My City July 2022

BY MARK SPEZIA ® PHOTOS PROVIDED BY MARK BRAUN AND GREAT LAKES PERFORMING ARTIST ASSOCIATES The Music of Mark • Braun

E veryone in attendance was responding in their own way to the rollicking music •lling Downtown Flint’s Totem Books being performed by a gift ed quartet fronted by area native and renowned boo gie-woogie-style pianist, Mark Braun. Among those standing, a tall, lanky man with long gray hair wearing his cap backward shu–ed through some dance moves while grasping a bottled beverage. Another man, also with a beverage in hand, moved to the music while pointing to the band. Others on their feet recorded the sounds on cell phones while nodding with enthusiasm. Most seated audience members joyfully moved their heads and feet to the beats as Braun, fellow pianist Luca Filastro, drummer Phil Siers and organist Carnez Wright ripped through one of their high-energy, blues and jazz-infused instrumentals. ‹e April 24 performance was part of an annual series of shows entitled “Blues & Piano Boogie Cele bration” organized by Braun at quaint venues in Metro Detroit in addition to Totem Books.‹e event is cele brating its 25th anniversary this year and culminated in a signature show at ‹e Ark in Ann Arbor. While Braun has spent more than four decades per forming around the world, sharing stages and recording studios with Grammy-nominated blues and jazz greats

and releasing albums, intimate gigs like the one in his hometown are what really keeps the 65-year-old, Na tional Boogie Woogie Piano Hall of Famer going. “Nearly my whole life has been about music and I’ve discovered over the years that performing for people in small-scale settings, not arenas or stadiums, is where it’s at for me,” says Braun, also known in entertainment circles as “Mr. B.” “Being close to the audience softens that barrier between you and them. You can really feed o‚ their energy which is exactly what happened at Totem Books. Everyone there gave us a fantastic reception.” Another thing that enriches Braun’s musical soul is the purity and simplicity of performing outdoors for tips as crowds gather, something he does regularly through out warmer months at the corner of Detroit and Cather ine Streets across from Detroit Street Filling Station in Ann Arbor, his home base for the past 45 years. ‹is year’s outdoor gigs began April 30 as he performed seated at his 385-pound, hand-decorated Baldwin Acrosonic piano sitting on his custom-made Joybox Express piano bike. ‹e unique contraption has three tires and can seat three cyclists – one in the front, two in the rear – as they pedal the piano to its next show.‹e front rider can also power the bike solo, which Braun has frequently done. 

Tartila / stock.adobe.com

49