Russ Macklem’s first album, The South Detroit Connection, was nominated for a JUNO-award, and was the first live album recorded in Windsor (Detroit’s sister city in Canada, directly across the Detroit River) in over 22 years (at Phog Lounge), the last having been recorded by Detroit trumpet legend, Marcus Belgrave at the Capitol Theatre. The album featured Belgrave’s son, Kasan Belgrave. A versatile trumpeter, Macklem has performed with Amp Fiddler, Dave Holland, The Marley Bros (Bob Marley’s sons), Cecil McBee, Frankie Valli, Dave Liebman, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, and many others. Macklem holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Miami Frost School of Music.