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Jones was talking about those other kids that weren’t going to get scholarships, I’m thinking: ‘What does that have to do with me?’ ” recalled Willis, who, in his younger days, had convinced himself that he was going to play for the Detroit Tigers before suffering a heel injury that required surgery before he entered high school. or at least, float (more on that in a bit).

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Nonetheless, Willis’ interaction with Nicks still shaped him positively as he began to learn how to read music and dream - talents that would allow him to soar. James Baptist Church. Willis confessed that the opportunity to window shop at well-known men’s clothing stores like Serman’s and Louis The Hatter is what excited him most when he was allowed to come downtown by himself on the Oakland bus for piano lessons with Rev. Charles Hercules Nicks Jr., a founding member of the Gospel Music Workshop of America and a former pastor and organist at St. Jones did not know is that Willis had previously been mentored by another highly respected person in the community, the Rev. And you only have three years to do it.’ ”īut what Mr. Jones said: ‘Marvin, I have kids that have been playing ever since elementary school and they’re not going to get a scholarship. “He laughed at me,” Willis, a product of Detroit’s North End, who grew up on Delmar Street, said as he recalled his first face-to-face encounter with Northern’s respected band director and music teacher Donald Jones. However, when Willis showed up at the Northern band room for a beginner's class and expressed his own musical aspirations, which included going to college on a music scholarship, the response he received was far from encouraging. On the surface, it appeared to be a perfect time for Willis, who had just recently set his sights on being a trumpeter after taking piano lessons during his junior high school years. In fact, during that period, Detroit’s Motown Records was celebrated as the “Voice of Young America” due to the company’s smashing international success during the 1960s, which was largely driven by homegrown singers, instrumentalists, songwriters, producers, sound engineers and other creative geniuses. By the time Marvin Willis enrolled at Northern High School in 1969 as a 10th grader, Detroit was synonymous with young musical talent.