C&G Newspapers, MI
Feb 22 2007

That’s unheard of!

Hosted by radio legend Judy Adams, Jazz Café Discovery Series puts
new music first

By K. Michelle Moran
Arts & Entertainment Editor

For years, she introduced WDET-FM listeners to new music, so when
Detroit’s Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts launched a
concert series featuring emerging local jazz players, Judy Adams was
a fitting choice for host.

The award-winning former program director and on-air personality, who
worked for Detroit’s public radio station from 1974-2005, began
hosting the weekly Jazz Café Discovery Series in January at Music
Hall. From 7-11 p.m. each Tuesday and Wednesday, visitors can drop in
for free and catch roughly four acts per night in the gorgeous,
intimate setting of a restored art deco room in Music Hall. Between
bands, Adams spins recorded jazz.

`It’s one of the best jazz rooms in the city of Detroit – in the
country, really,’ said Adams, who lives in Grosse Pointe Woods with
her husband and son.

Besides playing for a live audience, bands will receive a CD of their
performance, and the concerts are broadcast weekly on WVMV-FM, 98.7,
at 11 p.m. Sundays during a show hosted by Adams, who also has a show
on the Windsor station CJAM-FM. The series’ best artists also vie for
a chance to play a paid concert during the 2007 Detroit International
Jazz Festival over Labor Day weekend.

`The Jazz Café Discovery series is an educational program designed to
`discover’ and highlight metro Detroit’s future jazz stars,’ said
Music Hall President and Artistic Director Vince Paul in a prepared
statement. `We look forward to providing a stage for these
up-and-coming talented performers.’

So far, the series has attracted many student musicians, including
some from West Bloomfield High School, Grosse Pointe South High
School, the International Academy in Bloomfield Hills and Wayne State
University. Adams said more schools offer jazz programs now, and more
kids are getting into the music at a young age.

`Young people are drawn to jazz because young people are a lot more
aware of music these days,’ she said. `[Jazz] has so much substance
to it … and a lot of these kids have parents who were into jazz.’

Adams hails from a musical family. She grew up on Detroit’s east side
and in St. Clair Shores, and remembers living in a two-family flat
with her grandparents, who had a piano. Her father often played
classical and jazz around the house, and ethnic music – her parents
were of Armenian descent – figured prominently as well.

`I always had a strong ethnic identity, and I was always interested
in [different] nationalities and cultures,’ Adams said.

She began experimenting on the piano at 4, and by 7, she was taking
formal lessons. At Wayne State and Oakland universities, she studied
piano, harpsichord, composition and ethno-musicology.

Adams wasn’t immune to the allure of rock `n’ roll, though.

`When the Beatles came out, I was in my teens then, and a whole
different world opened up,’ she said. `I saw how different these
musics were – and how similar.’

With her eclectic personal tastes and keen ear, Adams is enjoying her
new gig at Music Hall, and listeners are enjoying her return.

The Jazz Café Discovery Series runs through Aug. 29. At press time,
Music Hall officials were still seeking bands to perform, and anyone
can request consideration for an audition, regardless of experience.

`We’re trying to draw out as much music as we can,’ Adams said. `We’d
rather be inclusive than exclusive. And all forms of jazz are
welcome.’

Interested artists can contact Ted Nagy at jazzcafe@musichall.org,
(313) 887-8503 or c/o Jazz Café at Music Hall, 350 Madison Ave.,
Detroit, MI 48226. For more information, visit

age-Articles/2007/02-21-07/AE-ADAMSDISCOVERY.asp