] “That piece is called Rarified Air and the music is “The Chairman Dances” by John Adams. The music has become one of the most popular orchestral works from the past thirty years. I wanted the choreography to feel fresh and new, even though the music is familiar to so many.”
At rehearsal the modern dancers look engaged and energized as they perform their steps and leaps with graceful bodies and relaxed faces. Terry says “The Chairman Dances” is a rhythmic challenge for musicians and dancers alike.
[Cori Terry] “It’s got a whole series of mixed meters and my dancers have to count the beats out in their heads until they get the music in their bodies. Without the movements for them, and the sheet music for the orchestra members, they could all get totally thrown off.”
Dancer Michael Miller says that’s where long hours of working together really helps the five dancers look like a unit. He says they’re no longer consciously counting.
[Michael Miller] “It has settled into our bodies now and we’re able to relax and perform the art…and that’s where it really gets fun.”
Back to practice as Cori Terry and lighting technician Carl Frye watched at rehearsal to plan how the costumes and dancers can be shown off to best advantage when they perform with the KSO in Miller Auditorium on Saturday. The dances will be performed in front of the orchestra on Miller’s stage, so lighting must be both subtle and effective.
Back to practice as four of the dancers get ready to move to the music of Philip Glass. These costumes are gray dresses, with fitted bodices and layered, floating skirts.
[Cori Terry] “And, the second dance is called Desideratum, a word thats root comes from the word desire. It’s a quartet for females and their costumes are floating and swooshing around.”
Terry says collaborating with the Kalamazoo Symphony is a great experience, but any artistic collaboration is challenging for all concerned. She had asked the orchestra musicians to play the John Adams piece using just the small lights on their music stands and they immediately said that couldn’t work for them. They said the music is so difficult they’d need all the light they could get. So, in collaborations compromises must be reached.
[Cori Terry] “But still, what is more exciting than dancing before an entire symphony orchestra. And, I think it’s good for the audience, too.”
The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Raymond Harvey, and Wellspring/Cori Terry and Dancers perform Saturday at 8 p.m. in Western Michigan University’s Miller Auditorium, The maestro offers a prelude talk beginning at 7 o’clock.
[Cori Terry] “It’s got a whole series of mixed meters and my dancers have to count the beats out in their heads until they get the music in their bodies. Without the movements for them, and the sheet music for the orchestra members, they could all get totally thrown off.”
Dancer Michael Miller says that’s where long hours of working together really helps the five dancers look like a unit. He says they’re no longer consciously counting:
[Michael Miller] “It has settled into our bodies now and we’re able to relax and perform the art…and that’s where it really gets fun.”
Back to practice as Cori Terry and lighting technician Carl Frye watched at rehearsal to plan how the costumes and dancers can be shown off to best advantage when they perform with the KSO in Miller Auditorium on Saturday. The dances will be performed in front of the orchestra on Miller’s stage, so lighting must be both subtle and effective.
Back to practice as four of the dancers get ready to move to the music of Philip Glass. These costumes are gray dresses, with fitted bodices and layered, floating skirts:
[Cori Terry] “And, the second dance is called Desideratum, a word thats root comes from the word desire. It’s a quartet for females and their costumes are floating and swooshing around.”
Terry says collaborating with the Kalamazoo Symphony is a great experience, but any artistic collaboration is challenging for all concerned. She had asked the orchestra musicians to play the John Adams piece using just the small lights on their music stands and they immediately said that couldn’t work for them. They said the music is so difficult they’d need all the light they could get. So, in collaborations compromises must be reached.
[Cori Terry] “But still, what is more exciting than dancing before an entire symphony orchestra. And, I think it’s good for the audience, too.”
The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Raymond Harvey, and Wellspring/Cori Terry and Dancers perform Saturday at 8 p.m. in Western Michigan University’s Miller Auditorium, The maestro offers a prelude talk beginning at 7 o’clock.
Other Events:
The Mickeys, identical twins playing a mix of Americana, Country, and Folk, will be playing at the Central Library in Kalamazoo on Wednesday, January 18th. Doors open at 7 p.m.
On Thursday, January 19th join in folk dances and freedom songs from across the globe with “Sing & Dance around the World” in Battle Creek. The event will host local performers skilled in diverse types of cultural music and dance. The program is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church.
The Detroit Tigers are stopping for lunch in Kalamazoo this Friday, the 20th at noon in the Bernhard Center on Western Michigan University’s campus. The event will feature video highlights from the 2011 season and player introductions. The Tigers will not be signing autographs during or after the event. Click here to find out how to get tickets.
WMU Professor of Social Work, Dr. Don Cooney, will be giving his presentation “Addressing the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement” on Wednesday. Cooney’s speech will be held in 2028 Brown Hall from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
