Grace Kelly is the 15 year-old jazz saxophonist, singer, composer/arranger who is taking the music world by storm. This past weekend she performed with her quartet at the Detroit International Jazz Festival and wowed a large audience--myself included--with her technical skill, passion, professionalism and creative compositions. I'd seen Grace and her mother, Irene Chang Kelly, in the VIP section during Regina Carter and Kenny Barron's amazing performance on Sunday, so it was easy to spot Irene with her husband--Grace's adoptive father--in the third row center during their daughter's set. I mean, doesn't he just look like someone whose name would be Robert Kelly? It was fun to photograph them reacting to their daughter's marvelous performance before a VERY appreciative crowd. And then today, it was even more fun to create this composite using my old friend, Photoshop.

Just to give you an idea of why they call Grace Kelly a prodigy, she has now recorded three CDs, the first in 2005 when she must have just turned 13! And this winter she performed an original composition with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops. That night she also shared the stage with the legendary Dianne Reeves. When she told us about this experience, she said, "I worked very hard for weeks arranging my song for strings and the entire Boston Pops orchestra, but it was lots of fun!"

Oh yes, keep your eyes and ears open to see and hear where this young woman goes in the music world. The cliche, "The sky's the limit," is what comes to mind. To read more about her, you can visit http://www.gracekellymusic.com/bio.html.

At any large gathering here in Detroit you are as apt to see men and women dressed in flowing African garb as in so-called American clothes. The pride in their African heritage runs deep. It is what makes this city unique.

When people outside of Detroit think of our city, they think of automobiles, Motown and crime. But Detroiters see things differently. When we think of our city we think of our jazz and electronic music histories as well as Motown, our dozens of free music festivals throughout the summer months, our city island park--Belle Isle--home to the Grand Prix and Gold Cup races, our beloved Detroit Tigers, Lions, Red Wings and Pistons. We think of our world-class Detroit Symphony, and the most significant Diego Rivera murals in the United States that have graced the walls of our Detroit Institute of Arts since 1931. We think of Hart Plaza with its Isamu Noguchi Pylon and Fountain, the site of festivals, fireworks, rallies, and every Labor Day weekend, of the Detroit International Jazz Festival at which this photo was taken. We think of racial, ethnic, cultural and religious diversity; Detroit is truly a world community. We think of a city where industry was king, now going back to its roots as farmland through the planting and tending of urban gardens by community groups across the city, gardens on sites where abandoned houses have been torn down. We think of young people coming from around the world to join in the revitalization of Detroit's neighborhoods, young people whose environmental consciousness has replaced their cars with bicycles.

Yes, we also have crime, homelessness, unemployment, a terrible divide between the rich and the poor, a struggling school system, scandals involving our government officials, and youth addicted to drugs and violence. We are a city that some suburbanites fear to enter. But in my 42 years of living in the Detroit area, all I have personally experienced in this city has been hospitality, love and help whenever I needed it. I call Detroit home and its people my sisters and brothers. Together we are making this city what we always knew it could be. Come visit--I bet we’d surprise you!