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Don Was & the Pan-Detroit Ensemble: Nubian Lady

By Ludovico Granvassu
November 12, 2025
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Don Was' Groove in the Face of Adversity (Mack Avenue Records) is both a celebration of friendship and positivity in challenging times, and a heartfelt love letter to his hometown. Sneaking out from behind the Blue Note presidential desk for a moment, Was slips back behind the upright bass to shine a light on Detroit's vibrant—yet too often under-recognized—jazz scene, as embodied by the circle of long-time friends and collaborators performing under the banner of the Pan-Detroit Ensemble.

Among the highlights of the album is their take on a piece by Kenny Barron, an artist linked to Detroit, not least through his work with a central figure in the city's jazz story: Yusef Lateef. The tune is "Nubian Lady," a Barron composition that Lateef recorded on his 1972 Atlantic album Gentle Giant—with Dave McMurray here picking up where Lateef's flute left off.

Contact Ludovico Granvassu on All About Jazz.
I'm the Editor-in-Chief of All About Jazz Italia, host of Mondo Jazz on Radio Free Brooklyn and was once visited by Frank Zappa's ghost.... he was funny too.

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