The Carr Center Partners With The City Of Detroit's Office Of Arts, Culture And Entrepreneurship

The Carr Center, Detroit's leading Black arts presenter, today announces its television partnership with the City of Detroit's ACE Office. Detroit A&E (Channel 22) will launch a weekly limited television series titled, "The Carr Center Presents."

As part of the network's special Black History Month programming, the premiere episode will feature "A Poet's Poet: A Tribute to Naomi Long Madgett," a story of the late Detroit poet laureate and publisher who was also known as "the godmother of African-American poetry." The program premieres at 7 p.m. Tuesday, February 1 (Channel 22). The partnership also includes a series of music specials, all created and produced by the Carr Center.

On the heels of the Center's 30th anniversary, the organization's president and CEO Oliver Ragsdale says he has been programming and curating Black history and culture for more than three decades, and he looks forward to the continual expansion of the Center both nationally and globally.

"Black art in a Black context is what we have done 365 days a year for the last 30 years," he said. "We are excited to work with the City of Detroit to bring our programming directly into the homes of Detroit residents."

"Detroit A&E is designed to offer opportunities for Detroiters to showcase each other's works, lives, and accomplishments," Riley said. "This unprecedented partnership means residents across the city and across the country will be able to experience our city's creative excellence regularly.

Next, the channel will air "The Carr Center Presents ... Duos & Duets," an eight-part series, beginning on Tuesday, February 8. Curated by the Center's Artistic Director Terri Lyne Carrington, the three-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist, musician and educator will be joined by Panamanian jazz pianist and composer Danilo Pérez, also a triple Grammy Award-winner. The weekly episodes will continue with:

· R&B legend, composer, and educator Patrice Rushen and five-time Grammy Award-winning pianist Billy Childs (February 15);

· Grammy Award-winning recording artist Ben Williams, one of the most acclaimed and versatile bassists in modern jazz, and Grammy Award-winning drummer Marcus Gilmore, along with special guest multi-genre vocalist Jean Baylor of The Baylor Project fame (February 22);

· Lisa Fischer and Louis Cato (March 1);

· The Thornetta Davis Trio (March 8);

· Terri Lyne Carrington, Jack DeJohnette, and Matthew Garrison (March 15).

· The series concludes with Danilo Pérez, Sonia Sanchez, and Terri Lyne Carrington on March 22.

"The Carr Center Presents" also will broadcast a variety of music specials, including the productions of The Gathering Orchestra Nonet, the Center's professional development fellowship ensemble on March 29 and "It's a Wonderful World: A Russian Cultural Exchange," featuring The Gathering Orchestra and Uralskiy Dixieland, an ensemble of jazz musicians based in Chelyabinsk, Russia, that will air on International Jazz Day, Saturday, April 30.

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