Alison Stewart: This is All Of It, on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. When Blue Note Records president, multi-Grammy winning producer Don Was was asked why he hadn't put out a solo record until now, he responded, "It sounds ridiculous, but I just didn't get around to it." Don Was has been busy winning Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, as well as being in his own band, Was (Not Was). In 2011, he became the president of the distinguished jazz label. Now the time has come, and he has a release called Groove In The Face of Adversity. He's joined by The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, a band of some of the city's finest funk proprietors. Here's a track from the album called Midnight Marauders.

[MUSIC - Don Was & The Pan-Detroit Ensemble: Midnight Marauders]

Alison Stewart: Don Was & The Pan-Detroit Ensemble perform at the Blue Note this Monday, January 12th. Don Was joins me now for a Listening Party and a preview. It is really nice to meet you.

Don Was: It's a gas. Alison, thanks for having me on.

Alison Stewart: I can't believe this is the first album you've released under your own name.

[laughter]

Alison Stewart: How is this release different for you, considering all that you have been through?

Don Was: I think what I've learned over the years is that sometimes in the music business we think that the characteristics that make an artist different from what's currently popular present a marketing problem, but ultimately, what I've come to discover is that it's your superpower, the thing that makes you different. I've always encouraged other artists to be the best version of themselves and to dare to be different from everything else. All the great music comes from people who change the pace of everything by being who they were. This is the first time, I guess, I've had the confidence or the lack of worry, the fearlessness maybe, to just put my name on something and be myself.

Alison Stewart: Tell me about the ensemble that you're working with.

Don Was: It's a great group of musicians. Really, some of the finest players that I've ever met in my life. They all come from Detroit. We all grew up listening to the same radio stations, playing in the same bars, playing for the same audiences. We speak this common musical language of Detroit. I think you can hear it in the music. There's a sound to the music that comes out of Detroit. Very raw, honest, unpretentious sound. To me, it's best exemplified by John Lee Hooker, who was as raw as you could get, but he never stopped grooving. The lyrics were very honest and were exactly who he is.

If you listen to Detroit music in all the different genres, whether it's rock and roll and you trace it through Mitch Ryder, the MC5, and the Stooges, or the White Stripes, whether it's the R&B going through Fortune Records and Motown and George Clinton to J Dilla, or whether it's the jazz with Donald Byrd, Joe Henderson, and Elvin Jones, there's a raw energy and an unpretentiousness and a great groove that characterizes Detroit music. We're just trying to promulgate the indigenous sounds of our hometown.

Alison Stewart: Do you remember what radio stations and bars you used to visit or used to listen to?

Don Was: Oh, yes, of course. Of course I do. There was a great underground FM station in the '60s called WABX. There's a station called WDET, which is the NPR station. In the '60s, that was the only station where you could hear Albert Ayler and Sun Ra and the more extreme John Coltrane records. I'm a DJ on that station now every Friday night, to a show.

Alison Stewart: Oh, right on.

Don Was: There were great bars. Baker's Keyboard Lounge is the oldest jazz club in the United States. There's the Grande Ballroom, where we used to go see the MC5 and the Stooges and all the great local bands. Those were really important parts growing up in Detroit. Of course, don't leave out going to see the Motortown Revue back when it was a local show at the Fox Theater. I remember going to a Sunday matinee in the mid-'60s and seeing Martha & the Vandellas, The Temptations, and Marvin Gaye playing for about 200 people. It was pretty wild.

Alison Stewart: I'm speaking to Don Was about his latest album, Groove In The Face of Adversity. Let's hear some more music from it. This is a song called Nubian Lady. I got that queued up. Where does the song come from?

Don Was: It's written by Kenny Barron, a great jazz pianist. He recorded it with Yusef Lateef, who was one of the epic legends of Detroit jazz.

Alison Stewart: Let's hear Nubian Lady.

Don Was: I hope the bus isn't too loud, Alison. All right?

Alison Stewart: I'm doing okay.

Don Was: Okay, good. Yes, I'm on a tour bus, and it's a little noisy.

[MUSIC - Don Was & The Pan-Detroit Ensemble: Nubian Lady]

Alison Stewart: Don, who are we hearing on the flute?

Don Was: That's a guy named Dave McMurray. He's a Blue Note recording artist. In fact, we've been playing together for about 45 years. I wouldn't call him a hidden treasure because he's out touring all the time. This is the third Blue Note album that he's just released this year. He's played with Bob James, he's recorded with the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. He's a master musician.

Alison Stewart: The name of your album is Groove In The Face of Adversity. What's the story behind that piece of wisdom?

Don Was: Oh, sure.

Alison Stewart: Can you hear--

Don Was: If you just asked me a question, I missed it. I'm hearing you now, yes.

Alison Stewart: No worries. The album is called Groove In The Face of Adversity. What is the story behind that piece of wisdom?

Don Was: [laughs] Well, in 1966, I was 14 years old. I was driving around with my mom. She was making me run errands with her on a Saturday when I wanted to be hanging out with my friends. I was being just a terrible kid, so she left me in the car with the keys and just said, "Play with the radio," so I was messing with the dial. I didn't know there was a jazz station in Detroit, and I didn't know anything about jazz. I landed on the Detroit jazz station just as a solo for what I later learned was a Blue Note record called Mode for Joe by Joe Henderson. Just as that came on.

He starts out making these anguished cries on the sax. I'd never heard a sound like that in my life before. It matched the anguish I was going through being stuck driving around with my mom on a Saturday, so it drew me in immediately. Ultimately, the drummer, Joe Chambers, kicks in and starts grooving. I thought that Joe Henderson was speaking to me and saying, "Don, you got to do like I'm doing and groove in the face of adversity," which at that moment meant, "Be nice to your mom."

Sure enough, when she got back in the car, in three minutes, my mood had changed 180 degrees because of this music. I was a nice kid for once. Really, that notion of 'grooving in the face of adversity' it's applicable to so many things in life. It's just really stayed with me. It was also testimony to the power of this music to impact people's emotions. That wasn't lost on me. Ultimately, that's what I wanted to do with my life, was be involved in making that kind of music for people to bring them some comfort and understanding in times of chaos and confusion.

Alison Stewart: We're talking to Don Was about his latest album, Groove In The Face of Adversity. He and his band, The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, will be at the Blue Note on Monday. Let's listen to another track. Here's the Curtis Mayfield song, This Is My Country. We'll play a minute from the top. What is something that we should listen to on this track?

Don Was: Oh, the lyrics. It's an incredible Curtis Mayfield song from 1968 that is as relevant today, if not more relevant, than it was back then, which is kind of shocking to me, having been around in 1968. It's tragic to me, actually. I think it's important to remind people that if they're frustrated and stressed out in these times, they're not alone. You got company. There's a commonality among all people, and we got to pull it together.

Alison Stewart: This Is My Country.

[MUSIC - Don Was & The Pan-Detroit Ensemble: This Is My Country]

Alison Stewart: Don, you'll be at the Blue Note on Monday.

Don Was: Yes. That's right.

Alison Stewart: Are you going to play the whole album? What's going to happen?

Don Was: Between the two sets, we'll play the whole album. We're also honoring the Grateful Dead and the 50th anniversary of their album Blues for Allah. Actually, over the two sets, we'll play that whole album as well.

Alison Stewart: Sometimes at the Blue Note, you're known for surprise guests. You don't have to tell me who, but will there be any surprises?

Don Was: We're talking to a few folks. Yes.

[laughter]

Alison Stewart: Of course, you're the president of Blue Note Records. Blue Note, does it feel like a homecoming when you play there?

Don Was: Yes, sure does. It's a great club. We just opened one in LA. We played the Tokyo Club Pan-Detroit Ensemble a couple of months ago. It's a special place. It means a lot to folks, and it means a lot to me to actually be on the stage instead of in the audience.

Alison Stewart: I have been speaking to Don Was about his latest album, Groove In The Face of Adversity. He and his band, The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, will be at the Blue Note on Monday. Have a great show.

Don Was: Thank you so much. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for having me on today.

Alison Stewart: Let's go out with a little bit of Insane. It's originally by the New York funk group Cameo. It can be found on the new album.