When music producer and Detroit native Don Was starts thinking too much of himself, he only has to remember his mom.

In 2000, he and composer Burt Bacharach served as co-music directors for the 72nd Academy Awards ceremony. It was a big deal featuring lots of A-list celebrities and Hollywood’s brightest stars. 

Because it was such a big deal he thought his parents would enjoy being there, so he flew them into Los Angeles and secured enviable fourth-row seats for them. Then, after the awards were handed out, they attended the traditional Governors Ball. It was a glittering night. Was asked his mom how she enjoyed it. 

“It was better on TV,” she said.

He laughed after he recounted that story in a telephone interview.

That is just one adventure in the storied life of Was, a music producer who has worked with the best. He’s also president of Blue Note Records, the American jazz label. 

As a producer and a musician in his own right, Was, whose real name is Don Edward Fagenson, has worked with some top acts. He’s produced records for the Rolling Stones, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, Poison, Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson to name only a few. As a producer, he’s won six Grammys and won Album of the Year for the work he did on Bonnie Raitt’s “Nick of Time.”

You can find out how accomplished he is when he plays with his band, the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at La Rosa Arts Center on Country Club Road. This is the Groove in the Face of Adversity Tour and is in support of the band’s new album of the same name.

Two years ago, Was gathered eight Detroit musicians and together produced a “soul jazz” sound. He knew right away he had found the right people.

“We got together just to have a rehearsal, and I could tell in the first 15 minutes it felt like we’d been playing together for at least a decade because we spoke the same musical language,” he said. “Normally a band has to cultivate that language but we just had it because everybody lives in Detroit. The chemistry was there from the first minute.”

How does that feel?

“It’s like putting the top down and driving 80 miles an hour,” he said.

During the show, the Ensemble will put their own spin on the Grateful Dead’s “Blues for Allah” album, which they will play in its entirety for its 50th anniversary. Was was great good friends with Bob Weir, a founding member of the Dead. They will play songs from “Face of Adversity” and “other things if we feel like it,” he said.

As a producer and as a musician, Was said no matter the genre of music it’s all about communication.

“It’s important to communicate,” he said. “Your goal is to get under people’s skin, make them feel something. Art is basically language that transcends conversational language. The limits of conversational language don’t really allow you to delve into the most important questions in life. Art does that in a poetic fashion. … Good art communicates; bad art is a one-way conversation.”

Although it seems like touring is a younger man’s game, at the age of 73, Was still like being up late and watching the world go by from the tour bus.

“One of my favorite things about touring is being the last person up on the bus and sitting at the little kitchen table looking out the window, watching the sun come up, seeing the country go by” he said. “It’s beautiful, calming, it’s like meditation.”

But back to the show.

Was and the Ensemble like to end the show with the old Curtis Mayfield song, “This Is My Country.”

“We started doing the song because I could see how I was feeling and I could see the faces of the people,” he said. “Everyone is stressed out over what’s going on and honestly, it doesn’t even depend on what side of the issues you’re on. … I just wanted to play this song at the end of our show and say, ‘You’re not alone. Don’t feel it’s only you who’s stressed out. Everyone’s going through this and let’s do something to make it better.’” 

Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble perform the Grateful Dead’s “Blues for Allah”
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5
WHERE: La Rosa Arts Center, 800 N. Country Club Road
COST: $45.19
INFO: Anyone 15 years old and younger must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, larosa.org/calendar.