On Friday, October 10, Detroit’s forthcoming Gabriel Hall hosts official afterglow with musician meet and greet for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Allen Toussaint concert at the Music Hall (350 Madison St) from 10 p.m. until 12 a.m. in the Music Hall’s Jazz Café. Presented in association with Pont:Productions and AdWater Media, the intimate afterglow reception will serve as a fundraiser for the authentic New Orleans style music venue, restaurant and bar set to open in 2015 by Detroit’s Gabriel music family.
More than 50 years ago, the Gabriel family emigrated from New Orleans by way of the island of the Dominican Republic and Haiti (then Saint-Domingue) to Detroit. With them, this large musical family brought rich traditions and styles of jazz we herald today. When we speak of the successes of the American automotive industry – of Detroit – we must speak of the thousands of people who moved to the Motor City to build, with their own hands, the very machines we are famous for today. Yet, not only have vast cross-sections of the world’s people been the hands that put the world on wheels, they have been – and continue to be – the inventors of entirely new genres of music; of Motown, of Funk, of Techno, of Detroit Rock City. We continue to move people, not only in our cars, but in our incomparable music.
Among those that have woven the most beautiful technicolor fabric that is the face of Detroit are the members of the Gabriel family. Their story is one of the most important links in Detroit music history, bridging the gap between jazz forms born in New Orleans and eventually spun into some of Detroit’s signature style notes in the genre’s evolution.
Preservation Hall clarinetist and saxophonist Charlie Gabriel, now 82, migrated as a teenage boy with his family from New Orleans to Detroit in the 1940s during the American auto industry boom. There he and several of his family members introduced traditional New Orleans jazz, marching brass band parades and second line funeral processions into the music community. The Gabriel family organized Detroit’s first known authentic second line in 1982 for the jazz funeral of Charlie’s father, Martin “Manny” Gabriel.
Charlie became fast friends with renowned Detroit jazz trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, among many other local greats, performing and touring with many of them. He’s played with Lionel Hampton and Charles Mingus, was a member of Aretha Franklin’s Orchestra, as well as J.C. Heard’s Band. He also backed many prominent vocalists and musicians such as Nancy Wilson and Ella Fitzgerald. Charlie and other family members organized the first known jazz funeral in Detroit in 1982 for his father Martin “Manny” Gabriel. After more than 50 years in Detroit, Charlie moved back to New Orleans in 2010 to become a lead member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, with whom he now tours.
The Gabriel family contributions to the Detroit jazz lexicon are lauded by jazz heads and music buffs to this day. In fact, if you ever see a small second line rolling up the street in downtown Detroit, you can bet your bottom dollar that Charlie’s nephews and cousins are at the helm. However, these important elements of Detroit’s music history and cultural heritage are, unfortunately, not commonly known — even to most Detroiters. So Charlie’s nephew and band leader of the Gabriel Brass Band in Detroit, Dameon Gabriel, is opening a New Orleans-style restaurant, bar and music venue in his Motor City neighborhood.
Locals and visitors alike will be able to experience some of the rich culture that the Gabriel family infused into Detroit’s broad history as active residents at what will be Gabriel Hall. In addition to offering authentic Louisiana cuisine, New Orleans-inspired cocktails and of course live music rooted in this tradition, Gabriel Hall will also house a permanent Detroit mini-museum showcasing the Gabriel family music legacy. You will even be able to catch Preservation Hall artists live at Gabriel Hall from time to time.
The intimate relationship between Preservation Hall in New Orleans and Gabriel Hall in Detroit is an intricate “Route 66 of Jazz,” if you will. The path between New Orleans jazz, Detroit jazz and even its influences on Motown can be traced via the Gabriel family’s heritage. Nestled tightly in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans, Preservation Hall was established in 1961 at 726 St. Peter Street to honor one of America’s truest artforms – traditional New Orleans jazz. Operating as a music venue, a touring band, a non-profit arts and education organization, and soon a mini-museum, Preservation Hall continues its mission today as a cornerstone of New Orleans music and culture. To learn more about Preservation Hall’s storied legacy, its founders and musicians, please visit: www.preservationhall.com.
THE CONCERT AND THE AFTERGLOW BENEFIT
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band comes to Detroit on Friday, October 10 with Grammy nominated Allen Toussaint for a one-night-only concert at the Detroit Music Hall (350 Madison Ave) beginning at 8 p.m. On this very special night, Detroiters will have the distinct opportunity to meet both the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (New Orleans) and the Gabriel Brass Band (Detroit), as well as support the fundraising efforts for the opening of Gabriel Hall in Detroit at an intimate afterglow immediately following the concert. (Doors at 7 p.m.)
“The Gabriel Hall Experience” will take place at the Jazz Café inside the Detroit Music Hall on Friday, October 10 from 10 p.m. until 12 a.m. This official afterparty for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Allen Toussaint concert will feature complimentary creole tapas from Gabriel Hall’s head chef, a presentation of the Gabriel family’s heritage through photographs and other artifacts, a cash bar and of course music. The proceeds from all afterglow ticket sales will benefit the Preservation Hall Foundation and the opening of Gabriel Hall. Presented by Gabriel Hall in association with Pont:Productions and AdWater Media, tickets for the afterglow party are $25, $40 or $60, and available in advance online at EventBrite.com (https://bit.ly/PHxGHdet ) or at the door the night of event. VIP afterglow tickets include gifts from Preservation Hall, the Music Hall and the Gabriel Brass Band’s Larry Gabriel. Capacity at the afterglow is limited, advance tickets are recommended to guarantee admission.
Learn more about Gabriel Hall by visiting the following web links: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1023352017/gabriel-hall and https://www.facebook.com/gabrielhalldetroit
TICKETS:
For afterglow ticketing options, VIP inclusions, event details and to purchase tickets online, go to: https://bit.ly/PHxGHdet. Or visit EventBrite.com and search keywords: Gabriel Hall, Detroit.
To purchase tickets for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Allen Toussaint concert at the Music Hall ($30, $40, $50), please visit www.musichall.org or call 313.887.8500 for more information.
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