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DON WAS
DON WAS
Don Was is a legendary record producer, bassist, and President of Blue Note Records. Blue Note is an American jazz label established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. The leading artists on Blue Note were Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Grant Green, Hank Mobley, and John Coltrane. Don Was has produced artists such as The Rolling Stones, John Mayer, Bob Seger, Ringo Starr, George Clinton, Al Green, B.B King and Bob Dylan.
I first met Don when he asked me to do an interview with him for his radio show in Studio A at the Motown Museum. I agreed and met him in front of the museum to make sure we got in because it was closed that day. Don is really a nice guy and we had fun doing the interview. Later he asked me to perform twice in his segments of the Concert of Colors Shows in Detroit at the Max M. Fisher Music Theater. They were both great shows. On the first video Don Was is playing bass and Luis Resto from Eminem’s group is playing keyboards.
On the second video I am using my band which features Danny Tyrell on organ, Steve Adams on drums, and Dennis Sheridan on congas. We got a standing ovation from the audience at the Max M. Fisher Music Theater in Detroit. Don also recorded us at Studio A in Dearborn Heights doing “Black Belt Jones” for an album of Detroit Jazz All Stars called “The Detroit Initiative” to be released on Blue Note Records. Some of the other artists on the album were James Carter and Marcus Belgrave.