The Detroit School: A definition and validation of a style associated with jazz artists coming out of the Motor City between 1945 and 1960

Abstract

This project report seeks to explore, define, and validate the existence of a specific jazz style associated with jazz artists coming out of the Motor City between 1945 and 1960 entitled the Detroit School. This style is recognized by its distinctive improvisatory characteristics, unified community, and documented stylistic dissemination throughout jazz history.

Literature written on Detroit's cultural history and material written specifically on Detroit's general jazz scene was examined. Periodicals, theses and dissertations, websites, sound and video recordings, reviews, and liner notes were also explored. Interviews were conducted achieving a firsthand account with former Detroit jazz artists' George Bohanon and Terry Harrington. Finally, a review of similar studies addressing the history of jazz in other major cities across the United States was conducted as well. The project report closes by asking both the reader and historians alike, what art forms may lay hidden within your own communities, still awaiting their due acknowledgement.