The Spirit of Motown
In the early ’60s, Detroit was Motown U.S.A. and the automobile capital of the world. In 1959, Motown records founder, Berry Gordy, gathered the best musicians from Detroit’s thriving jazz and blues scene to form his studio band, the Funk Brothers. Together, they played on Motown hits such as “My Girl,” “I Heard It rough the Grapevine,” “Just My Imagination,” “Baby Love,” “ e Tears of a Clown” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” e sound they created bridged racial divides and produced more number one hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and e Beatles combined. is program allows the audience to experience the sounds of Motown and discover the story behind the legend. is presentation was made possible by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council.
José Sandoval is a performing musician and music educator. He started studying the violin at age two with Betty Haag’s Suzuki Academy. At age four, he began studying classical piano with Radcli ffe graduate Carol Stein. In high school, Sandoval began his jazz piano training and continued to study jazz and classical piano with professors from Harvard University, Berklee School of Music, New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music of Bard College. Sandoval graduated cum laude with a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University in 2002. Currently, Sandoval is an Illinois Humanities Council Road Scholar Speaker, teaches private piano lessons and is a science instructor for the Center for Gi ed in Glenview, IL. He performs regularly with many di erent bands in Chicago. is winter, he will complete an M.A. in teaching secondary science education from National Louis University.
