John Bommarito: Today on The Song Break, joining me via Zoom is my guest is Stephen Grady Jr., Program Manager, Popular & Special Programming for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Welcome, Stephen. How are you today?
Stephen Grady Jr.: I'm good, John. Thank you for having me on your program today.
John Bommarito: It is my pleasure. It’s a really good schedule over there at the DSO. Presenting both the finest in classical and symphonic music. It’s right there in the name “Detroit Symphony Orchestra” so clearly, we know what to expect in that regard, but I am sure of interest to WEMU listeners is the excellent jazz programming you have in the 2025-2026 season.
Stephen Grady Jr.: We have a lot of great artists coming in this season. There's a wide range of artists in different styles and different instrumentations. The bands are very diverse. There's a mix of men, women, African-American musicians, Latinx musicians. There's a wide array of different instrumentalists. We have saxophonists, trumpeters, bassists, and vocalists on the bill. So, it's spread across a wide array of varying talents and genres and styles of music.
John Bommarito: For sure. And coming up first is a WEMU favorite, Joshua Redman and the Gabrielle Cavasa Quartet, and that is happening on Friday, October 17th. So not too far away on that one. And again, that's a favorite of ours, especially of Michael Jewett, our main jazz programmer here. He really loved that collaborative record they put out in 2023. Tell me a little bit more about some of the other jazz-oriented shows that you are presenting.
Stephen Grady Jr.: Sure. So, you mentioned the Joshua Redman show. That band is unique because he features mostly young musicians under the age of 35. That band features Nazir Ebo on drums, Philip Norris on bass, Paul Cornish on piano. And then Gabrielle Cavasa's quartet will be opening for him. So, it's all a band comprised of under 35 musicians, which is great to showcase.
Other shows that we have on the series, we have Terence Blanchard bringing his Malcolm X Jazz Suite. So, this is rearrangements of music from Spike Lee's film Malcolm X that Terence Blanchard composed back in the early 90s. That's on Friday, December 5. And that show is special. It'll feature his E-Collective as well as the Turtle Island Quartet.And then next after that, we have Wynton Marsalis’s Swing Symphony with the Paradise Theater Big Band. The Paradise Theater Big Band is unique because it's sort of like the flagship jazz ensemble that was created at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to honor our legacy as the Paradise Theater.
John Bommarito: Oh, very nice.
Stephen Grady Jr.: Yeah, and that band is comprised of mainly musicians from Detroit that are playing actively in the area or musicians that are from Michigan that have traveled abroad and live elsewhere but are coming back to honor their roots and the city of Detroit. So, that's a great band. And that'll be a great show. So that show is Saturday, February 7th, and Sunday, February 8th.
John Bommarito: I see that you have one of my favorite vocalists coming in March.
Stephen Grady Jr.: Yeah, yeah, we have Dianne Reeves coming Friday, March 20th. And Dianne is a staple of Detroit. We love Dianne Reeves here. She's performed in Detroit numerous times. So that'll be a special show. She's one of the most influential vocalists, in my opinion, of our generation now. So, it's always a treat to have her in Detroit.
And then next after her, we have the great Arturo Sandoval. He will be presenting his show on Friday, May 15th, 2026. And Arturo's Sandoval is another staple of Detroit. We love Arturo here. He's going to bring some Afro-Cuban music, Latinx music. As well as straight ahead jazz, he is able to blend all of those styles together, really to show jazz's history as a melting pot of music. So, it's always great to have artists that come from different genres or different styles within jazz to present their music. So, Arturo Sandoval is definitely a highlight for the series, for sure.
John Bommarito: Again, that's May 15th. Grammy winner and trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval coming as part of that DSO series. My guest today on The Song Break is Stephen Grady Jr., the Program Manager Popular & Special Programming for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. One other big one that's related to the jazz field. In fact, his newest album has Dianne Reeves as a special guest.
Stephen Grady Jr.: Yeah, yeah, so that is the final show in our series is Christian McBride and Ursa Major. So, this show is unique because Christian McBride has taken a few very talented young women under his wing to play with him. Notably in this band, Savannah Harris is on drums and Nicole Glover is playing tenor saxophone. Both of those artists have performed in Detroit, and they'll be here with Christian McBride and Ursa Major on Friday, June 5th. Christian, as we all know, is another staple of Detroit. Even though he's from Philadelphia, we've sort of claimed him as a Detroiter.
John Bommarito: Great resume, too. He's played with so many people. He's a friend of the station as well. He's actually voiced a video we put together celebrating 45 years of jazz programming. We carry his program Jazz Night at America on the station as well. So, yeah, he's definitely very important to us.
Stephen Grady Jr.: One of the first jazz shows that I saw in Orchestra Hall was actually Christian McBride's previous group, New Jawn and that was an amazing show. That was the first time I met Christian McBride in person. And since then, he's been doing great things with different bands. I'm really excited about this show. I'm a huge fan of Nicole Glover and Savannah Harris. I think they're both amazing musicians. So, this will be a very, very interesting show to see.
John Bommarito: Way off in the future on June 5th. That sounds like a cool show. There's also a couple of NPR adjacent shows that aren't necessarily jazz. But since we air Travel with Rick Steves, I see you've got Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey coming up as well. That's an interesting one. What do you know about that one?
Stephen Grady Jr.: Yeah, that'll be an interesting show. We don't have a lot of details on it yet, but it will feature some of Rick Steves, his great program, traveling across Europe. And the orchestra will accompany that media and provide the score to that. So, we look forward to that show. Rick Steves is a PBS and NPR legend. So, we look forward to having that show for sure.
John Bommarito: The other one I saw that was pretty NPR adjacent is the Pink Martini run of shows in June 19, 20, and 21. They're often featured on NPR due to their affiliation with the recently retired member of their band. He didn't retire from the band, he retired from NPR, Ari Shapiro. They would often play in Ann Arbor as part of Ann Arbor Summer Festival. It was a regular thing for a while, too. So, fans of WEMU are certainly familiar with Pink Martini as well. And it's nice to see them on your schedule for several days.
Stephen Grady Jr.: Yeah, and Pink Martini is unique. Actually, one of their vocalists, Storm Large, has played in our Cube numerous times. So, she might pop up for this show. So that'll give patrons who've seen her in The Cube a chance to possibly see her in Orchestra Hall. But yeah, Pink Martini is a great group. Very versatile. They also draw from different styles and genres to create sort of like a melting pot kind of style or genre of music.
John Bommarito: And fans who will by then have missed Ari Shapiro's presence on the air here as he was a regular news broadcaster on NPR up until just recently, they can maybe see him be part of the band that he does as his side project.
Info about all these shows and the shows that are not jazz or NPR adjacent, DSO.org. Is that correct?
Stephen Grady Jr.: Yes, and if you want to check out the jazz show specifically, you can go to DSO.org/ jazz.
John Bommarito: Well, that makes life easier. And tickets for all these are already on sale or will they be spread out as to when you can purchase tickets?
Stephen Grady Jr.: No, they're all on sale.
John Bommarito: OK, so people are thinking, "Oh, the Christian McBride show next June. I should probably lock myself in DSO.org." Well, congratulations. What a fantastic schedule. And Stephen, thank you so much for taking time to talk to us here at WEMU.
Stephen Grady Jr.: Yeah, thank you for having me, John. And we at the DSO are always happy to do anything with NPR. And we're happy to have the opportunity to present this great series.
John Bommarito: Great, thank so much Stephen.
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