"Blue Kalamazoo" - Delfeayo Marsalis

“Blue Kalamazoo” (PDF) from the Delfeayo Marsalis album, Kalamazoo

Halfway between the industrial hubs of Chicago and Detroit, the city of Kalamazoo was a frequent stop for early touring musicians, including King Oliver and Louis Armstrong according to the Kalamazoo Public Library. Additionally, record labels and studios throughout Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan provided the opportunity to publish and sell popular and original music. But it was the Kalamazoo-based Gibson guitar factory that introduced the ragtime-era tenor banjo and the bluegrass mandolin that, along with the success of Motown, established the American blues tradition of Northern Soul.

A century removed from Gibson’s founding, on the other side of town at Western Michigan University, Delfeayo Marsalis invited a couple students to join him in a blues jam as an encore to his performance, or what the Kalamazoo album liner notes describe as “a lesson in democratic cooperation.” After agreeing on a key and form, he guided the group through the process: vocal solo, trombone solo, trading phrases, and riffing together. After some brief levity and upstaging, Marsalis then effortlessly brought the jam to its natural conclusion having given everyone a moment to shine without overstaying their welcome, proving that some musical traditions remain the same no matter the location.

Here is a YouTube video of footage from Delfeayo Marsalis’ performance in Kalamazoo:

Recommended reading: No Cell Phone Day by Delfeayo Marsalis. Published by Kidstown Press.