Lars Bjorn

Lars Bjorn is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and the author of (with Jim Gallert) Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60 (University of Michigan Press, 2001). He is also the Editor of the SEMJA Update, the monthly newsletter of the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association.

J.C. Heard: Percussion Master

Lars Bjorn January 31, 2022

J.C. Heard (1918 – 1988) left a large legacy to the jazz world. He’s on many important records, he played in amazing bands, he spread

Joe St. John: A Tale in Two Jazz Cities

Lars Bjorn April 30, 2021

Saxophonist, Joseph Robert St. John had a thirty-year career in Manhattan and Detroit. His New York band battled the great Chick Webb Orchestra and shared a