Two years ago, I attended a Donny concert at the 5th Avenue club downtown. A few months later, I attended another concert at the 5th Avenue club downtown. Matthias opened for Kindred The Family Soul. Both times I enjoyed myself thorougly, and I do not attend concerts very often. I had heard that both concerts were promoted by Urban Organic. I wondered who was the genius behind Urban Organic, and how did he/she/they get these incredible acts so consistently. Finally, I got the chance to meet the mastermind behind the Urban Organic concept. I attended the Amie Larrieux concert at the Charles H. Wright Museum. Oh, yes did I mention that this concert was a free concert. How does Urban Organic do it? Well, I found out, and here is the story.
Ms. Larrieux dazzling the audience at an Urban Organic concert.
The mastermind behind Urban Organic is Mr. Drake Phifer.
TW: How did you get started with this (Urban Organic)?
DP: With Urban Organic? You know. I really have to say. It started way back in the days of WJZZ as a kid, going around listening to Donald Byrd, listening to Gil Scott Heron, Bob James, Rosetta Hines, hearing all that good music back in the day, and really just being...The Electrifying Mojo, just the rich musical introduction I felt I had and many of us had as kids who grew up in the 70s, and I guess a larger musical buffet than we get today and all that stuff that I felt was relevant then is still relevant now. It's just that it's not the main fare of the day, and I just wanted to create
a platform for that kind of stuff to be exposed, the kind of artists that made me feel the way that I felt then, and I was a kid and I knew it was good. I knew it was pure, and even if it was some cursing in it, but I knew it was funky. I knew it was something that was coming from a higher place than a lot of the stuff that you hear nowadays that's just derelict. Man, I just wanted to give haven to that and that's where it really started. So as a company, well as a concept it started while I was living in Atlanta, and I was alongside the founder of The Funk Jazz Caf a guy named Jason Orr, and he started The Funk Jazz Caf in 1994 I think, and I was in Atlanta going to Morehouse. And I knew that if I came back home to Detroit, the only way that I was going to be able to stay here is to really tap into the music community. Because when I came home, it just wasn't really feeling like the way I needed it to feel and that's why I started Urban Organic and that was really the genesis of it.
TW: Who were some of the first acts that you tapped into?
DP: Some of the first acts that I tapped into were...Well the very first show that we did. Well, I can go back to before Urban Organic, some of the first acts that I tapped into when I first got back home, a group called Jade Blue Jays a group like Gil Scott Heron-types, you know. Then the legendary Harold McKinney, who was the jazz dean, the vanguard, the father of Detroit. So I booked him, and then he educated the crowd. And the people were just like, 'Wow!' They were just amazed by his musical knowledge. I knew who he was, but I just didn't know, and his wife and his daughters, and those were the people I brought in initially. And then, my first Urban Organic show I brought in a guy named Paul Hill. I don't know if you're familiar with Paul Hill, but four almost five years ago Paul Hill kind of had a buzz behind his name. Everybody was checking for him, so we did a show with Paul. We also did a show with Black Big Arnold(?) Jessica Care Moore. We had a couple of different jazz trios, and it was cool. And it was a multimedia venue that I hadn't seen here before, and it created the kind of vibe that made me feel encouraged about what I was seeing here in Detroit, and I just wanted to continue that and help it to grow.
TW: What were some of the challenges that you had to overcome in putting together Urban Organic?
DP: The challenges that I've had to overcome were numerous. You know it's a number of them. Artists will always be artists. Not every artist is the same. They all come with their own peculiarities and idiosycracies, but some are more difficult than others. Managers, artists who think that they're worth more than they are. I mean. They may be great artists, but their market value might not be enough for them to warrant what they're asking for. I mean financing these ventures is always a challenge because you don't always know. These aren't always artists who have millions of album sales. So you don't have a measure to go by. You just have to go by what I'm thinking that my peers feeling about a particular artist, and you don't always get it right. You know, so the challenge is always trying to find that balance between what's good on record and what's entertaining live and just be true to that.
TW: Who are some of your favorite artists that you've had a chance to feature?
DP: Some of my favorite artists that I've had a chance to feature...Allison Crockett, an amazing pianist and vocalist, Swai who is from here. She just recently signed with Motown. She plays the guitar as well as the piano. Obviously, Kem is one of my favorites. Neela James is incredible, Kindred, Fertile Ground. I really like those artists, and I think that they really bring something unique to the table, and I could go on and on. But if I had to really to just name the ones that I really enjoy the most, those would be the ones that I would mention.
TW: What are some of the future plans that you've got?
DP: Well the thing that I would really like to do. You know, and I've perservered for a number of years to try and make certain that this continues because I really don't see anyone else doing it. And what I really would like to do is, you know how you see Ford and Comerica
sponsoring this today...I would like to see more of that. I'm getting a lot of calls, and I'm getting more calls from advertising agencies and different entities that are trying to do things with us, but everyone wants to do stuff for free. But there's obviously an untapped market that I'm trying to get these advertising agencies to understand that is existing. I would like to see more advertising, music licensing, more concert tour opportunities. I would like to get the backing of a major recording labels, different sponsorship...
TW: This has been Terrill Wyche for OpenAir. Thanks.
Drake Phifer, the mastermind of Urban Organic.
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