Lincoln Center Out of Doors: Ponderosa Stomp: The Detroit Breakdown

Saturday, July 31, 2010 2:00 PM

Lincoln Center Out of Doors
North Plaza/Hearst Plaza
Seating available in Barclays Capital Grove

27th ANNUAL ROOTS OF AMERICAN MUSIC
Ponderosa Stomp: The Detroit Breakdown
Motor City Soul Revue featuring Dennis Coffey, Melvin Davis, Spyder Turner, The Velvelettes, with The Party Stompers
Eddie Kirkland

The Detroit Breakdown showcases the spiritual continuum and musical progression that has long served as the hallmark of a true artistic metropolis.

When Motown put Detroit on the map, it was with an internationally influential sound best exemplified by pioneering girl group The Velvelettes, who join stirring soul men Melvin Davis and Spyder Turner and wah-wah guitar–slinging funk brother Dennis Coffey in a revue of classic Northern soul, backed by R&B all-stars The Party Stompers. A showman of the first degree, bluesman Eddie Kirkland’s emotion-laden singing and gritty guitar-playing kicks off the day in high style.

Saturday, July 31 at 5:00 PM
Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Damrosch Park Bandshell

Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
? & The Mysterians
The Gories
Death

The Detroit Breakdown showcases the spiritual continuum and musical progression that has long served as the hallmark of a true artistic metropolis.

Detroit rock icons of the first tier, garage rockers Mitch Ryder and Question Mark presided over America’s rock & roll conversion in the 1960s, when radio gems like Ryder’s high-octane Devil with a Blue Dress On and the colorful Mysterians’ 96 Tears made both artists into two of the most popular recording artists in America. Equally inspired by the blues, R&B, and garage punk pioneers who had come before them, The Gories may have been too incendiary for their time, but their influence continues to reverberate. Many pop scholars and fans have only recently discovered Death, a reignited 1970s trio of African American proto-punk rockers that were true anomalies in the Detroit ferment.

The Ponderosa Stomp creates a showcase for living history and thriving art, spotlighting the unsung heroes who planted the very roots of American music. For more information, visit ponderosastomp.org

FREE!