TT 450: The Automobile Century

JAZZ FROM DETROIT and a visit to The Henry Ford

1955 Chevy

Thanks to all who came out to the trio gigs in Chicago, Cincinnati, and Cleveland, or Mark Morris Dance Group The Look of Love in Detroit. (This coming Friday, Simón Willson, Vinnie Sperrazza, and I play Des Moines.)

Afterwards I spent a day hanging out with Mark Stryker. We listened to records and watched the final cut of his marvelous documentary The Best of the Best: Jazz From Detroit. The film moves at a brisk and engaging pace, taking us through the history of the city and the history of the music. When it gets into general release it will not just be a must-watch for fans, but also a superb introduction to jazz for the uninitiated.

One of the memorable quotes from the documentary is said by the great bassist Rodney Whitaker: “We make cars, and we make jazz musicians.”

I like automobiles as well, so Mark and I also went to The Henry Ford to consider the history of transportation.

1904 Packard

1907 White

1909 Model T. The red color is uncommon, for Henry Ford liked to joke, “Any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black.”

1924 Chrysler

1932 Ford V-8

glorious Bugatti, with a glorious Duesenberg just behind

1953 Studebaker

1955 Corvette and 1957 DeSoto

1959 Cadillac Eldorado

1963 concept car from Chrysler, it is powered by a turbine like a jet plane

another view of the Chrysler turbine

Four Presidential limousines:

FDR

Eisenhower

JFK

Ronald Reagan

This is big: Mark with an Avery Steam Traction Engine from about 1916

This is small: me with a 1949 Volkswagen (photo by Mark)