OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 49

F

or those who aren’t in 
the know, it would be 
easy to drive past The 
Blue Bird Inn on Tireman on 
Detroit’s west side without 
giving it a second glance. The 
building, with an old beer 
and wine store on the left and 
a towing shop on the right, 
has boarded up windows and 
bars on the door. The sky-
blue façade contains hints of 
the structure’s musical past, 

but you’
d have to look closely 
to notice the hand-painted 
musical notes and silhouettes 
of musicians that sit frozen in 
time. These days, the rhythmic 
flow of city traffic is the only 
“music” around.
“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 ven-
ues in the world,
” says Jonah 

Raduns-Silverstein, a 31-year-
old Detroit transplant by way 
of New York City, Los Angeles 
and Miami. He is the direc-
tor of operations for Detroit 
Sound Conservancy, a non-
profit community-based music 
archive that advocates for and 
preserves Detroit music history. 
The Blue Bird Inn is its flagship 
project.
“From the 1940s to the 
1970s, it was a very import-

ant place for jazz, specifically 
bebop jazz. The Blue Bird 
is considered to be one of 
the birthplaces of bebop,
” he 
explains. “But, more impor-
tantly than the music history, is 
the community history. When 
you talk to folks who have lived 
in the neighborhood, this was 
a place of magic. You’
d walk in 
and there was a fire that was 
burning in terms of music and 
in terms of community.
”

Musician Jonah Raduns-Silverstein leads effort 
to restore historic Detroit jazz club.

continued on page 50

ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Bringing Back 
Blue Bird

the

The facade of 
The Blue Bird Inn

