Six-time Grammy winner, acclaimed producer, and Blue Note Records President Don Was joins his nine-piece soul-jazz collective The Pan-Detroit Ensemble to release their highly anticipated new album, Groove in the Face of Adversity, out now via Mack Avenue Records. Listen to/share the album HERE.
To celebrate the release, Was and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble have announced the first leg of a new headline tour this winter, kicking off January 9 in Ann Arbor, MI, with stops in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and an appearance on NPR’s Mountain Stage. Each performance will feature music from Groove in the Face of Adversity alongside a complete live rendition of The Grateful Dead’s Blues for Allah, honoring the album’s 50th anniversary. A full list of dates is below.
The group’s fall tour is currently underway, with performances in Louisville, Lansing, Charlottesville and more, plus a special hometown Detroit performance will take place tomorrow, October 11—serving as the official album release show. The band will also appear at the immersive Golden Road Festival in Buford, GA on October 18. Tickets for all shows are on sale now HERE.
Born and raised in Detroit, Was returns to his musical roots with The Pan-Detroit Ensemble. “We’re the Pan-Detroit Ensemble and we are on a mission to promulgate the music of our hometown,” says Was. Drawing on the wide-ranging influences of his five-decade career, Groove in the Face of Adversity channels the soul of the Motor City through a blend of steamy jazz, juke-joint blues, and loose-limbed funk—a sound both timeless and deeply personal.
The album’s title recalls a pivotal moment from Was’s youth: stuck in a car in a bad mood while his mother ran errands, he turned the radio dial and discovered Joe Henderson’s “Mode for Joe.”
“There was a nonverbal message that came through the music,” Was remembers. “‘Don, you’ve got to groove in the face of adversity’—meaning, relax, go with the flow. That became a philosophy I’ve followed ever since.”
Over the past five decades, Don Was has become one of music’s most respected figures—as a producer, bassist, composer, and longtime head of Blue Note Records. His production credits span The Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, John Mayer, Willie Nelson, and many others, with combined sales exceeding 100 million albums. His honors include a BAFTA Award (Backbeat), an Emmy (The Beatles: The Night That Changed America), and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association.
In addition to leading the Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue for more than 15 years, he co-hosts The Don Was Motor City Playlist on Detroit’s WDET-FM and Dinner with Don Was on SiriusXM. Since 2018, he has toured worldwide with Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros, the group he co-founded with Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir.
ABOUT THE PAN-DETROIT ENSEMBLE
Formed by Don Was, The Pan-Detroit Ensemble unites some of Detroit’s finest musicians: Jeff Canaday (drums), Vincent Chandler (trombone), Steffanie Christi’an (vocals), John Douglas (trumpet), Wayne Gerard (guitar), Mahindi Masai (percussion), Dave McMurray (saxophone), and Luis Resto (keyboards).
