Satin Doll Revue at Aretha's Jazz Café

Wrapping Up Black History Month in The Motor City

In This Issue

• The Satin Doll Revue Review

• 2025 WCW Awards Finalist

Satin Doll Revue at Aretha's Jazz Café

It was an unseasonably warm 49ºF as we embarked on our maiden voyage down The Lodge Freeway to Aretha’s Jazz Café inside Detroit’s iconic Music Hall building. It’s shameful that I moved back to Detroit metro in 2021 and this is my first visit to the famed venue. After learning about Black Bottom and Paradise Valley artists in the Herizon Music’s last issue, seeing Sky Covington’s Satin Doll Revue play their final show for Black History Month seemed an appropriate introduction.

My husband and I parked in a lot next store and walked into the theater entrance. There are a number of spaces in the building for performing, teaching, and gathering. And there is a plan in the works for a new Music Hall Center expansion that will be a mixed-use “gateway to Paradise Valley” that supports live entertainment if the funding and plan move forward. Here are the plans.

I hope that this shiny new expansion restores the existing Music Hall rather than gutting or modernizing it. They really don’t make them like they used to… the ornate detailing in the trim, woodwork, and ceilings. The soft lighting that radiates a sense of calm and sophistication. The carpeting and heavy curtains anchoring the sound. Classic theater/stage settings are always the best for live entertainment, IMHO.

Greeted by the lobby host, we gingerly stepped down into a lounge that could easily have been a speakeasy during Prohibition. Bistro tables, heavy curtains, a wood-trimmed bar decorated with black and white photos of blues and jazz greats who have appeared on Detroit stages. From Aretha Franklin (of course) to Tommy Dorsey. Franklin asked for a club that books local acts to be named after her. The Music Hall honored that wish with this cozy, throwback room. It’s my kind of jam!

We grabbed a drink and the cheese plate and seasoned fries off the short menu and settled into our bistro table seating. Lucretia Sain opened the evening with a reading paying tribute to jazz/blues history. Host Mike Bonner warmed up the crowd with a tune and some light-hearted humor. Backing band Gerard Gibbs (piano), Ibrahim Jones (bass), and Terence Neal (drums) held down the instrumentation for the entire evening. Here are the February 24th Satin Doll Revue headliners.

Rather than “review” the performances as a critic might, I’m going to leave you with a few video shorts. I attend between 75 and 120 musical performances annually. After many attempts, I’ve come to realize that approaching a show from a critic’s mindset alters the experience. Going into it as a fan is the purist way to enjoy the show (or not). So, no blow-by-blow critique here. Just sharing the good vibes that radiated from the stage and the fans.

The costuming, the tunes, the fare, and the lounge atmosphere were the right recipe for this celebration of women in jazz and blues. Franklin would be thrilled to see local artists headlining a show that honors black women in music history. My first venture into this iconic cafe was grade A. My only question: When’s the next show?

Lady Vonne singing Phyllis Hyman

Veronique Musique singing Nancy Wilson

Sky Covington singing Billie Holiday

Thornetta Davis singing Bessie Smith

Taking a bow: Thornetta Davis, Sky Covington, Veronique Musique, Lady Vonne, Lucretia Sain, and Mike Bonner.

---

2025 WCW Awards Finalist

I cannot express how exciting it is to announce that I am a finalist for the Women Changing The World Global Awards in the “Journalism and Media” category. I’ve got stiff competition — Oscar winners, directors, video journalists, and more. It’s an honor to be a finalist in their company. Thank you to Andrea Carter for nominating me. This is how we promote gender equity in music and continue to spotlight women’s stories and contributions to music history.

Winners are announced on April 2-3 in London. Below is the press release for those who are interested in more details.

Thank you for joining our band of dreamers, rule breakers, and rockstars! It’s a wrap!

Thea 🎶