Double bill program kicks off the 2023–2024 Paradise Jazz Series: Makaya McCraven with the Urban Art Orchestra and Endea Owens + The Cookout
Subscriptions starting at $97 and single tickets on sale now at dso.org/jazz
Detroit, (September 20, 2023) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will open its 2023–2024 Paradise Jazz Series with a double bill performance by drummer, composer, and producer Makaya McCraven with the Urban Art Orchestra and bassist Endea Owens with her band, The Cookout. This one-night-only performance will take place on Friday, October 13 at 8 p.m. at Orchestra Hall. This performance features three DSO Civic Youth Ensemble alumni: Endea Owens, De’Sean Jones, and Kris Johnson.
McCraven has "quietly become one of the best arguments for jazz’s vitality" (The New York Times). The Paris-born, Massachusetts-raised, Chicago-based drummer, composer, and producer is a multi-talented "cultural synthesizer" whose inventive process and intuitive, cinematic sound defies categorization. The program will feature a presentation of McCraven’s most ambitious and personal album to date, In These Times. Composed and produced over the past seven years, the album topped Billboard Charts and made "best of" lists for NPR, LA Times, and The New York Times.
Raised in Detroit and one of jazz’s most vibrant emerging artists, Grammy Award-winning bassist Endea Owens has toured with Wynton Marsalis, Diana Ross, Solange, and Jon Batiste. Owens makes her Paradise Jazz Series debut with her band, The Cookout.
Please note: the DSO will not be featured on this performance, artists are subject to change.
Tickets for this performance start at $19. Tickets can be purchased at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at 313.576.5111, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Subscriptions are on sale now for the 2023–2024 Paradise Jazz Series at dso.org/jazz, beginning at $97 for the entire season.
Currently in its 24th season, the Paradise Jazz Series is named for and honors the legacy of the Paradise Theatre, the historic Detroit jazz venue that was on the site of Orchestra Hall from 1941–1951. The DSO is one of few major American orchestras to present regular jazz programming on its main stage. Learn more about the series at dso.org/jazz.
The Paradise Jazz Series is supported by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, Huntington, MGM Grand Detroit, and DownBeat Magazine.
MAKAYA MCCRAVEN WITH THE URBAN ART ORCHESTRA | ENDEA OWENS + THE COOKOUT
Paradise Jazz Series
Friday, October 13 at 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Endea Owens & The Cookout
Endea Owens, bassist/composer
J.Hoard, vocalist
Shenel Johns, vocalist
Jerome Jennings, drums
Kris Johnson, trumpet
Louis Fouche, alto saxophone
Makaya McCraven: In These Times
Makaya McCraven, drums
Junius Paul, bass
Matt Gold, guitar
Brandee Younger, harp
De’Sean Jones, tenor saxophone, flute, EWI
Marquis Hill, trumpet
Greg Ward, alto saxophone
Joel Ross, vibes
Macie Stewart, violin
Marta Sofia, viola
Lia Kohl, cello
Zara Zaharieva, violin
Urban Art Orchestra
De’Sean Jones, composer/conductor
Makaya McCraven has "quietly become one of the best arguments for jazz’s vitality" (The New York Times). The Paris-born, Massachusetts-raised, Chicago-based drummer, composer, and producer is a multi-talented "cultural synthesizer" whose inventive process and intuitive, cinematic sound defies categorization. Composed and produced over the past seven years, Makaya presents his latest project, In These Times, his most ambitious and personal album to date that topped Billboard Charts and made "best of" lists for NPR, LA Times, and The New York Times.
Raised in Detroit and one of jazz’s most vibrant emerging artists, Grammy Award-winning bassist Endea Owens has toured with Wynton Marsalis, Diana Ross, Solange, and Jon Batiste. Owens makes her Paradise Jazz Series debut with her band, The Cookout.
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About Makaya McCraven
Makaya McCraven is a prolific drummer, composer, and producer who, according to The New York Times, “has quietly become one of the best arguments for jazz’s vitality.” His newest album, In These Times, is the triumphant finale of a project 7+ years in the making. It’s a preeminent addition to his acclaimed and extensive discography, and it’s the album he’s been trying to make since he started making records.
In These Times encompasses all he’s lived through, as well as his lineage, while also pushing the music forward. Music critic Passion of the Weiss suggested that “McCraven’s work, both with younger players and the sounds of older recordings, is part of a necessary conversation about the next evolution of the Black improvised music known colloquially as ‘jazz.’ He’s found the threads connecting the past with the present, and is either wrapping them with new colors and textures, or he’s plucking them gleefully like the strings of a grand instrument.” McCraven concurs: “To me, that is the tradition that I want to try to take part in. Being well-rooted, but walking into the future, is really what all of the leaders in this music have done that I admire. And I think that resonates with people. Something that's like how we know it, but is evolving… It's just where I am at, where we're at, and the evolution of that, and that's what I'm trying to be.”
About De’Sean Jones
De’Sean Jones, a Detroit School of Arts alumnus, is a two-time Grammy Award-nominated and three-time Stellar Award-winning composer and arranger. He is the protégé of both the late trumpet legend Marcus Belgrave and techno pioneer Mad Mike Banks, as well as a longtime member of Underground Resistance. Jones has garnered opportunities to teach, compose, and tour the world extensively, collaborating with music icons such as Stevie Wonder, The Clark Sisters, and Faith Evans. Through his consistent artistic efforts, Jones aspires to uphold the rich musical legacy of Detroit.
About Endea Owens
One of jazz’s most vibrant emerging artists, Endea Owens is a Detroit-raised recording artist, bassist, and composer. Her mentors include jazz icons Marcus Belgrave, Rodney Whitaker, and Ron Carter, and she has toured and performed with Wynton Marsalis, Jennifer Holliday, Diana Ross, Rhonda Ross, Solange, Jon Batiste, Jazzmeia Horn, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Steve Turre, among others.
In 2018, Owens graduated from The Juilliard School, and joined The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as a member of the house band, Stay Human. She is an Emmy, Grammy, and George Foster Peabody Award-winning artist whose work has appeared on Jon Batiste’s Grammy Award-winning album We Are, Oscar-nominated film Judas and the Black Messiah, and H.E.R’s widely acclaimed Super Bowl LV performance.
A passionate philanthropist and educator, she has taught students across the United States, South America, and Europe. In 2020, Owens founded the Community Cookout, a non-profit organization that provides meals and music to underserved neighborhoods in New York City.
In 2022, Owens composed an original piece about the life of Ida B. Wells entitled “Ida’s Crusade” for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, which was also performed by the NYO Carnegie Hall Orchestra. With the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, she serves as the 2023 MAC Music Innovator and has also served as curator for the National Arts Club and as a “Jazz is Now!” fellow with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Owens’s debut album, Feel Good Music, is slated for release in September 2023.
About the DSO
The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. Led by Music Director Jader Bignamini since 2020, the DSO makes its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, offering a performance schedule that features the PVS Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in metro area venues, as well as eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings. A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts.
Since its first school concerts a century ago, and particularly since the founding of the Civic Youth Ensembles in 1970, the DSO has been a national leader in bringing the benefits of music education to students, teachers, and families in Detroit and surrounding communities. The DSO remains committed to expanding its participation in the growth and well-being of Detroit through programs like its Detroit Neighborhood Initiative—cultural events co-created with community partners and residents—and Detroit Harmony, a promise to provide an instrument and instruction to any student in the city who wants to learn. With unwavering support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to impact lives through the power of unforgettable musical experiences.