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Palmer Woods Music in Homes showcases the best of Detroit’s jazz, classical and world-music artists — musicians with international acclaim — in the ambiance of magnificent Palmer Woods mansions and cool homes.

Our series begins with a Pre-New Year's Holiday Concert with the Ursula Walker-Buddy Budson Quintet on Saturday, Dec. 29. When Aretha Franklin wants a spectacular vocalist for her private parties, she often calls Ursula and her husband, pianist Buddy Budson.

The series continues with seven more outstanding concerts. Our annual Mardi Gras party will be held on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, followed by a concert each month in a different stunning home.

As we enjoy spring-summer warmth, we move the concerts to tents set in the lush gardens of wonderful homes: dance to Orquesta La Inspiracion with our Latin feast in May, and jazzy classical and blues during two-day grand finale on June 21-22, 2013. You will have the opportunity to tour a portion of all the homes.

If you have more questions, please call Barbara or Spencer Barefield, 313-891-2514 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

 Sponsored by DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital

Saturday, May 25, 8 pm
Orquesta La Inspiracion

Founded by Puerto Rican-born congero Ozvaldo “Ozzie” Rivera and led by award-
winning music director/pianist Bill Meyer, La Inspiracion is a large ensemble honoring the traditions of merengue, cumbia and Afro-Caribbean jazz. Exciting, infectious rhythms explode from their intricate percussion ensemble. Mixed with soulful Latin vocals and horns, they weave a classic Afro-Carribean tapestry that makes dancing irresistible! A gourmet Latin feast served during intermission is prepared by our own Eva Garza Dewaelsche. This annual festive event is held in a tent set in the beautiful backyard gardens of a resplendent Palmer Woods home. Read more

Sponsored by Creative Arts Collective
Friday, June 21, 8 pm
Barefield Super String Quartet

This adventurous ensemble—featuring guitarist A. Spencer Barefield, violinist Jannina Barefield Norpoth, violist John Madison and bassist John-Paul Norpoth—straddles the boundaries of ­traditional and avant garde jazz, classical and other music idioms. The multi-talented string players will perform originals (mostly composed by 2010 Kresge Arts Fellow Barefield), as well as selections from composers such as Joe Henderson, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Oliver Nelson, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Claude Debussy, Astor­ Piazzolla, Joachin Rodrigo and Manuel de Falla. Jannina has soloed with the Detroit Symphony, and has been a featured performer alongside Itzhak Perlman, Emmanuelle Boisvert, Regina Carter, Marcus ­Belgrave, Beyoncé and Jay-Z. She tours with Sphinx Virtuosi, including recent performances at Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center, and is a member of PubliQuartet. John-Paul has performed under the batons of Itzhak Perlman, Kurt Mazur, Bright Sheng, Jaimie Laredo, Otto Werner Mueller and others in numerous New York-area orchestras. John is the principal violist for the Michigan Opera Theatre and regular Detroit Symphony sub. He has performed internationally with the Chamber Orchestra of France, Cassini Chamber Ensemble, Yani, and others. Read more.

GRAND FINALE Sponsored by City Living Detroit
Saturday, June 22, 8 pm
Thornetta Davis Ensemble

Michigan’s Queen of the Blues, Thornetta Davis, has a memorable and heart-thumping voice that has helped keep the local Blues, R&B and Soul scene alive for more than two decades. It’s also earned her a spot in the Detroit Music Awards Hall of Fame (she’s won more than 20 awards) and a recent spotlight at the Tigers vs. Yankees American League Championship series, where she sang “American the Beautiful” to a delighted, receptive audience. She has performed internationally as a leader, and graced the stage with the likes of Kid Rock, Bonnie Raitt, Alberta Adams and Katie Webster. She has also worked for TV and film on Xeena, the Warrior Princess, HBO’s Sopranos, and Osmosis Jones. She brings her top-notch band for an electrifying Grand Finale concert for Music in Homes: drummer Dave Marcaccio, percussionist James Anderson and others musicians TBA. Read more

Saturday, December 29, 8 pm

When the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin wants a spectacular vocalist for her private parties, she often calls Ursula Walker and her husband, pianist Buddy Budson.

Walker has been a mainstay of the Detroit music world for some 60 years, beginning as a child on Detroit TV and radio. Count Basie tried to entice her to join his Orchestra, but family kept her in Detroit, where she’s shared the stage with many top local and national acts. She’s soloed with the Detroit Symphony, and starred at the Detroit Jazz Festival and numerous events with Budson. A top jazz pianist for more than 50 years, Budson has performed with drummer Buddy Rich’s big band, guitarist Earl Klugh, Motown’s Four Tops, and many others.

Palmer Woods Music in Homes shares Aretha’s great “Respect” for the duo’s powerful talents. They will perform with an all-star ensemble: Marion Hayden on bass, Gayelynn McKinney on drums, and ­A. Spencer Barefield on guitar.

Join us for a rousing concert at a stately and fabulous home—in a ­majestic room designed for chamber music, surrounded by soaring carved wooden walls and ­facing a bay window stage backdropped with sparkling stained glass. Read more

Saturday, January 19, 8 pm
Bill Meyer’s Mardi Gras Celebration

Our Mardi Gras Celebration has become an annual tradition for Music in Homes. Experience an authentic evening of jazz culture, topped off with a creole-style feast during intermission—jambalaya, red beans, rice, corn bread and the spirit of New Orleans in Uptown Detroit! Bill Meyer and the Detroit New Orleans Band will have you swaying and tapping with Butter Hawkins on drums, Ibrahim Jones on bass, a touch of Louis Armstrong from special guest vocalist David Greene, and shades of Billie Holiday from DJ Holiday. Pianist Meyer has worked those keys with Smokey Robinson, Cab Calloway, Natalie Cole, Savion Glover, Marcus Belgrave, Charlie Gabriel, Amiri Baraka, the Last Poets and many others. He was music director for Motown’s Martha Reeves. Read more

Saturday, February 16, 8 pm
Black History Month Jazz Tribute 
Barefield-Adams-Young-Dobbins Quartet

Music of great African American composers, including Thelonius Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Joe Henderson, Jackie McLean,  and others will be performed by an ensemble of internationally recognized virtuosi. 2010 Kresge fellow, multi-award winning composer-guitarist A. Spencer Barefield joins forces with Stevie Wonder and James Carter alumnus, trumpeter Dwight Adams. A stellar rhythm section includes Oscar Peterson’s bassist, Canada’s Juno Award winner Dave Young; and Artistic Director of Jazz Ensembles for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Sean Dobbins on drums. Read more

Saturday, March 16, 8 pm
Berick-Martin Duo
Described by the Washington Post as “dazzling” and “performed ­rapturously and sensually,” Canadian born pianist Pauline Martin has ­garnered well deserved world-class recognition. Martin has performed as a soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and with numerous leading instrumentalists: the Lafayette String Quartet, violinists James Ehnes and Andrés Cárdenes, flutists Bonita Boyd and Amy Porter, cellists Robert deMaine and new DSO concertmaster Yoonshin Song. In high demand internationally since becoming a prizewinner at the 1993 Naumburg Violin Competition, Israeli born Yehonatan Berick enjoys a busy concert schedule as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and pedagogue throughout North America, Europe and Israel. In addition, he ­currently teaches at the University of Michigan. He has been featured in the world’s most important music centers from Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center to Musée du Louvre in Paris, and Milan’s Sala Verdi. The Berick-Martin Duo promises to be dynamic and definitely dazzling! Read more

Sponsored by Be Well Medical Center
Saturday, April 27, 8 pm
Shahida Nurullah’s Brazilian Journey

Internationally acclaimed songstress Shahida Nurullah will perform a special concert of Brazilian jazz, samba, bossa nova and more, including works by legendary composers Antônio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Marcos Valle and Paulo Sérgio Valle. This music stems from a 500-year-old culture, born of a combination of African, European, and Amerindian musical styles. Nurullah expertly expresses its sensuous, exciting and rhythmically diverse character. Italian born virtuoso, multi-instrumentalist Michéle Ramo will play his custom 8-string and 7-string fret-less acoustic guitars and mandolin. Ramo performs and records internationally, but now calls Detroit home. Ramo, Nurullah and bassist Marion Hayden have worked closely with jazz greats Marcus Belgrave, Roy Brooks, Harold McKinney and Kenn Cox. Hayden, an internationally renowned jazz star and University of Michigan Jazz faculty member, and hand drum, conga and percussion ­master Mahindi Masai, will enrich the Brazilian flair. Read more