Detroit Jazz Festival 2016
This year’s Detroit Jazz Festival is filled with talent from all over the world. The Labor Day weekend event (September 2–5) takes place downtown Detroit from Hart Plaza up Woodward to Campus Martius on a number of stages. This year’s headliners include:
- bassist Ron Carter (above, artist-in-residence and Detroit native who played with everyone including Miles Davis) in various-size groups from trio to big band
- guitarists George Benson, John Scofield, and John Abercrombie
singer/pianist Freddy Cole in a special program remembering Nat and Natalie Cole - pianist Randy Weston’s African Rhythms
- pianist Jason Moran and his Bandwagon Trio
- pianist Marcus Roberts
- drummer Terri Lyne Carrington’s Mosaic Project
- vocalists Roberta Gambarini (with tenorist Jimmy Heath), and Luciana Souza
- Toledo-born pianist Stanley Cowell in a quintet with tenorist Billy Harper and trumpeter Charles Tolliver
- the homecoming of a number of Detroiters who left for New York and the world: pianist Kirk Lightsey, drummer Louis Hayes and reedman Charlie Gabriel
There will also be a tribute to pianist, composer and bandleader Kenn Cox, one of the major figures in Detroit jazz since the 1960s.
You can view the complete schedule in our September issue of the SEMJA Update. You can also visit the Festival website.