Don Was Launches New Band Don Was & The Pan-Detroit Ensemble With 1st Batch Of Tour Dates

Renowned producer, musician and Detroit native Don Was put together a new group, Don Was and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble. The band also confirmed a slate of 2024 tour dates set for May.

As the name suggests, The Pan-Detroit Ensemble boasts a cast of ace Motown musicians.

“When the opportunity came to put together a new band, the message was clear to me,” Was stated, “go back to Detroit where I came from, be who I am, play like who I am and team up with some like-minded individuals.”

As President of esteemed jazz label Blue Note Records, Was tapped Blue Note artist and saxophonist Dave McMurray as well as Oscar-winning keyboardist Luis Resto (Eminem) for the ensemble. The group also features trombonist Vincent Chandler, trumpeter John Douglas, drummer Jeff Canaday, percussionist Mahindi Masai, guitarist Wayne Gerard and vocalist Steffanie Christi’an.

Was further detailed The Pan-Detroit Ensemble:

“I’ve been chasing a sound in my head for the last 30 years. It’s jazzy and improvisational, but also glued together with a sinewy R&B groove. It’s not slick or smooth — it’s a very raw, honest, Detroit kind of thing. The experiences I’ve had touring with Bobby Weir over the last six years, along with what I’ve learned from the artists on the Blue Note roster have pointed the way towards realizing that sound; The Pan Detroit Ensemble finally manifests that ‘thing’ I’ve been pursuing. The intention is to make communicative music that gets under the listener’s skin and brings them some joy, comfort and understanding in deeply troubled times. It’s all connected.”

Check out Don Was and The Pan-Detorit Ensemble performing at Detroit’s Rust Belt Studios below:

“This tour is just the start,” Was added on the future of the band. “I know we’ve got some special chemistry going on in this band, and I can’t wait to see what it evolves into. The plan is to keep learning and growing until we drop… It’s too late to turn back now!”

Don Was and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble launch their tour on May 21 at the Dakota in Minneapolis. Following an engagement in Evanston, Illinois, the band returns to Detroit for a hometown show at Orchestra Hall on May 24.

A concert in Cincinnati then precedes an appearance at DelFest in Cumberland, Maryland. Next, the band comes to The Vogel at Count Basie Center in Red Bank, New Jersey ahead of a play in Washington D.C. on May 30.

The tour will wrap at City Winery in New York City on May 31 before Don Was and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble head to the Philadelphia area for a previously announced appearance at Ardmore Music Hall for Unlimited Devotion: A Celebration of the Grateful Dead on June 2.

Check out Don Was and The Pan-Detroit Ensemble’s tour routing with ticket info below: