Concert of Colors: Big Palladium 3 Orchestra

In the 1950s, America was falling in love with the electrifying sounds of mambo, and the best place to hear it was the Palladium Ballroom in New York. Sold-out crowds came to see now-legendary music battles between the giants of the genre: Machito, Tito Rodriguez, and Tito Puente, otherwise known as the "Big 3." This spectacular era of American music history is recreated by The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra, led by the sons of the masters: Mario Grillo (aka Machito Jr.), Tito Rodriguez Jr., and Tito Puente Jr.

The modern-day Big 3 each take their turn as bandleader, performing their fathers’ original arrangements and continuing the tradition of good-natured musical competition, making for an unmissable live show.

Concert of Colors is metro Detroit’s free annual global music festival, an upbeat event celebrating diverse World music traditions-including the indigenous music of the Motor City. The festival also hosts the Forum on Community, Culture and Race, a series of conversations with artists, cultural, and community leaders examining the role of the arts in overcoming social barriers.

For a complete schedule of Concert of Colors programs at the Detroit Institute of Arts and neighboring institutions, visit the festival website at concertofcolors.com

Concert of Colors is produced through the partnership of Culture Source, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, ACCESS,  University of Michigan – Detroit Center, Michigan Science Center, Detroit Historical Museum, College For Creative Studies, Hellenic Museum of Michigan, Third Man Records, Lowriders of Detroit, Science Gallery Detroit, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Midtown Inc., University of Michigan Dearborn, University of Michigan – Detroit, Arab American National Museum, WDET, The Scarab Club, International Institute of Metro Detroit, and Marx Layne & Company.