Detroit's
Tribe is a musical and cultural collective that began as a collaborative effort between four musicians: reed player
Wendell Harrison, trombonist
Phil Ranelin, trumpeter
Marcus Belgrave, and pianist
Harold McKinney (patriarch of Detroit's first family of jazz). All were cultural activists, educators, and highly rated professional musicians. In the '60s- and '70s-era struggle for Black self-determination, they started their own label, published a magazine, tutored children, and connected the history of Detroit music, from the '50s jazz of
Yusef Lateef and
Barry Harris to Motown; the post-bop of
Geri Allen and
James Carter to techno (the latter is evidenced by its members participating in
Carl Craig's
Detroit Experiment and recording their
Rebirth album in 2009).