Don Was Signals Detroit Homecoming With ‘Groove in the Face of Adversity’: ‘Spreading a Little Joy and Comfort Is a Noble Undertaking’

Next year, Don Was will celebrate his 14^th anniversary as president of storied label Blue Note Records. Right now, however, he’s celebrating the impending release of the first album under his own name, Groove in the Face of Adversity. The project arrives Oct. 10 via Detroit-based Mack Avenue Records.

Groove in the Face of Adversity finds Was and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble deftly ricocheting from blues, soul and funk to jazz and country on the six-track set, some of which was recorded live. The six cuts include the up-tempo proclamation and new single “Midnight Marauders” (listen here), a 10-minute take on Hank Williams’ “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But Time,” the social consciousness vibe of Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions’ “This Is My Country,” the free-flowing “Nubian Lady,” a 21st century reinterpretation of funk band Cameo’s “Insane” and an original from Was’ own catalog, “You Asked, I Came” from 1994’s Backbeat soundtrack.

In addition to saxophonist Dave McMurray and Oscar-winning keyboardist Luis Resto (Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”) — both of whom are longtime Was collaborators — the tight-knit ensemble’s other members are drummer Jeff Canaday, trombonist Vincent Chandler, vocalist Steffanie Christi’an, trumpeter John Douglas, guitarist Wayne Gerard, and percussionist Mahindi Masai. Of his handpicked Detroit bandmates, Was says, “We have a great time playing together. In times of confusion and chaos, just spreading a little joy and comfort to people is a noble undertaking.”

The nine-piece soul jazz group begins that noble undertaking with the first leg of an extensive tour headlining tour this fall. Kicking off in Traverse City, Michigan on Oct. 8, the trek thus far includes stops in Evanston, Illinois (Oct. 10), Detroit (Oct. 11) and Louisville, Kentucky (Oct. 15). Additional dates will be announced in the near future. Alongside songs from Groove in the Face of Adversity, the Pan-Detroit Ensemble will deliver a full performance of The Grateful Dead’s Blues for Allah, in tribute to the album’s 50th anniversary.

Groove in the Face of Adversity also doubles as a homecoming 35 years in the making for the Grammy-winning producer-songwriter-musician and Detroit native born Don Fagenson. Was’ childhood love of music evolved into a commercial career in the ‘80s as the bassist and co-founder — with friend David Weiss (David Was) — of the eclectic, multi-genre band Was (Not Was), best known for the 1987 Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Walk the Dinosaur.” From there, Was pivoted to producing projects for (among others) Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and The Rolling Stones; his six Grammy wins include one for producer of the year in 1994. He’s also an Emmy Award winner for music direction (The Beatles: The Night That Changed America).

Now Was is donning his artist hat once more with Groove in the Face of Adversity. He dives into the inspiration behind his solo effort — and what he learned about himself from it — with Billboard below.

Why your first solo album now?

It sounds ridiculous, but I just didn’t get around to it [laughs]. I was hearing the sound of this band in my head for probably 35 years. I made a few attempts to achieve it, came close a few times, but there was so much other stuff to do that I never really pursued it. A couple of things changed that. Number one was doing the Wolf Bros tour with [Grateful Dead guitarist] Bobby Weir and [former Primus drummer] Jay Lane in 2018. It reminded me of a beautiful aspect of playing live that doesn’t exist in the studio: instant connection with the audience. The feedback you get from them becomes a cyclical motion that can blow the roof off the place. It really whetted my appetite.

Also, [jazz trumpeter] Terence Blanchard offered me one night to perform in a jazz series that he was curating for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He called me about two years in advance. Then six months before, I realized I didn’t have a band or any songs for the show.

I was in the studio with Willie Nelson one day and I’m thinking I can never be what he is. Then it clicked — but he can’t be me. He didn’t grow up in Detroit in the ’60s. He didn’t have George Clinton and Parliament playing a sock hop at his junior high school. He didn’t go downtown to see The Stooges or the MC5 play.  I started thinking about putting this band [Pan-Detroit Ensemble] together for Terence’s show; about the sound I was hearing in my head that reflected growing up in Detroit. I said to myself, “Just go back to Detroit, get in a room with a bunch of musicians who grew up listening to the same radio stations as you and playing with the same people.”

Sure enough, we had a rehearsal — and man, it clicked immediately. I knew this band had something that was greater than the sum of its parts, and it came from this common Detroit musical language. It was too good to put to rest after the one gig. So we did a couple of tours around it; now we’ve been out playing for about a year and a half.

In complementing the band, singer Steffanie Christi’an’s voice is a unique instrument unto itself.

She’s unafraid to tackle any kind of music. She’s a real Detroit singer to me because during the time in which we all grew up, the city was an industrial center. People came from all over the world to work in the factories, and they brought their cultures with them: a real jambalaya of influences. After a couple generations, they started to merge. So you can have rock and roll bands that also have elements of polka and Irish music. That’s a very Detroit thing. The fact that Stephanie can transcend any kind of genre makes her incredibly appealing. She’s quite a soulful, distinctive singer who doesn’t sound like anybody else. That’s a real goal of this band; our philosophy and artistic superpower.

Was it intentional to only feature six tracks on the project?

Maybe it’s the record company president in me, but I was thinking about timing so that the vinyl sounds good. There have been times at Blue Note where I’ve given artists extra money if they would keep it [the project] under 42 minutes. There’s something about the length of a vinyl album that works better with our circadian rhythms. You can focus on 15 minutes, 20 minutes at a time. It’s very tough to put in a 72-minute CD and think you’re going to absorb the whole thing. Doing more self-editing, you probably make a better record and people will be able to experience it as a whole. That’s something I miss now, experiencing an album as a whole thing. It’s harder to do, and the focus isn’t necessarily on that anymore.

In press materials, you say the album title stems from your discovery of jazz as a young teen unhappy about being stuck running errands with your mom. While waiting for her, you hear saxophonist Joe Henderson on the car radio. Ironically all these years later, the title perfectly fits what’s happening in the world.

I remember I was in the studio with a group of musicians on election day when Trump ran the first time. I was producing Louis Hayes, the legendary jazz drummer. And none of us could believe the election. We were trying to say, “What do we do?” We play this music is what we do. We play it from our hearts and try to bring some comfort and clarity to listeners. So yeah, it’s more important than ever to have music to help you through these times.

Why is the album being released by Mack Avenue instead of Blue Note?

The only part I don’t like about my job is that I have to say no to so many incredible musicians. Every day I hear stuff that I would love to sign, but we can only put out so many records. It’s heartbreaking to call someone who’s done something beautiful with the right intentions and have to say no. So I thought it would be disgusting, some weird kind of nepotistic thing to put a record out on your label. [Laughs.]

It was really meant to be a sign of respect to the people whose records I can’t put out. Plus I’ve known Denny Stilwell and John Burk at Exceleration Music [which acquired Mack Avenue in January] for years. They’re great record men, and Mack Avenue is a tight ship with deep roots in Detroit. It’s an honor to be part of that history.

What did you learn about Don Was the artist at this juncture in your career?

That it’s good to practice your instrument. I wish I wouldn’t have dropped out of college. I was in music school at the University of Michigan. I also wish I’d learned more of the fundamentals that would have served me in good stead again. Thankfully, I’m trying to make up for it now. One of the nice things of being the president of Blue Note is it’s given me access to a lot of people. So I got to know [jazz double bassist] Ron Carter, who gave me a couple of bass lessons. There were some things I was doing wrong with my fingers and [the lessons] made a universe of difference. So at 73, the challenge is how good can you become before your fingers start to fail? I feel the sands in the hourglass. I’m trying to become as good on the instrument as I can before nature takes a toll on my hands.

More younger performers like Laufey and Samara Joy are leaning into jazz now. How would you assess the current state of the genre?

The music is more popular than ever. It doesn’t sound exactly the same as in 1966. But when I first started working at Blue Note, we had to try to figure out what it was about the records over the label’s history that enabled them to sound relevant and timely even if they were recorded 60 years ago. The common thread that ran through that entire history was that Alfred Lion, Francis Wolff and Bruce Lundvall all signed artists who had mastered the fundamentals of what came before them — and then used that knowledge to create something brand new. Whether that was Thelonious Monk in 1948 or Robert Glasper in 2011.

It’s never turned into a museum: Blue Note artists are always moving the music forward while respecting what came before them. As long as you continue to do that, the genre is secure, safe and meaningful to people. I’m so proud and excited about the young generation of musicians that we have right now from Joel Ross and Immanuel Wilkins to Julian Lage, Paul Cornish and Domi & JD Beck.