OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 51
BeepBeep.
”
“I practice guitar daily, play-
ing jazz standards, classical and
American fingerstyle,
” he says.
“I love digging for and sharing
records. I DJ these records any
chance I can. I try my best to
honor and build in the spirit of
Detroit music and specifically
Detroit Techno through all of
these musical endeavors.
”
There’s also a family con-
nection. His grandmother,
Elaine Silverstein, was born in
the Dexter-Linwood area and
attended Central High School.
Her father’s last name was
Madorsky and her mother’s last
name was Korash. There is still
a flower shop, Korash Florist,
on Gratiot Avenue that bears
the family name.
“The family also lived and
worked on the east side by
Belle Isle off Kercheval. I often
bike by the empty lot that the
family house was on,
” Raduns-
Silverstein says. “One side of the
family operated a schvitz hotel
in Mount Clemens at the sulfur
hot springs. Detroit Jews would
come for time to sweat, eat,
walk and repeat. They ultimate-
ly took the hospitality business
down to Florida.
”
Raduns-Silverstein had pre-
cious few memories of Detroit
before he moved here six years
ago after graduating from
Pomona College in LA and
moving to Miami where his
extended family lives. He just
recalls the “frigid winter air with
snow all over the place” when
he once attended a friend’s
bar mitzvah. But he has made
Detroit his home. It’s the music
and the people that keep him
here.
“Detroit is a gem of the
world, and that brilliance shines
through our music,
” he says.
“The immense range and depth
of music styles here is constant-
ly inspiring both as a musician
and a listener and dancer. And
in this city, this incredible cul-
ture is just what it is here. It’s
special and commonplace. It’s in
the mind, body and soul of the
people. It’s intergenerational and
fearless. The music speaks from
a sacred place of deep listening
and liberated dancing.
”
Jonah is a member of
Congregation T’
chiyah in
Ferndale and Detroit Jews for
Justice.
BUOYING THE BIRD
Back to The Blue Bird where
Jonah will be spending a great
deal of time over the next
few years. The Detroit Sound
Conservancy website says
African American migrant,
laborer, grocer, machine oper-
ator and entrepreneur William
Dubois and his wife, Pinkie
Dubois, first opened a bar and
restaurant that featured live
music there in 1937. In the
1950s, Thad Jones, Tommy
Flanagan, Barry Harris and
Elvin Jones are among those
who played at “the hippest
modern jazz nightspot in
Detroit.
”
Future plans are to return it
to a neighborhood hangout,
listening and learning space
with a music archive, café, bar,
the return of the original stage
and live music, a DJ booth and
outdoor seating. A live jazz and
community barbecue recently
took place on the sidewalk out-
side.
“It started out as a neigh-
borhood gathering place; we’re
hoping it will return to that
gathering place,
” Michelle Jahra
McKinney is quoted as say-
ing. She is the Detroit Sound
Conservancy’s director. “Our
children will learn new ways of
being in a community, connect
with Detroit artist mentors,
access archival collections and
hear great live music in our
neighborhood.
”
“[The renovation project] is
uplifting because it brings back
good memories,
” adds Blue Bird
Inn neighbor Ronald Cannon.
“The Blue Bird Inn belongs to
the neighborhood as well as the
entire city.
”
Funds for the ongoing con-
struction project are still being
raised. Amazon is among the
most recent contributors to the
project, along with the African
American Cultural Heritage
Action Fund from the National
Trust for Historic Preservation,
The Kresge Foundation,
General Motors and the
Detroit Regional Chamber’s
NeighborHub grant program,
Mellon Foundation and others.
“
Any dollar that goes to this
project gets us one step closer to
serving the neighborhood and
the community in a real tan-
gible way,
” Raduns-Silverstein
said.
When the next chapter of
The Blue Bird’s history is writ-
ten, a young Jewish musician
with a passion for preservation
and a love of Detroit’s music
and its people will be among
those noted for bringing The
Blue Bird back.
To support Detroit Sound Conservancy
and The Blue Bird Inn renovation
project, visit: detroitsound.org/give.
“THE BLUE BIRD IS ONE OF
THE MOST IMPORTANT MUSIC
VENUES IN THE CITY OF DETROIT,
WHICH IN OUR MIND, MAKES IT
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
MUSIC VENUES IN THE WORLD”
— JONAH RADUNS-SILVERSTEIN
Jonah Raduns-
Silverstein outside
The Blue Bird Inn