Southfield

Concert brings original blues sounds

By Jessica Strachan
C & G Staff Writer

SOUTHFIELD — Don McGhee, the mastermind behind Southfield’s monthly music series Jazz & Blues @ Your Library, knows his stuff.

As the vice president of the Friends of the Southfield Public Library, the president of the Detroit Blues Society and a photographer, too, he knows just what sets a good blues performance apart.

That’s why he’s looking forward to Wednesday’s performance by Mike Espy and Yakity Yak, made up of two blues musicians, Mike Espy and William “Yak” Smith.

Backed with a band for this concert, McGhee said, it’s one that will pay homage to blues in one of its truest forms.

“Their style is really appealing because it pays attention to older blues,” McGhee said about the duo. “It’s maybe less sophisticated, but it honors the origins.”

He believes that the series, now in its eighth year, works well because it entertains and teaches.

“Because we are a library and we believe music isn’t simply to entertain, but serves as an important aspect of our culture, we ask our (performers) to talk to people about who they are, share stories from their travels, influences, how they got started and their take on the local music scene,” McGhee explained. “Music says a lot about who we are, where we’ve been and where we are going.”

McGhee first saw Mike Espy and Yakity Yak play live at the International Blues Competition in Memphis, Tenn., a few years back. He said that with the way Espy captures the sounds and the humor, and the “edge” Smith brings, they are a duo that gets down to the authenticity of blues, wherever they play.

“Musicians have a very admirable place in our culture. Most don’t get rich, few do, actually, so the amazing thing is so many do it just because they love to do it.”

For McGhee, a lover of all things jazz and blues who has brought in more than 90 acts to Southfield, one true gauge of their popularity with the crowd is not just how it appeals to the ear, but how it reflects on film.

It’s the facial expressions, body language and passion that performers are able to share with the audience, he said. And he catches it all on his camera.

“The cool thing is, as much as they are enjoying it, they are creating that same enjoyment in the audience — clapping, bouncing in their chair, snapping their fingers,” he said about Espy and Smith.

“As musicians, they are able to create that really special enjoyment while enjoying what they are doing,” he said, adding that that’s what the series was designed to do.

Espy and Smith have been playing Chicago and Mississippi blues together since they met in Lansing in 1995. Since that time, they’ve been recognized as a Top Unsigned Act in Blues Revue and have been invited several times to the International Blues Competition. At Wednesday’s performance, they will be accompanied by Ronnie Collins on bass and John Barera on drums.

Each month, McGhee said, the Jazz & Blues @ Your Library concerts draw in an average of more than 70 people for the chance to see acts that fans might not otherwise be able to see in the area.

The event is also great for the family, McGhee added, and has a reputation for providing an atmosphere that appeals to diverse groups that other venues do not.

Need to know

What: Jazz & Blues @ Your Library

When: 6:30 p.m. July 18

Where: Meeting Room of the Southfield Public Library

Admission: Suggested donation of $3 for adults; free for children under 12

Info: (248) 796-4397

Next up:
• Jerry McKenzie’s Just Jazz — Aug. 15
• Diversity — Sept. 19

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jessica Strachan at jstrachan@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1108.