The Bloomington community filled IU Cinema’s auditorium Saturday night for a screening of “The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit,” followed by a post-show Q&A with producer and writer Mark Stryker and IU associate professor Natalie Boeyink.
The documentary film was inspired by Stryker’s 2019 book, “Jazz from Detroit,” and follows the rise and fall of Detroit’s influence on jazz music and culture.
Stryker, an author and journalist based in Detroit, covered music and arts for the Detroit Free Press from 1995 to 2016. Since then, he has written multiple books about music in Detroit’s music scene and penned a monthly column for “Jazz Times” magazine.
Originally a Bloomington native, Stryker took to the podium before the screening, sharing his excitement about showcasing the project in his hometown. Stryker then thanked his family, friends and colleagues for their support in his career and the making of the film.
“The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit” starts in the 1920s and depicts the music scene chronologically, instead of the book’s biographical format which focuses on each prominent musician's individual story.
The film begins by explaining the movement of Black people into Detroit in the early 1920s as part of the Great Migration, when millions of African Americans moved from the South to Northern, Midwest and Western cities.With Henry Ford advertising wages at $5 a day, the car industry exploded within Detroit, creating a new middle class of Black Americans in the city.
The film then introduces jazz musicians and musical movements within each time period, like jazz bassist Ron Carter joining the Miles Davis quintet in the 1960s or multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef in the 1950s. Then, the documentary examines the connection between music and societal movements in Detroit, like how the interstate highway system almost entirely took away the historic Paradise Valley in the 1950s.
The documentary proceeds until the current age of jazz music, examining influences on jazz and their legacy and highlighting prominent contemporary musicians from Detroit. From pianist Barry Harris to drummer Karriem Riggins, the film emphasizes the impact that Detroit had on the genre of jazz as a whole.
After the film, Stryker and Boeyink took the stage to answer audience questions and share more about Detroit, jazz and the making of the film.
In the Q&A, Stryker shared that the mentorship between jazz musicians in Detroit depicted throughout the documentary is still prominent in Detroit today. Yet, as it has always operated, that takes place behind the scenes.
“If you’re a kid in Detroit and some jazz musician sees you out and notices that you might have some talent, they go immediately to the kid’s parents: ‘Hey, your kid’s got talent! Does she need an instrument? I know a guy who can get you a better sax or a better trumpet,” Stryker said.
Kelly Hill, an IU alumna who helped fund the film when it was in production, attended the event. As a jazz fan, she said the film made her reminisce about when she used to live in Detroit.
“It just made me miss Detroit so much,” Hill said. “Seeing how the music industry and the mentorship that went on really was my experience of Detroit.”
While the film highlighted Detroit, it also showcases a major component of the history of jazz. As shown in the documentary, Detroit has influenced jazz in many ways, both in producing new genres and artists.
Isaac Kneubuhl, a jazz student at the Jacobs School of Music, said he thought the film represented both the history of jazz and Detroit in a compelling way for a wide audience.
“The film did a great job of presenting history in a way that was interesting for people who already know a lot about the tradition and also engaging for people who know nothing,” Kneubuhl said.
