Detroit Jazz Festival, August 31 - September 4

[Enforcer]

The lineup is just ridiculous. WOW.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...text|FRONTPAGE

April 1, 2012 at 3:07 pm
2012 Detroit Jazz Festival releases some of its lineup of performers

By Susan Whitall
Detroit News Music Writer
4 Comments

Detroit Jazz Festival’s new creative director, Wayne State Director of Jazz Studies Chris Collins,
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Detroit Jazz Festival’s new creative director, Wayne State Director of Jazz Studies Chris Collins, )

Promoters of the 33rd Annual Detroit Jazz Festival have released the names of some of the major artists playing this year's event, which takes place in downtown Detroit over Labor Day weekend, from Aug. 31-Sept. 3.

The roster includes guitarist Pat Metheny, tenor saxophone great Sonny Rollins, trumpeter and traditionalist Wynton Marsalis, pianist Chick Corea, who will perform with vibraphonist Gary Burton and strings; tenor and soprano saxophonist Wayne Shorter; trumpeter Dave Douglas; tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano; flutist and tenor saxophonist Lew Tabackin and trumpeter Randy Brecker.

Also on tap: pianist Fred Hersch; alto saxophonist Charles McPherson; tenor saxophonist (and Dearborn native) Rick Margitza; Latin jazz bandleader/conga player Poncho Sanchez; Bird with Strings Revisited with Steve Wilson; pianist Arturo O'Farrill, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band featuring Charlie Gabriel.

Some of the special events include "A Tribute to Art Blakey" with native Detroiter/bebop trombonist Curtis Fuller and various alumni of the Blakey band.

That's a lot of big-name, national firepower, but the festival's new creative director, Wayne State Director of Jazz Studies Chris Collins, insists there will be an intensified focus on Detroit artists, both current and heritage.

"While we are certainly an international festival, featuring the finest the jazz world has to offer, we are located in Detroit and we firmly embrace that geographical location and the history of jazz that's come out of our town," said Collins, who took the creative reins over this year from Terri Pontremoli.

"We're always interested in celebrating the past masters who played here or came from here, whether established artists, or the up and coming ones …what's come to be known as the Detroit sound," Collins added.

As a nod to Detroit, Collins has arranged for a "Homecoming" series which will group prominent Detroit musicians who have gone on to national acclaim with their hometown mentors. For example, Margitza will be paired with his first saxophone teacher, George Benson, in a saxophone quintet. Others taking part in the "Homecoming" concerts include saxophonist Kenny Garrett, Fuller, drummer Louis Hayes, trumpet icon Marcus Belgrave and pianist Geri Allen.

There will be a special, pre-festival concert sponsored by the Detroit Jazz Festival on June 1, a collaboration with the Detroit Symphony that will celebrate Detroit and Torino, Italy (the home of Fiat) with a full symphony orchestra and jazz quintet. "Half of the musicians will be from Detroit, and half will be from Torino," Collins said. He commissioned two works to be performed that night, one by Detroiter James Hardaway, and one by Torino's Carlo Vocodorro.

The Detroit Jazz Festival is a free event over the Labor Day weekend. For more information go to detroitjazzfest.com.

[Ron Thorne]

Wow is right! Nice lineup, indeed.

And it's free? Another huge WOW!!

Good for Detroit ... and jazz lovers.

[jaz4life]

This IS unbelievable.

[Pete C]

Here is the complete lineup for the 2012 Detroit Jazz Festival:

• Sonny Rollins
• Wynton Marsalis Quintet
• Pat Metheny; Featuring Chris Potter, Unity Band, Antonio Sanchez, Ben Williams
• Chick Corea and Gary Burton; Featuring the Harlem String Quartet
• Wayne Shorter Quartet; Featuring Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Lawrence Fields, James Genus, Joey Baron
• Terence Blanchard; Featuring Poncho Sanchez, Art Blakey Tribute, Peter Washington, Lewis Nash, Geoffrey Keezer, Chris Fuller
• Randy Brecker and Lew Tabackin
• Steve Wilson, Bird with Strings Revisited
• Fred Hersch Trio
• Tom Harrell
• Donald Harrison; Featuring Godfathers of Groove, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Charlie Gabriel, Christian Scott, James Andrews, Brian Lynch
• Mack Avenue Super Band; Featuring Kevin Eubanks, Sean Jones, Tia Fuller, Alfredo Rodriguez
• Jerry Gonzales
• Poncho Sanchez
• Papo Vazquez Pirates Troubadours
• Arturo O’Farrill Afro-Latin Septet
• Godfathers of Groove
• Ellery Eskelin Trio
• Peter Bernstein
• Larry Goldings
• Bill Stewart
• Kenny Garrett
• Curtis Fuller
• Louis Hayes
• Charles McPherson
• Richard Margitza
• Harvey Thompson
• Walter White
• Marcus Belgrave Homecoming Band; Featuring Geri Allen, Marion Hayden
• George Benson
• Gene Parker

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1434816.html


I just booked my flight and hotel (Greektown Casino) this afternoon! Will The Enforcer reveal himself to me?


What's the seating deal? Are there lots of folding chairs? Any logistics prep from old hands would be much appreciated.

[Blue Train]

That Wayne Shorter set is looking very tempting. If the Hersh and Eskelin set are on the same day....

[Pete C]

That Wayne Shorter set is looking very tempting. If the Hersh and Eskelin set are on the same day....

Hopefully everything really good will be after 8PM on Friday and before 5PM on Monday...

[Mike Schwartz]

Disappointing that it's a Labor Day weekend event.
My job in retail keeps me from it each & every time....the radio and broadcast world attends this in droves...every year I have to turn down many kind invites from folks I know & like.

[Valerie]

Disappointing that it's a Labor Day weekend event.
My job in retail keeps me from it each & every time....the radio and broadcast world attends this in droves...every year I have to turn down many kind invites from folks I know & like.

i'd "sub" for you if i could, my dear Big Bro'!!

[Ron Thorne]

I must say that this Detroit Jazz Festival lineup is one of the strongest ones I've seen at an American jazz festival in a long time.

Kudos, Detroit!

[Frisco]

[/LIST]

What's the seating deal? Are there lots of folding chairs? Any logistics prep from old hands would be much appreciated.

Pete, most of the stages are in Hart Plaza, on the riverfront. The sets run simultaneously, so there is normally bleed from one stage to another. The Amphitheater Stage is the largest and is all concrete. The rows rise, as in theater seating and much of the crowd at that stage has small chairs that sit low to the ground. The Waterfront Stage is a makeshift stage right off the water and sits on a grassy area. There are a limited number of chairs at that stage and a lot of standing room. The Pyramid Stage has perhaps the best sound as it sits in a sunken area surrounded by concrete walls. The saeting, again is all concrete so small chairs are good for that one as well. Sometimes there are stages set up outside of Hart Plaza.

Generally, the sets are around 75 minutes or so with sizeable breaks in between. So, if one really wants a good seat for a set there is always plenty of time to set up early. The best time is directly after one set when people are headed out to another stage. People DO leave chairs, items at one stage and travel to another but I have had a chair stolen in the past.

[Pete C]

Thanks, Pat.

[Jeffrey Wozniak]

OOOOHHHH!!!!!!

I could possibly meet the legendary Pete!!!

[Pete C]

OOOOHHHH!!!!!!

I could possibly meet the legendary Pete!!!

I'll bet we'd even be civil to each other.

[Frisco]

I'd be here but Ken Vandermark's Artist in Residency in Chicago will likely get me there.

[Al in NYC]

My Dad is so excited about this lineup that when it was announced he called and woke me up first thing in the morning to tell me about it. The fact that I'll be out of the country for much of August, that the first week of September is one of my busiest times of the year, and that I have a partner in academia, would normally limit my Labor Day travels, but if my parents have anything to say about it (and they often do), I'll be there.

Pat's description of the jazz festival set up at Hart Plaza is pretty much dead on. But one of the reasons for the big lineup this year, and the consolidation of the festival to just the Hart Plaza area (it had ranged several blocks north up Woodward in recent years) is that the adjacent Ford Auditorium has recently been torn down. The organizers are reportedly anticipating the availability of a large grassy slope just east of the plaza itself, where the auditorium once stood, as a sort of a large natural amphitheater for some of the shows.

[Blue Train]

I'd be here but Ken Vandermark's Artist in Residency in Chicago will likely get me there.

Don't take this the wrong way but isn't Vandermark pretty Artist in Residency in Chicago? I think the only places he performs more live these days is in Germany or Poland.

[Blue Train]

I am still waiting to see if there is daily schedule, but I made reservations. I have never been to Detroit. Hopefully it doesn't cause the anti-Detroit (no offense meant to those of you from Detroit! I am just joking around.) part of my DNA to implode! haha

[Al in NYC]

I am still waiting to see if there is daily schedule, but I made reservations. I have never been to Detroit. Hopefully it doesn't cause the anti-Detroit (no offense meant to those of you from Detroit! I am just joking around.) part of my DNA to implode! haha

The daily schedule usually shows up sometime around the beginning of August, if not a little earlier.

Anti-Detroit DNA? Huh? How could any jazz fan have that?

[Blue Train]

The daily schedule usually shows up sometime around the beginning of August, if not a little earlier.

Anti-Detroit DNA? Huh? How could any jazz fan have that?

Come on now. That was just joking around with the whole Cubs/Tigers thing we discussed earlier.

Thanks for the information on the schedule.

[Al in NYC]

Come on now. That was just joking around with the whole Cubs/Tigers thing we discussed earlier.

Ahh, I see. Well, that was my great-grandfather. I have no animosity towards the Cubs.

Now the Bears, on the other hand... my father has never forgiven the Bears for knocking Bobby Layne out of the final game of the 1956 season with an outrageously cheap shot. We were raised hearing that story every time the Lions and Bears played, so that animus was indeed drilled into me from a very early age.

Last year he finally went back to Chicago again, and, to his surprise, actually found it a reasonably nice place.

[Pete C]

Hey BT, looking forward to meeting you in Detroit.

[Pete C]

The final schedule isn't out yet, but the lineup is now broken out by day.

http://detroitjazzfest.com/12lineup.html

[Lois Gilbert]

So do I hear a JazzCorner hang in the air. Pete just you know everyone hangs at the Marriott each night after the Festival, and also I think something goes on at Cliffs Bells Jazz Club. I know you're a foodie, but the best food isn't really at the festival unless they change it this year. Those cement benches in Hart Plaza can get really hot, so make sure to bring a hat.

http://www.detroitjazzfest.com/PDF/2...F-schedule.pdf

From South Africa to Detroit - I'm very fortunate. See you there

[mdandr]

Hi-- Friend of Frisco on this thread....one thing he forgot to mention is that one can buy special VIP memberships with FRONT section, RESERVED seating with folding chairs at most stages. Go to the fest website and look at all the benefits and it is mostly tax-deductible! Give your money to jazz or give it to Uncle Sam! Yes the fest is free, but if you are hardcore and want the seating, better bathrooms, catered meals and drinks, fest dinner on Friday night with the biggies, spend the money! Do NOT wait as they will sell out this year due to the BEST schedule in just about EVER! More benefits on the website! Hurry and they will throw in a free Downbeat subscription/renewal!

prices at $100 (1 day), $200(2 days), $300 (up to all 4 days!).

If you have any questions about the fest, just ask! Cliff Bell's will also have one of the best after-hours jams as well with unique food offerings.

[Valerie]

i'm getting sick hearing about all that i will be missing!!! BOO-HOO, big-time!

[Pete C]

i'm getting sick hearing about all that i will be missing!!! BOO-HOO, big-time!

It's not too late. I'm @ LGA waiting for my flight to DTW.

[Valerie]

It's not too late. I'm @ LGA waiting for my flight to DTW.

i'm nursing my beloved 18 year-old cat who has lymphoma and don't even know if i'll make it to Monterey!! i'll look forward to your "reviews," both music and food-wise. enjoy!!

[Pete C]

Forget about food.

[Valerie]

Forget about food.

i assumed they would have some good BBQ and soul food at the venue.

[Pete C]

I've been looking for a chubby fascist with a cat licking his face. No luck.