- Hello everybody.

I'm Satori Shakoor.

Welcome to "Detroit Performs: Live From Marygrove," where Detroit's talented artists take the stage and share insights into their performances.

This episode is curated by Great Lakes Performing Artist Associates, who represent musicians from our region.

They support artists in sharing their gifts with us all.

They've brought Alice McAllister Tillman, accompanied by the great Alvin Waddles.

It's going to be a very special experience.

Let's watch right here on "Detroit Performs: Live From Marygrove."

- [Narrator] Funding for "Detroit Performs" is provided by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, Gregory Haynes and Richard Sonenklar, the Kresge Foundation, the A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Foundation, the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(bright jazz music) - I'm excited to be sitting here with Amanda Stanger-Read, the executive director for Great Lakes Performing Artist Associates.

How are you, Amanda?

- Hi Satori.

- Welcome to "Detroit Performs."

- Thank you, it's great to be here.

- So Amanda, what is Great Lakes Performing Artist Associates?

- Great Lakes PAA is a nonprofit booking and management organization.

Right now we have a roster of 16 artists.

They are soloists, duos, trios, quartets, and we even have a nine-piece big band on our roster.

And they range through all the genres, so classical, jazz, folk, pop and rock, and world music.

- [Satori] And how does having a management booking agent support and elevate the artists?

- We're a little bit different than a standard booking agent.

Often a for-profit booking agent needs to focus on an artist that's already developed their message and their marketing and is already bringing in good ticket prices and filling theaters.

And because we're a nonprofit, what we do is work with artists earlier on in their career who haven't quite got that all together yet, and we help them get their marketing materials up to snuff.

We help them craft their message and think about what their goals are.

There's one other aspect to what we do at Great Lakes PAA, which is our Caravan Program, and that's an educational outreach program where we send our artists into schools throughout the region, schools that maybe don't have easy access to live performing arts.

So we're trying to really develop audiences in the region as well.

And that's one of the activities that is really important to me and to my board.

- Who are you delighting us with?

(chuckles) - Today we will see Alice McAllister Tillman.

She's a fabulous soprano and she is extremely versatile as well.

So she sings classical aria, which we'll hear one of today.

She can sing jazz standards.

She's gonna be singing a Duke Ellington piece, and spirituals, as well as Broadway.

She really can, she can do it all.

She is accompanied by Alvin Waddles, who's a fantastic pianist in his own right.

So they work fabulously together.

So it's a great combination.

- [Satori] Thank you so much for coming to "Detroit Performs: Live From Marygrove" and sharing about your organization.

And now we're going to the stage to see Alice and Alvin perform.

(soft jazz music) ♪ Heaven ♪ My dream ♪ Heaven ♪ Divine ♪ Heaven ♪ Supreme ♪ Heaven ♪ Come by ♪ Every sweet ♪ And pretty thing ♪ Life ♪ With love to bring ♪ Heavenly heaven ♪ To me ♪ Is just the ultimate degree ♪ To be ♪ Heaven ♪ My dream ♪ Heaven ♪ Divine ♪ Heaven ♪ Supreme ♪ Heaven ♪ Come by ♪ Every sweet ♪ And pretty thing ♪ Life ♪ With love to bring ♪ Heavenly heaven ♪ To me ♪ Is just the ultimate degree to be ♪ ♪ Every sweet ♪ And pretty thing ♪ Life ♪ With love to bring ♪ Heavenly heaven ♪ To me ♪ Is just the ultimate degree to be ♪ ♪ Heaven ♪ My dream ♪ Heaven ♪ Divine (gentle lonely music) (singing in foreign language) (moves to gentle sweet music) (soft pensive music) ♪ Let us break bread together ♪ On our knees ♪ Let us break bread together ♪ On our knees ♪ When I fall on my knees ♪ With my face to the rising sun ♪ ♪ Oh Lord ♪ Have mercy ♪ On me ♪ Let us drink wine together ♪ On our knees ♪ Let us drink wine together ♪ On our knees ♪ When I fall on my knees ♪ With my face to the rising sun ♪ ♪ Oh Lord ♪ Have mercy ♪ On me ♪ Let us praise God together ♪ On our knees ♪ Let us praise God together ♪ On our knees ♪ When I fall on my knees ♪ With my face to the rising sun ♪ ♪ O Lord ♪ Have mercy ♪ On me ♪ Amen ♪ Amen (bouncy jazz music) ♪ Here's a story ♪ 'Bout Minnie the Moocher ♪ She was the red-hot chick in town ♪ ♪ She was the roughest, toughest friend ♪ ♪ But Minnie had a heart ♪ As big as a whale ♪ Hi-de, hi-de, hi-de-ho ♪ Hi-de, hi-de, hi-de-ho ♪ Ho-de, ho-de, ho-de-hey ♪ Ho-de, ho-de, ho-de-hey ♪ Whoa ♪ Whoa ♪ Ba-doo, ba-doo, ba-day ♪ Ba-doo, ba-doo, ba-day ♪ She hung out with a bloke named Smoky ♪ ♪ Now she loved him ♪ Though he, he was cokey ♪ He took her down to Chinatown ♪ ♪ And showed her how to kick ♪ That dog around ♪ Hi-de, hi-de-ho ♪ Hi-de, hi-de-ho ♪ Ho-de, ho-de, ho-de-hey ♪ Ho-de, ho-de, ho-de-hey ♪ Whoa, aye ♪ Whoa aye ♪ Ba-doo, ba-doo, ba-day ♪ Ba-doo, ba-doo, ba-day ♪ Well then she met up ♪ With old Deacon Lowdown - You know that fellow.

- I do, I do.

- He said, "Now Minnie, you oughta slow down."

♪ Then she showed him her jelly roll ♪ ♪ Deacon Lowdown hollered out ♪ Lord, save my soul.

♪ Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-ho ♪ ♪ Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-ho ♪ ♪ Oh-di-oh, oh-di-oh, oh-di-oh-oh-oh ♪ ♪ Oh-di-oh, oh-di-oh, oh-di-oh-oh-oh ♪ (singers scatting) ♪ Doo-ba-doo-ba-day ♪ Ba-doo-ba-doo-ba-day - That was close.

- Right.

- Then they put Minnie ahead.

♪ Where they put the crazies ♪ Now poor Minnie ♪ She's just kicking up daisies ♪ ♪ That's her story ♪ And it ends my song ♪ She was a good gal ♪ But they turned her wrong ♪ Hi-de, hi-de-ho ♪ Hi-de, hi-de-ho ♪ Ho-de, ho-de, ho-de-hey ♪ Ho-de, ho-de, ho-de-hey ♪ Whoa ♪ Whoa ♪ Ba-doo-ba-doo-ba-Day ♪ Ba-doo-ba-doo-ba-Day ♪ Hi-de, hi-de-ho ♪ Hi-de, hi-de-ho ♪ Ho-de, ho-de-hey ♪ Ho-de, ho-de-hey (singers scatting) ♪ Ba-do, ba-do, ba-day ♪ Ba-do, ba-do, ba-day ♪ Poor Min ♪ Poor Min ♪ Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de ♪ Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hi-de ♪ Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hi-de ♪ Hi-de-hi-de ♪ Ho (Alvin coughs) ♪ Poor Min (Alice laughs) (audience cheers) - We are back from the stage, witnessing and experiencing that extraordinary performance by Alice McAllister Tillman, accompanied by Alvin Waddles.

How are you?

- Very well, thank you.

- Good, wonderful.

Thank you.

- And how did you and Alvin draw this partnership?

Because it's like, it's a great, great, great team.

- We've been together forever, actually.

We took piano lessons together from Gussy Dickey.

She was our piano teacher, wonderful, wonderful woman.

And Alvin really was a prodigy.

And I don't know why (laughs) Gussy would ask him to come to my lessons.

I was so intimidated by what he was able to do and what he's still able to do on the piano.

And it was not until after our time at the University of Michigan that we came together again.

And we've done some wonderful things and been together since that time.

- [Satori] You did a whole array of genres and styles.

So how did you master all of those styles with such feeling Alvin?

- Well, it's been a progression.

I started with the piano lessons as a classical pianist.

I kind of branched off when I finished high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy, and I was introduced to some more different styles there.

So it's been a progression.

It's been interesting to see how each style of music relates to one another.

I like going between styles because it keeps everything fresh when you return to it.

And you can bring what you've experienced on one side of one genre to another.

And they all inform each other.

- What did you perform?

- [Alice] Well, today we began our performance with "Heaven" by Duke Ellington from his Sacred Music Concert.

Then we moved on to "Vissi D'arte" by Puccini from the Opera "Tosca."

And I finished up with "Air" by John Carter from the "Cantata."

And then Alvin shared with us "Minnie the Moocher."

- [Satori] And you hi-de-hi-de-hoed with him.

- [Alice] And I hi-de-hi-de, right.

- [Alvin] She backed me up.

- [Satori] Yes, it was wonderful.

What made you choose these particular songs to present today?

- Well, "Heaven" is a piece that I performed with the Jazz Festival and David Berger, when he was in town, as a part of the Sacred Music Concert, and I just fell in love with it.

The "Vissi D'Arte," I was inspired to do that by Leontyne Price.

Leontyne Price sang "Tosca" in the '50s, and it was broadcast.

I believe it was NBC.

But many stations would not carry the broadcast because she was Black.

And the way she sings "Tosca" is so meaningful to me.

I'm so inspired by her every time I hear it.

And I love that piece so well.

Then "Air" is based on "Let Us Break Bread Together," and it's a part of a larger work by John Carter called "Cantata."

It gets into the meat of the spirituals, but all of the writing around it is just so magnificent.

- [Satori] Any last words?

- [Alvin] We don't get a chance to work together that frequently, but anytime we do, it's just like being at home.

We have a certain connection that makes it very easy and very, very fulfilling to do.

So I was very grateful for this opportunity when she called me.

- [Satori] So thank you so much for being with us.

- Oh, you're so welcome.

- Thank you.

It's been a pleasure.

- Yes, thank you.

- It was enjoyable.

And thank you for being with us at "Detroit Performs: Live From Marygrove," and we will see you next time.

- [Narrator] Funding for "Detroit Performs" is provided by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, Gregory Haynes and Richard Sonenklar, the Kresge Foundation, the A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Foundation, the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(bright jazz music) (soft flourishing music)