Music In Homes: Blues to Broadway, Jazz & Beyond: David Alan Grier

Broadway, film, comedy and TV star David Alan Grier returns to his hometown Detroit for this very special concert. Grier’s mastery of Mississippi Delta Blues and songs by Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters may come as a surprise, but his steel guitar and thundering voice evoke an authenticity few can attain. He is equally powerful in the American Songbook jazz tradition, and will certainly include works from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess—he played Sportin’ Life in the recent Broadway production, for which he received a Tony nomination and accolades from The New York Times: “stand-out role of the rakish, drug-dealing Sportin’ Life.”

Grier’s Detroit band includes internationally recognized virtuoso musicians: guitarist A. Spencer Barefield, bassist Marion Hayden, and drummer Djallo Keita. Grier and Barefield recently performed together in San Francisco’s “Night at the Blackhawk” concerts, a reunion for the two whose friendship goes back to childhood.

Grier is a three-time Tony and Grammy nominee for his work in The First (he starred as baseball legend Jackie Robinson), RACE, and Porgy and Bess. Trained in Shakespeare at Yale School of Drama, where he received an MFA, Grier has had starring roles in Dreamgirls, A Soldiers Play, and others in film, theatre and TV. He’s won Emmys for his work with the cutting-edge comedy TV shows In Living Color and his Comedy Central Chocolate News.

He has been in many top movies with stars such as Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington, and currently stars in the new NBC TV hit, The Carmichael Show. In early December 2015, Grier starred as the Cowardly Lion in the TV musical extravaganza The Wiz with Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and other superstars.

The Music in Homes grand finale is sure to be a stunning weekend. Be sure to help us give David a warm Detroit homecoming.