First annual Black Bottom Jazz Showcase aims to take audiences to ‘a simpler time’

In honor of Black History Month, the first annual Black Bottom Jazz Showcase will take place on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023.

This one-night-only concert will feature well-known local artists paying tribute to some of the best jazz musicians from the 1940s, when Black Bottom was thriving.

The concert will feature three acts: the Anita O’Day Tribute at 5 p.m., Take 5 at 6 p.m. and the Satin Doll Revue at 8 p.m. All performances will take place in the Bert’s Warehouse Theatre in Detroit.

Each act will embody the spirit of that time with current artists doing their own rendition of greats like Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole, to name a few.

Sky Covington is the founder and CEO of The Preservation of Jazz and Unlimited Sky Production, who will be putting on the showcase. She’ll also be performing as part of the Satin Doll Revue. Covington joined CultureShift to discuss Detroit’s rich jazz legacy and the importance of sharing it today.

“It’s more of an educational [experience], to inspire and to relieve people with some of the pain that we’ve been going through with all the stuff in the world. I want to just go back to a simpler time.” — Sky Covington, singer and producer