We participated in MotorCity Makeover to engage residents and continue to protect and preserve the legacy of the Blue Bird Inn.
Marvin Gaye Stamp Ceremony
On April 5, 2019, we were honored to be a part of the unveiling of the new Marvin Gaye stamp. The unveiling took place at the Detroit Historical Museum inside our Salvaging Sound exhibit on the Historic Blue Bird Inn Stage. The event was coordinated by the United States Postal Service. The photos below were […]
LaVell Williams, 1967-2018
LaVell Williams (1967-2018), Detroit Sound Conservancy’s Board President, who mentored a generation of music lovers, is remembered in this obituary.
Remembering Terry Jean Pollard
Terry Jean Pollard was known in the Detroit jazz community as “the queen of the vibes” for her mastery of the instrument. A Detroit bred pianist/vibraphonist, Pollard was a powerhouse performer who started out playing at jazz clubs around the city including a famous stint with the Billy Mitchell band at the Blue Bird Inn […]
Coming 2019: Detroit Historical Society Community Gallery Exhibit
Thrilled to announce that we will be telling our organization’s story in the community gallery at the Detroit Historical Museum next year January 19 – April 7, 2019.
KIP:D Planning Grant Awarded by The Kresge Foundation
Very grateful to The Kresge Foundation for believing in our sonic vision for The Blue Bird neighborhood and community. The planning begins now thanks to their support. Detroit Sound Conservancy will conduct community engagement and initial design for the redevelopment of the Blue Bird Inn, an iconic jazz club on Detroit’s west side, into a […]
Organization of American Historians 2018
Stop, Look, and Listen: Sound and Film Conservancy and African American History [The following is a description of a panel to be held April 13th, 2018 in Sacramento at the Organization of American Historians Conference. Read more about the conference here.] This roundtable discussion imaginatively engages with the conference theme of “The Forms of History” […]
A Sonic Desert?
Has Detroit become a sonic desert? Musical expression has been a long-standing pivot point for debates about Detroit’s successes and failures. Though the Detroit area has a wide range of cultural expressions for which it is associated—including art, design, architecture, literature, and, critically, industrial production—music has been the dominant site for articulating exactly how Detroit […]
Our 2018 Begins Now….
Our 2018 begins now. It’s been an incredible year. The Blue Bird Stage went to France, we turned five, John Lee Hooker got inducted into the Detroit Sound Hall of Fame, we have come up with a plan to restore the Club Heaven Sound System as a mobile legacy performance program, and we did acoustic […]
Memphis Meets Detroit
In celebration of the final night of Sound Diplomacy‘s Music Cities Convention as well as the deep sonic connections between Memphis and Detroit, Detroit Sound Conservancy presents an evening with Saturna, Carleton Gholz, and LeRoy. RSVP + MORE INFO HERE. Saturna, Memphis Saturna is a Memphian, a singer, and a deejay of two decades who […]