It would make sense that a home town show would be special for a band known as the Pan Detroit Ensemble.

And indeed it was on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Detroit’s Majestic Theatre — especially as it was celebrating the release of its first album.

The nine-member troupe is the brainchild of Don Was, the award-winning elite producer and Blue Note Records label president from Oak Park. It’s been together less than two years and played its first “proper” concert on just over 16 months ago at Orchestra Hall. During the interim the Ensemble has toured internationally in addition to preparing the new “Groove in the Face of Adversity,” which came out the day before the concert.

And as Saturday’s hour-and-40-minute show demonstrated, the nonet has grown into an electrifying ensemble, one capable of —

See Full Page