Cityscape

Marcus Belgrave Tributes Honor 'The Jazz Mayor of Detroit'

May 24, 2015, 3:25 PM by  Alan Stamm

His honorary titles include "eminent artist" (Kresge Foundation, 2009) and "the jazz mayor of Detroit" (Metro Times, 2014).

Marcus Belgrave, an internationally renowned trumpeter who died Saturday night at an Ann Arbor healthcare facility, also earned personal affection along with public acclaim. Some of the countless musicians he inspired and mentored are among those posting tributes Sunday to the "Detroit jazz icon," as The Detroit News' headline calls him.

"Belgrave, 78, had suffered from heart and pulmonary issues for some time," Susan Whitall writes in that paper, "and had been hospitalized at the University of Michigan in late April, suffering from pneumonia." 

Whitall quotes Detroit drummer R.J. Spangler, who got the news by email from wife Joan Belgrave:

“Marcus was a jazz icon in Detroit, but also an international jazz treasure. He mentored Regina Carter, Kenny Garrett, Robert Hurst and many others, but he also played with Charles Mingus, Wynton Marsalis, Horace Tapscott and even sat in with the Tonight Show Band.

“For most of my life, he was a fellow east-sider. He was a beautiful man.”

Free Press coverage by Mark Stryker also cites the horn player's impact on younger players:

"He became a mentor to entire generations of musicians, and a lot of us would not have found the music without him," said bassist Rodney Whitaker. "He brought us together. I have not met one musician from the last 50 years in Detroit that Marcus has not had some sort of impact on.

"If you factor in those of us who also became mentors because of his example, Marcus has changed the lives of thousands of students," said Whitaker, who directs the jazz program at Michigan State University."


Metro Detroit saxman sax player Marcus Elliot (left) joined Belgrave on recordings and at clubs. The MSU grad Sunday reposts this 2013 shot of them.

Recent beneficiaries include local tenor sax player Marcus Elliot, who sat in with Belgrave on recordings and stages. On Sunday morning, the MSU graduate posts a 2013 photo of them (right) on Facebook with this: "Thank you Marcus. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

Another local admirer is Anne Parsons, president and CEO of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. "He was our hero and our friend," she tells Deadline via email, adding:

"His work with young musicians through his leadership position of the inaugural years of DSO's Civic Jazz program enabled our city's youth the opportunity to learn from the best and be inspired to believe in themselves and collaborate with others. . . . He will be missed and remembered always."    

Here are other tributes:

► Drummer's praise: Greatest trumpeter that I played with. -- Djallo Djakate, Detroit drummer

 Indelible memory: A Marcus Belgrave teaching moment I'll never forget: At a music clinic up north he was asked to describe the best method for developing good time. He said, "Listen to your heartbeat." Everyone in the room was changed. -- Alex Trajano, Detroit, WDET production director/audio engineer/producer

Play it forward: It's all of our jobs to make sure his legacy lives forever. -- Carleton Gholz, Detroit Sound Conservancy

► "One insane night:" His devotion and career-long dedication to Detroit, and his impact and influence on the Detroit Jazz scene for the past five decades is unmatched, immeasurable and unparalleled. Over the past 15 years I had the great honor of presenting him at both the Detroit and Syracuse Jazz Fests and will miss him forever, but will always remember one insane night when he and I and his lovely wife Joan roamed the streets of the Motor City during jazz fest on a golf cart we managed to commandeer, laughing uncontrollably as we held on for dear life. -- Frank Malfitano, executive director of Syracuse Jazz Fest

► "Reigning patriarch:" The reigning patriarch of Detroit's jazz scene fought heart and pulmonary issues for years and used oxygen 24 hours a day. But you would hardly know it to hear him play. – John Moultrie, New Buffalo, Mich.,  founder/CEO of irockjazz.com, a music and culture site

Unique presence: We will not see [his] kind again. -- Gary Anderson, Lathrup Village, past board member of CultureSource, a Detroit nonprofit 

► "Deep respect:" He was a delightful man. I am so sorry to hear this. Bow of deep respect, sir. You lived a rich life and touched many. -- Xeleste Stone, WSU '15

Another local legend: He was a great musician who graced the stage at Baker's Keyboard Lounge. -- Post at its Facebook page

► "Genuine warmth:" Working on a Ray Charles documentary a few years, I was lucky to spend a day with Marcus Belgrave and his lovely wife, Joan.  It was quickly obvious why he'd earned a global reputation as being a mentor to so many Detroit musicians.  His gentle manner, sly wit and genuine warmth made our encounter truly memorable. Marcus was a great man. -- Bret Primack, Tucson filmmaker, in email to Deadline

► “Time to teach:" Marcus had time to teach the young ones, coming up. I met him when I was a kid. -- Dr. Gail Soo Hoo-Williams, Clinton Township

Bert's Marketplace performance

In the video below by Bret Primack, Belgrave plays flugelhorn on May 10, 2009 at a Mother's Day brunch at Bert's Marketplace in Detroit. Sidemen are Gayelynn McKinney (drums), Marion Hayden (bass), Bill Meyer (keyboards) and Charlie Gabriel (tenor).



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