Don Was unites The Pan-Detroit Ensemble on ‘Groove in the Face of Adversity’

Don Was, like many people from Detroit, wants to remind folks of the city’s well-deserved reputation as a place that builds things — be it cars, boxers, Motown or even techno.

Today, the Grammy-winning producer and bassist joins World Cafe to champion yet another thing the Motor City built: his new band. The Pan Detroit Ensemble is Dave McMurray, Luis Resto, Vincent Chandler, John Douglas, Jeff Canady, Mahindi Masai, Wayne Gerard and Steffanie Christi’an. Their debut album is called Groove in the Face of Adversity.

In today’s session, Was talks jazz, being in the room with guys like Willie Nelson and Paul Simon when the magic happened, and we find out the backstory on one of the most curious albums of the 1990s: Garth Brooks‘ turn with an alter ego on In the Life of Chris Gaines.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod.  Our digital producer is Miguel Perez. World Cafe‘s engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.