Music
Bess Bonnier
1928–2011 · jazz pianist, composer, educator
Detroit jazz pianist, blind from birth, who recorded for Argo in 1958, taught generations of Detroit students and played the 1981 Detroit Piano Summit with Flanagan, Harris and Hanna.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
aged 83- Detroit years
- 1928–2011
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Blind from birth, Bonnier took classical piano lessons as a child in Detroit, graduated from Southeastern High School and studied music and English at Wayne State University, returning later to earn a master's degree in English while raising three children on her own. She came up in the same generation as the city's great bebop pianists and remained their friend for life. Her debut album, Theme for the Tall One, came out on Chicago's Argo label in 1958, and in the 1960s she worked with vibraphonist Jack Brokensha. In 1981 she joined Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris and Roland Hanna for the Detroit Piano Summit, a concert of Detroit-born pianists in a New York church. She spent decades teaching jazz piano, serving as an artist in residence and music teacher in Detroit-area schools, and performed at the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit International Jazz Festival. Late works included Suite William (1999), a jazz cantata on texts by Shakespeare.
Highlights
- Debut album Theme for the Tall One (Argo, 1958)
- Played the 1981 Detroit Piano Summit with Flanagan, Harris and Hanna
- Longtime jazz piano teacher and artist in residence in Detroit schools
- Suite William (1999), a jazz cantata on Shakespeare texts
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1940s
Southeastern High School
East-side Detroit high school from which Bonnier graduated.
Studied here · late 1940s, 1960s
Wayne State University
Where she studied music and English and later earned a master's degree in English.
Performed here · 1970s–2000s
Detroit Institute of Arts (Friday Night Live!)
The city's art museum, one of the venues where Bonnier performed regularly.