Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble: Tiny Desk Concert
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Felix Contreras | May 15, 2026
Is it possible to be ubiquitous and behind-the-scenes at the same time? That pretty much sums up Don Was and his long career in the music business.
After co-leading the funky pop-rock band Was (Not Was) in the 1980s, Was went on to win an armful of Grammy awards as a producer. He's worked with Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Ringo Starr and Bob Weir, to name just a few. Since 2012, he has been president of the legendary Blue Note Records.
Was is also a son of Detroit. In recent years, he put together a band under his own name for the first time: Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble. We are on a mission to promulgate the indigenous sounds of our hometown of Detroit, Michigan, he explains.
This is a tight and powerful group, with an emphasis on the groove, but all eyes and ears are on lead vocalist Steffanie Christi'an. In this Tiny Desk performance, she breathes a very different kind of fire into the Grateful Dead classic The Music Never Stopped and smolders on re-working of Hank Williams' I Ain't Got Nothing But Time. The entire set is a perfect example of how, as the Dead used to say, the music plays the band.
SET LIST
The Music Never Stopped
You Asked, I Came
Midnight Marauders
I Ain't Got Nothin' But Time
Insane
MUSICIANS
Don Was: bass
Steffanie Christi'an: vocals
Wayne Gerard Milton: guitar
Luis Resto: keys
Dave McMurray: tenor sax
Vincent Chandler: trombone
John Douglas: trumpet
Jeff Canady: drums
Mahindi Masai: percussion
Herschel Boone: background vocals
Terena Boone: background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Felix Contreras
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Director/Mix: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Alanté Serene
Audio Engineer: Hannah Gluvna
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Vanessa Castillo
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton
#donwas #nprmusic #tinydesk
Support for NPR Music comes from Capital One. Proud supporters of NPR Music and the Tiny Desk Contest. What's in your wallet? Learn more at Capital One dot com.
Is it possible to be ubiquitous and behind-the-scenes at the same time? That pretty much sums up Don Was and his long career in the music business.
After co-leading the funky pop-rock band Was (Not Was) in the 1980s, Was went on to win an armful of Grammy awards as a producer. He's worked with Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Ringo Starr and Bob Weir, to name just a few. Since 2012, he has been president of the legendary Blue Note Records.
Was is also a son of Detroit. In recent years, he put together a band under his own name for the first time: Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble. We are on a mission to promulgate the indigenous sounds of our hometown of Detroit, Michigan, he explains.
This is a tight and powerful group, with an emphasis on the groove, but all eyes and ears are on lead vocalist Steffanie Christi'an. In this Tiny Desk performance, she breathes a very different kind of fire into the Grateful Dead classic The Music Never Stopped and smolders on re-working of Hank Williams' I Ain't Got Nothing But Time. The entire set is a perfect example of how, as the Dead used to say, the music plays the band.
SET LIST
The Music Never Stopped
You Asked, I Came
Midnight Marauders
I Ain't Got Nothin' But Time
Insane
MUSICIANS
Don Was: bass
Steffanie Christi'an: vocals
Wayne Gerard Milton: guitar
Luis Resto: keys
Dave McMurray: tenor sax
Vincent Chandler: trombone
John Douglas: trumpet
Jeff Canady: drums
Mahindi Masai: percussion
Herschel Boone: background vocals
Terena Boone: background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Felix Contreras
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Director/Mix: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Alanté Serene
Audio Engineer: Hannah Gluvna
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Vanessa Castillo
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton
#donwas #nprmusic #tinydesk
Support for NPR Music comes from Capital One. Proud supporters of NPR Music and the Tiny Desk Contest. What's in your wallet? Learn more at Capital One dot com.