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Detroit\u2019s rich music history is getting its due from a couple of new online initiatives.<\/p>\n
The just-launched website detroitjazzhistory.com<\/a> is administered by a trio of local researchers \u2014 Ann Arbor-based Lars Bjorn, a University of Michigan-Dearborn professor and author who\u2019s also president of the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association; veteran broadcaster Ferndale\u2019s Jim Gallert, who\u2019s worked with the Detroit Jazz Festival since its inception; and Rod Arroyo, a photographer and urban planner who last year published a book about Detroit\u2019s Paradise Valley, Black Bottom and Sugar Hill neighborhoods.<\/p>\n The site is designed to be \u201ca focal point for original research and storytelling about a jazz tradition that stretches back more than a century,\u201d documenting musicians, historic performance venues and recording studios, upcoming shows and more. Its initial offering includes stories about United Sound Studios, pianist Teddy Harris\u2019 work with Motown, saxophonist Phil Lasley, pianist Alma Smith, the Dome Lounge and Club El Sino, among others.<\/p>\n Detroit will also be the focus for the first season of \u201cLiving For the City,\u201d a new documentary podcast series produced by Live Nation Entertainment and Magnet Originals. Premiering May 13 and hosted by Hanif Abdurraquib, a MacArthur Fellow author, poet and cultural critic, the eight, 25-minute episodes will explore the metro-area\u2019s musical contributions from Motown and rock to jazz and rap, stopping at sites such as the Hitsville U.S.A., Fillmore Detroit and Third Man Records Cass Corridor and including commentary from Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., Carl Craig and Mary Ramirez of the Detroit Cobras.<\/p>\n A trailer for the episode can be watched at youtube.com\/@LivingfortheCityPod<\/a>, where the series will also reside.<\/p>\n