Few musical performers are more synonymous with the city of Detroit than Alexander. He has been highlining local stages since the early 80's, playing with such jazz greats as Bob James and Earl Klug. His resume is very extensive including opening his own club, Seldom Blues, in the Renaissance Center back in 2004. Even the pandemic has not slowed him down, his most recent CD, Playing It Forward, just debuted. 

For this image we returned to one of the clubs where Alexander got his start, the legendary Bakers Key Board Lounge, opened in 1933 it is the oldest jazz club in Detroit. As well as Alexander it has played host to such jazz greats as Cab Calloway, Nat "King" Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and John Coltrane to name just a few. 

We finished the photo shoot just as young group of musicians came in to set up for the evening. Surprised to find the legend, Alexander spent time answering their questions and talking about jazz.

The name of the site-specific sculpture Scott is sitting in is "Seventeen Shitty Mountains". Those cement pipes are left over from the city’s sewage system. 

The concept of creating art from sewage pipes is very apropos for Scott. His work is often created in the ruins of some of the city’s most prominent buildings and factories, using materials found there. His sculptures take months or even years to create, and often just days to disappear. 

Where many see urban decay, he sees the city's character. He finds beauty in the remnants of Detroit's past which he records with his camera.

He has, to say the least, a unique love for the city.

Joel started as a mechanic in the infamous Cass Corridor, one of the worst areas of Detroit at the time. He started to purchase the buildings and homes, many vacant and in sad repair next to his shop until he owned most of the block, and then he started on the next. He renovated each, staying as true to the original design as possible. 

I meet him in the early stages of a renovation of a school that had been vacant for 20 years in a condition that any other developer would have walked away from. Two years later the building became a beautiful residential loft community with the original chalk boards and bookshelves intact. 

In this photo Joel is sitting on the steps of his last project, the renovation of the Scott Mansion, a Detroit treasure which had fallen on hard times. Joel lived just long enough to see it completed. Hopefully, in part because of this image his impact on the city will always be remembered.

What started as a Halloween party for friends on land near the State Fair Grounds turned into a cultural event that now fills eight floors at the Masonic Temple for multiple shows each year. 

Hundreds of volunteers work for months, many sleeping at the venue to bring life to the event. For everyone from the carpenters and sales staff to performers, Theatre Bizarre is more than another gig, it is a return to their family.

Most all the elaborate staging from the original location is no longer there including the ticket booth, midway and even the ferris wheel. Only Scaredy Cat still stands and there are plans to relocate it.

I had not been to the original site since 2008 when I photographed the event for my book, "A Motor City Year". It was with some nostalgia that I looked upon the area and some pride that I was able to photograph John there while some remnant of the event remained.

Ann once said that "mediocre musicians become DJ's." Having earned a BA from Wayne State in music I am sure that is not the case with Ann, but it worked out well for the city. 

Ann began at WDET back in 1983 and never really left. She has been promoting the local music scene for decades and currently hosts Ann Delisi's Essential Music, one of the few venues for local musicians to be heard.

The pandemic limited many of the choices we selected for her portrait. The Wayne State Campus, including WDET was closed. Luckily, one of the locations that brought back found memories of her days on campus was available, the McGregor Memorial Reflecting Pool, designed by one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century, Minoru Yamasaki. 

If you want to know the history of the old Black Bottom and Paradise Valley Bert is the man to ask. He literally has it displayed in the form of a mural as you enter Bert's Entertainment Complex. He knows the area well from his days delivering newspapers. 

In 1968 he opened Bert's Black Horse Saloon which was a jazz club on Gratiot. From there he opened other clubs, until focusing all his attention on Bert's Marketplace in Eastern Market in 1987.

With all the memorabilia it would be easy to confuse Bert's for a museum dedicated to Detroit's black history.

 Bert's is a family-owned business now and much of the day-to-day operations have been passed on to two of his sons. Still, on most days you can find Bert there sharing a story with regulars who have been coming to the club for decades.

Bruce has been the driving force behind the Detroit Repertory Theater since its inception back in 1957. Located in one of Detroit's neighborhoods it has survived the riots, racial polarization, and urban decay.  Its mission is "to produce the best possible professional theater while fighting, by example, the disturbing level of racism that persists." 

I am sure Bruce would be the first to say the success of the theater has been because of an ever-changing dedicated base of volunteers but it has been driven by his passion and determination. At 88 he is still the managing and creative director with all those responsibilities and can still be found tending bar in the theater during every performance.