Celebrating the “Flame Keepers – Carrying the Torch for Modern Jazz”
in Detroit, September 3-6
© 2010, Andrea Canter
– Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes
The 31st annual Detroit International Jazz Festival continues its tradition of nonstop performances by a long list of modern legends, veteran masters, and virtuosic rising stars in 2010. To be held over the Labor Day Weekend, September 3-6 along the downtown riverfront, this year’s festival celebrates the alumni of the greatest schools of jazz—the bands of Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Betty Carter, Ray Brown, Miles Davis and Gil Evans. Notes festival Executive and Artistic Director Terri Pontremoli, “The talents of these geniuses burned brightly not only through the movements they created, but also through their investment in and ‘schooling’ of young players – now seasoned and carrying the torch for their mentors.”
2010 Artist in Residence, Mulgrew Miller
(Photo © Andrea Canter)
From Artist-in-Residence Mulgrew Miller and fellow Blakey grads Bobby Watson, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Randy Brecker, and Benny Green, to Gil Evans’ protégé Maria Schneider and Ray Brown “student” Christian McBride, the best of the international jazz scene will again come together at North America’s largest jazz festival. Other headliners include Roy Haynes, Kenny Barron, Tierney Sutton, Kurt Elling, Manhattan Transfer, Danilo Perezm the Hot Club of Detroit, Tia Fuller, Trio M, Mike LaDonne, Louis Hayes, Barry Harris, Melvin Sparks, Donald Harrison, Eddie Henderson, Allen Toussaint and more. And in keeping with Detroit tradition, student musicians will get plenty of stage time, including ensembles from the Brubeck Institute, Juilliard, Berklee, William Paterson and Detroit-area programs at Wayne State and Michigan State Universities.
Beyond the performances on six stages, the Detroit festival includes “KidBop,” an activity area with stories, songs, tap dancing and other fun for children and families, and the Pepsi Jazz Talk Tent, where sessions will range from remembering Art Blakey to discussing the genius of Betty Carter, Gil Evans and the unique voice of Art Pepper.
The Detroit International Jazz Festival culminates in four days of live music over Labor Day Weekend, but there’s a lot of activity all year long. For its 30th anniversary in 2009, the festival initiated a year-long series, “Another Great Day in Detroit.” Through collaborations with the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Wayne State University, Detroit Institute of Arts, the Guardian Building, The Arts League of Michigan, the Rowland Café, and area jazz clubs, the series has continued through 2010, showcasing Detroit musicians and building momentum toward the festival itself.
Bobby Watson reassembles Horizon for the 2010 Detroit festival. (Photo © Andrea Canter)
Founded in 1980 by Robert McCabe and the Detroit Renaissance, the DIJF became a Labor Day Weekend tradition on Hart Plaza along the Detroit River. For 11 years, the festival partnered with the famed Montreaux Festival in Switzerland, merging with the Detroit Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts from 1991-2005. On the brink of extinction, the festival was given new life through the generous endowment of Gretchen Carhartt Valade, Chair of Mack Avenue Records, and support from the Knight Foundation, enabling physical expansion and a level of talent that brought the festival to its current status as the one of the world’s largest annual jazz events, hosting about 750,000 jazz fans each year. In 2010, the festival’s major funding sources include the National Endowment for the Arts, the Erb Foundation and the Kresge Foundation. Major corporate sponsors include Chase, Carhartt, Absopure, Mack Avenue Records, DTE Energy, Meijer, Budweiser, Pepsi, Comcast and Fox 2. Individual support is also a key component, as fans are encouraged to become “Rhythm Section” members. This year, philanthropist Gretchen Valade will match all 2010 festival donations by 50% to help sustain the festival as a free event. “We are extremely grateful to have the support of these institutions and individuals,” said Pontremoli. “They are our life blood.”
Partial Schedule of Artists for 2010
Friday, September 3
- Mulgrew Miller Trio and Take 6
- Tower of Power
Saturday, September 4
- Danilo Perez Quartet
- Hot Club of Detroit
- Hot Pepper” with Barry Harris & Gary Smulyan
- Kirk Whalum: Tribute to Donny Hathaway
- Terence Blanchard Quintet
- The Fabulous Thunderbirds
- Tia Fuller Quartet
- Mulgrew Miller and Wingspan
- Yellowjackets
- Mike LaDonne Quartet
- Michigan State University Jazz Band with Mulgrew Miller & Gary Smulyan.
Sunday, September 5
- Freddy Cole
- Kenny Barron and Mulgrew Miller
- Maria Schneider Orchestra
- Tierney Sutton
- Tribute to Ray Brown with Christian McBride, Greg Hutchinson and Benny Green
- Trio M (Myra Melford, Mark Dresser, Matt Wilson)
- Wayne State University Big Band with Terence Blanchard
- Western Michigan University Jazz Orchestra with Bobby Watson
Monday, September 6
- Allen Toussaint
- Branford Marsalis
- Tribute to Horace Silver with the Michael Weiss Quintet featuring Randy Brecker
- Bobby Watson and Horizon
- Kurt Elling Quintet with Ernie Watts
- Manhattan Transfer with the Detroit Jazz Festival Orchestra with guest Gerald Wilson
- Roy Haynes’ Fountain of Youth
Faces of the 2009 Detroit Jazz Festival (Composite, photos © Andrea Canter)
This will be my third consecutive Detroit Jazz Festival. I can’t think of a more exciting four days, not only because there will be terrific jazz at every turn, but because it is an opportunity to see how an otherwise challenged urban community comes together to deliver a high-spirited, safe, well-organized, open-to-all event. It doesn’t matter if you are from Grosse Point or the inner city, from Michigan or California or any other point on the globe—Detroit hosts a great festival celebrating jazz and the human spirit.
For full schedule and additional information, visit the festival website at www.detroitjazzfest.com. To donate to the 2010 Detroit festival (and have your donation matched 50% by Gretchen Valade), visit http://www.detroitjazzfest.com/gretchen.html.