33rd Annual Detroit Jazz Festival "Imported from Detroit" Kicks Off Aug. 31
World's largest free jazz festival ready to wow jazz enthusiasts
Music
lovers will gather this weekend in downtown Detroit for the 33rd annual
Detroit Jazz Festival, presented by the Chrysler brand.
Festival
attendees will see a lineup of world-renowned musicians playing
throughout the weekend, including headliners Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny,
Wynton Marsalis, Chick Corea and Gary Burton. Performances kick off at 7
p.m. on Aug. 31 with Artist in Residence Terence Blanchard taking the
stage, followed by the legendary Sonny Rollins.
"We
have an amazing collection of musicians performing this year and there
will be a lot of energy downtown over the weekend. We want to bring some
of the greatest jazz music out there to the festival, and I think we've
accomplished that," said Gretchen Valade, chair of the Detroit Jazz
Festival Foundation board of directors. "This year really is the
culmination of our mission to bring world-class jazz to the heart of
Detroit and keep it free for the public."
Three
stages will be set up in Hart Plaza, and one in Campus Martius,
showcasing a variety of artists to watch at any given time. Performances
start as early as noon and end at approximately 10:45 p.m. Aug. 31
through Sept. 3. But the beat doesn't stop when the stages close for the
night; Friday through Sunday jam sessions will begin at 10:30 p.m. in
the Volt Bar & Lounge in the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance
Center, the Festival's official hotel.
In
addition to headliners, this year's Festival represents a homecoming
for some accomplished names in jazz including former Detroiters Charlie
Gabriel of the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band, saxophonist
Charles McPherson who started his career with Charles Mingus and
trombonist Curtis Fuller known for his work with Art Blakey's Jazz
Messengers. Also, current local musicians will be prominently featured,
including bassists Rodney Whitaker and Marion Hayden, and world-renown
trumpeter Marcus Belgrave.
In
addition to its annual music festival, the Detroit Jazz Festival works
to educate students on the music industry year round by creating
concerts, jazz workshops and more designed to help foster the legacy of
jazz in Detroit. For example, the Festival continued its partnership
with Wayne State University for the J.C. Heard Jazz Week at Wayne
program at the end of July. Students that excelled during the week-long
program will be among the youth musicians performing over the weekend.
In addition, the Festival hosts various free concerts throughout the
year as part of the Detroit Jazz Festival Community Series supported by
PNC Foundation.
"With
Detroit's roots in jazz, we're really investing in our community by
helping young, talented musicians open their eyes to the jazz culture,"
said Chris Collins, artist director for the Detroit Jazz Festival. "We
have some outstanding youth joining us in concert this year - not only
in the J.C. Heard All-Star Youth Ensemble. The high school bands that
will be attending are also phenomenal."
This
year, in addition to seeking out top industry performers and
enthusiastic young musicians, the Festival launched annual competitions
aimed at finding undiscovered artists. Submissions from all over the
country were sent in for the national saxophone and arranging
competitions. The sax competition resulted in a first place tie after
judging by a panel of musicians that included saxophonist Terence
Blanchard and Festival artistic director, Chris Collins. Winners Danny
Janklow from Los Angeles and Geoff Vidal from Brooklyn, N.Y., received
cash prizes and will perform at the Festival. The winner of the
arranging competition will be chosen this Wednesday and announced at the
Festival.
The
Detroit Jazz Festival is the world's largest free jazz festival and for
33 years people from all over the world have been venturing to Detroit
to see some of the industry's top musicians perform. The Festival
enriches the city center by annually bringing in tens of millions of
dollars, boosting the local economy. With the help of the DTE Energy
Foundation, the Festival is also making a positive impact by continuing
its efforts to promote a green atmosphere through recycling, reducing
paper waste and more to minimize its carbon footprint.
This
year's Festival has been enhanced due to our new presenting sponsor,
the Chrysler brand. In addition to sponsoring, the Chrysler brand will
be holding a ride-and-drive throughout the festival to provide attendees
the opportunity to test drive the 2012 product lineup. Hosting
ride-and-drives and competitions, educating the public and the helping
to provide the resources needed to put on a festival of this magnitude
would not be possible without the Festival's many sponsors, including
the Chrysler brand, JPMorgan Chase, Carhartt, Mack Avenue Records and
DTE Energy Foundation.
For more information, the full list of performers and performance times, visit
About the Detroit Jazz Festival
The
Detroit Jazz Festival is an independent, non-profit organization that
presents jazz and educational workshops throughout the year. Recently
voted number two in North America in a JazzTimes reader's poll, the
Detroit Jazz Festival is the largest free jazz festival in the world and
a major tourist attraction for the City of Detroit, with 23 percent of
its audience coming from out of state.
The
festival receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the
Erb Family Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
and the Kresge Foundation. Major corporate partners include Chrysler, JP
Morgan Chase & Co., Carhartt and Mack Avenue Records. Additional
partners include Absopure Water Company, Art Van Furniture, Amtech
International, Dominos, Great Lakes Beverage, Charity Motors, Cliff
Bells, Comcast, Compuware, Detroit Marriott, Dickinson Wright, Dirty Dog
Jazz Cafe, Fathead, Great Lakes Fireworks, Greektown Casino-Hotel,
McDonalds, Meridian Health Plan, MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino
Hotel, Panasonic, Pepsi Beverages Company, Plante Moran, PNC Foundation,
Quicken Loans, St. John Providence Health System, Wakefield, Sutherland
and Lubera, P.L.C., and DownBeat, Hour Detroit,
JazzTimes, MetroTimes and Fox 2. The festival's Greening Program, now
entering Phase IV, is supported by a generous grant from the DTE Energy
Foundation. For more information visit www.detroitjazzfest.com.
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