[Dixielandjazz] Unlikely Bed Fellows?

[Stephen G Barbone]

Now here's an interesting combination. Kid Rock, the new savior of the  
Detroit Symphony orchestra. And here some of us are, still bitching  
about non-OKOM music at Dixieland Festivals. Hmmm

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

Kid Rock to Team Up With Detroit Symphony

Kid Rock has agreed to do a benefit concert with the Detroit Symphony  
Orchestra to help raise money for that cash-strapped symphony, which  
is still trying to recover from a debilitating strike a year ago.

Kid Rock, a native of Detroit, and the symphony have announced that  
they will appear together on May 12 at the Fox Theater in hopes of  
raising at least $1 million, the Free Press reported.

Leonard Slatkin, the orchestra’s music director, will conduct.  
Arrangements of Kid Rock’s material have been commissioned from Rob  
Mathes, who has done symphonic orchestrations for artists like Sting  
and Mary J Blige. Known for his fusion of rap lyrics and hard-rock  
riffs, Kid Rock acknowledged the tickets for the benefit – which range  
in price from $100 to $350 — are more than his fans are used to  
paying. “I am confident that whatever happens when we put the Twisted  
Brown Trucker Band, an 80-piece orchestra and ‘Bawitdaba’ together  
will be well worth the price of admission,” he said, referring to his  
backup band and his hit song from 1999.