Creative industries in Washtenaw County add hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy. In the weeks and months to come, host Deb Polich, the President and CEO of Creative Washtenaw, explores the myriad of contributors that make up the creative sector in Washtenaw County.
ABOUT RON BROOKS:
Ron Brooks began his jazz journey after high school in Ann Arbor. Brooks went to EMU for his undergrad and followed it up with Masters and PHD work at the University of Michigan. While in college, Brooks competed in the Notre Dame Inter-Collegiate Jazz Festival with the Bob James Trio.
After the festival, iconic producer Quincy Jones gave the trio an opportunity to record on Mercury Records. Brooks’ next step was to record with the Contemporary Jazz Quintet, a Detroit-based ensemble that released two fantastic albums on Blue Note Records, followed by one more on Strata Records, the independent jazz label founded by CJQ pianist, Detroit’s own Kenny Cox. 2020 saw the release of The Black Hole, a previously unreleased set from CJQ that had been recorded at the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival.
In between then and now, the stage was set for Brooks to enjoy great success in opening Ann Arbor’s own jazz club, The Bird of Paradise, a venue which saw wide recognition for almost 20 years. At the Bird, Brooks enjoyed playing with and listening to world-renowned jazz musicians, as did the Ann Arbor jazz-loving community.
Ron Brooks has been a major player in, and influence on, the Detroit jazz community for several decades. Ron emerged as a player in the 1960s, performing on bass with piano greats-to-be Bob James and Stanley Cowell. He was a member of the Contemporary Jazz Quintet, led by the late, great Detroit pianist Kenn Cox, which recorded for Blue Note Records in 1968 and 1969. Ron was also a founding member of the 1970’s group Mixed Bag, which included the legendary Eddie Russ on keyboards, Larry Nozero on saxes, Jerry Glassel on guitar, and Danny Spencer on drums.
In 1985, Ron opened the Bird of Paradise jazz club in downtown Ann Arbor, anchoring a vibrant jazz scene for over two decades. Ron founded the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association (SEMJA) in the spring of 1987. For its 25th anniversary in 2012, SEMJA named an award for Mr. Brooks, honoring individuals who have made important contributions to the Detroit jazz community as performers and educators.
Brooks current band, The Ron Brooks Trio +2, was created for and performed during the 2016 Detroit Jazz Festival. The band pays tribute to Brooks’ past with Kenn Cox and the Contemporary Jazz Quartet and features top-shelf talent from southeastern Michigan including Vincent Bowen on tenor sax, Rayse Biggs on trumpet, Gary Schunk on piano, and special guest Randy Gelispie on drums for this special Lansing JazzFest performance.
RESOURCES:
Ann Arbor's 'The Bird of Paradise'
Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association (SEMJA)
TRANSCRIPTION:
Deb Polich: Welcome to creative:impact on 89 one WEMU. I'm Deb Polich, president and CEO of Creative Washtenaw and your creative:impact host. Thanks for tuning in to meet the artists and creatives with deep ties to Washtenaw County. It's time for the pARTy--that is pARTy with a little P and a little Y with A-R-T--emphasized "art!" This is Creative Washtenaw's signature annual benefit celebrating remarkable talent and the medalists for arts, sciences and humanities--essentially, our county's Hall of Fame for the arts. Mark your calendars for September 30th at Washtenaw Community College. Creative Washtenaw is presenting four medals this year: one to Ron Brooks. The mayor of Ann Arbor jazz is the lifetime achievement medalist. The Ignitors medal goes to a dynamic couple: Jim Fleming, the founder of Fleming Artists, and Eleni Kelakos, also known as "The Speaker Whisperer." Between them both, they have enhanced the careers of many touring musicians and public speakers across the world. Mike Farah, CEO of Funny or Die, is one of two outstanding service medalists. And then, well, I'm humbled to say that Creative Washtenaw's board is marking my retirement with a similar award. As we lead up to September 30th, we will meet them all. Today, we start with the Lifetime Achievement Medal that recognizes outstanding and sustained artistic accomplishments worthy of national or international acclaim. Ron Brooks is here in the studio. It's great to have you with us! And congratulations on your award!
Ron Brooks: Thank you! It's nice to be here!
Deb Polich: Well, this is such a familiar ground for you, so it's great to have you here! So, you are a transplant to Ann Arbor, but as a very young man. You were in Illinois, I believe, and then came to Ann Arbor?
Ron Brooks: I was born in Chicago. Yeah. Cook County Hospital, where the infant mortality rate was 50%
Deb Polich: What? That's crazy!
Ron Brooks: I'm lucky to be here!
Deb Polich: Yes, I guess so. That's amazing! I mean, actually, they just took me off track. That's amazing! How did you find the instrument of choice that you have in your music? That is the bass that you play in the jazz that you love. How did you get introduced to that?
Ron Brooks: Wow! So, let's see. Actually, when I was little, I wanted to be a singer.
Deb Polich: Okay.
Ron Brooks: Because my mother used to sing to me when I was a small child. So, I sang in glee clubs, choruses and choirs. And I remember I looked in a store window, and there was a guitar. And so, I went in and got the guitar and was strumming along. And I would go to a dime store and buy the sheet music, and they would tell you where to put your fingers. And that's how I kind of strummed the guitar and learned a little bit, so that I could accompany myself.
Deb Polich: And did you follow that up with lessons as a young man?
Ron Brooks: I had two guitar lessons, but that was about it. But it was all about wanting to sing because my mother sang. And then, one time at Fraternity House, there was a bass sitting in the corner, and I kind of walked over and picked it up and, wait a minute, the bottom four strings of the guitar are the same as the bass. And I picked it up and started playing. And that was the beginning of my--
Deb Polich: Your love with that instrument.
Ron Brooks: Yeah!
Ron Brooks: So, was that fraternity here at Eastern? Because I know you studied here.
Ron Brooks: That was actually in Ann Arbor.
Deb Polich: Oh, okay.
Ron Brooks: And I met up with some guys who are just beginning to learn to play. But Rick Burgess, he was on that gig. And I picked it up and sort of struggled through it. And that was the beginning of my bass playing career.
Deb Polich: Well, you must have picked it up pretty quickly, because I understand that, while you were in college, you were part of a jazz competition that caught the eye of--or the ear--of Quincy Jones.
Ron Brooks: Well, what happened was I learned to play in jam sessions. And in Ann Arbor at that time, there were a couple of places where guys would get together to jam and kind of learn how to play. And there was a guy there by the name of Bob James.
Deb Polich: Right. Sure.
Ron Brooks: We played together a few times. And then, so he applied to be in a competition or competitor at the Notre Dame Intercollegiate Jazz Festival. Quincy Jones was one of the judges at that time. And he liked what we did, and he signed us to Mercury Records.
Deb Polich: Oh, that's remarkable! And I also understand, is it true that you toured with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in Europe?
Ron Brooks: Well, not really.
Deb Polich: It's one of those myths?
Ron Brooks: I did have the fortune of meeting up with a guy named Danny Spencer, who was a great drummer and a good friend of mine, and we decided we would run off to Europe. So, we went to Europe. And while we were there in Paris, there was the genius, you know? And so, I got to meet him. And we chatted back and forth. So, it was an honor.
Deb Polich: I have to imagine that it was and, obviously, had some influence on you as you went on to start your own jazz band and club. This is 89 one WEMU's creative:impact, and I am here with jazz musician Ron Brooks, who will receive Creative Washtenaw's Medal for Lifetime Achievement at the pARTy on September 30th. So, speaking of that club that you started, The Bird of Paradise, which was here in Ann Arbor, and was really one of the leading jazz clubs in the country for over 20 years. So many great names played there. And you introduced these musicians and their music to so many audience members. Why a jazz club? Why did you decide to start that?
Ron Brooks: That's a good question. I always wanted to surround myself with inspiring musicians--you know, people that would share some of their experiences and share their music with me and with the community, which responded much, much more than I expected it to. It's just a great place to learn how to play and also to share your and share other people's experience with them. So, it was wonderful!
Deb Polich: And you literally had all the greats here. And you said Bob James. There's Marcus Belgrave. There's so many, and not only just from southeastern Michigan, but from across the country and the world. And folks could look at the playlist of who's been at the Bird or who was at the Bird. Was there anybody that you ever wished that you did get to come to the club that you still sometimes maybe pine to connect with?
Ron Brooks: Wow! I can remember when Ray Brown came, and he sat at the front of the table. And I had to announce that "God was in the house tonight!" You know, Ray was just such a marvelous guy. And he was married to Ella Fitzgerald at that particular point.
Deb Polich: Oh, wow!
Ron Brooks: And I also have Jim Fleming to thank, because he was one of the people that got Dizzy Gillespie to become interested in and come to the Bird of Paradise.
Deb Polich: That's so great! In fact, I just talked to Jim this morning, and he said to say hello. And we'll be honoring him this year as well. You know, the jazz club was fabulous. You influenced lots of folks. But you also continued in other ways to spread the word about jazz as a founder of the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association. I think you started that back in the mid 80s. It's known as SEMJA. And you hear that a lot here on WEMU, and it promotes jazz appreciation, performance and education. Can you tell us a little bit about the importance of SEMJA's education programs in the schools?
Ron Brooks: Wow! One of the things that was very obvious to me was that there are a lot of aspiring, young musicians. They were college students, but there are also people in the community. And a club is part of the community. And I couldn't have come to a better place than Ann Arbor to start something because there were just heaps and hobs of great people and potential. And that was a venue that allowed me to give them an opportunity to see some of the great musicians and inspire them. And they inspired me, too. I have one background story to mention.
Deb Polich: Sure.
Ron Brooks: The big impediment at the beginning was the liquor license. And there were a couple: Larry Hunter and a few other people. And because of a reapportionment of number of licenses in Arbor at the time, there was a big political to-do about who was going to get the next license. There were six, and five people got theirs. And I was number six.
Deb Polich: Oh, wow!
Ron Brooks: I got the liquor license. And that was the biggie to help get the Bird of Paradise off the ground.
Deb Polich: A little liquor, a little jazz. Awesome! So, you're still regularly performing, and you're also still working. A lot of people might not know about you is that you work and have worked for the Dispute Resolution Center for many years. And you're still doing that.
Ron Brooks: Well, music was a way of expressing myself. It wasn't quite enough to make a living, so I had to come up with something. So, I opened an outpatient psychiatric clinic with therapists and whatever. I got my master's at Michigan here in counseling and opened a psychiatric clinic. And part of that was being aware of conflicts. And so, I tried to figure out how can I be helpful to help people solve problems. And so, mediation was my game. And so, I became a mediator and a trainer of mediation.
Deb Polich: I somehow see that that has an influence on your music, and your music has an influence on that work, too. Legacy is really what comes to mind, Ron. You know, whenever I chat with other jazz musicians in the neighborhood, like Pete Sears or Paul Keller and your name comes up, they literally always say, "Ron Brooks is one of the most important people in my life!" That's your legacy. And I know they speak for many, many others. Congratulations on being our Lifetime Achievement Medalist! And we look forward to celebrating with you later this month!
Ron Brooks: Thank you! Thank you, Ann Arbor! Thank you, Michigan, for being such a wonderful place--to be a place where young people can be exposed to great musicians, and they can reach their own personal, musical and otherwise potentials!
Deb Polich: And so much of that is in large part because of you! That is jazz musician Ron Brooks, who will receive Creative Washtenaw's Medal for Lifetime Achievement at the pARTy on September 30th. Find out more about Ron and the pARTy at wemu.org. You've been listening to creative:impact. I'm Deb Polich, president and CEO of Creative Washtenaw and your host. Mat Hopson is our producer. Please join us every Tuesday to meet the people who make Washtenaw creative. This is 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti. Public radio from Eastern Michigan University.
If you'd like to a guest on creative:impact, email Deb Polich at deb.polich@creativewashtenaw.org.
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