[JPL] 2007 Detroit Jazz Festival

[Dr. Jazz]

DETROIT INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL


          Jazz and more jazz: What you need to know


            2007 festival incorporates the entire jazz tradition

August 30, 2007

BY MARK STRYKER

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

This weekend's 28th annual Detroit International Jazz Festival will have 
a familiar look, with six stages spreading out from Hart Plaza into the 
core of downtown Detroit by way of a pedestrian corridor along Woodward 
Avenue. But the festival, one of the largest free jazz festivals in 
North America, promises to sound different -- jazzier, with fewer R&B 
and other crossover acts, more thematic programming and a wider swath of 
the jazz tradition represented, including a taste of free jazz for the 
first time in years as well as a broader representation of the local 
scene. The festival, which gets off to a roaring start Friday with a 
double bill of violinist and former Detroiter Regina Carter, followed by 
legendary pianist Herbie Hancock, continues through Monday night with 
more than 100 national and local acts, including such headliners as Dave 
Brubeck, Bill Charlap, Yusef Lateef, Kurt Elling, Kenny Garrett, Kenny 
Barron, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Mavis Staples, Ron Carter 
and Don Byron. At the right is a rundown of some of the major themes, 
fresh initiatives and other changes for 2007.

*The queen of the festival*

Detroit-born violinist Regina Carter, honored last year with a $500,000 
MacArthur Fellowship, is artist-in-residence for 2007, performing three 
times over the weekend. Beyond opening night, she'll perform Sunday 
afternoon with pianist Kenny Barron and Monday night with the 
Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.

*Battle royal*

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Detroit and Chicago, two gritty Midwest cities with great jazz 
traditions, square off in a friendly battle that festival organizers are 
calling "The Rumble in the Great Lakes." Among those representing the 
home team are Regina Carter, Kenny Garrett, Yusef Lateef, Marcus 
Belgrave, Curtis Fuller, Louis Hayes and Ron Carter. Windy City 
representatives include Herbie Hancock, Kurt Elling, Kahil El'Zabar's 
Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Mavis Staples and Otis Clay.

*New stage, new look*

Festival organizers have shifted a major stage to Cadillac Square just 
to the east of Campus Martius in the hopes of accommodating more fans 
and improving sightlines. Most of Campus Martius is now devoted to a 
Jazz Garden outfitted with tables, bars and video screens playing 
classic jazz on DVD, while the stage in the park will feature school bands.

*Up-and-comers*

The stage on Larned has been christened the Here & Now Stage and is 
devoted mostly to emerging talent and young musicians deserving wider 
recognition.

*After-hours jams*

The festival is bringing back a beloved tradition of yore with nightly 
after-festival jam sessions at the top of the Hotel Pontchartrain on 
Friday and Saturday from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. A salsa party is scheduled 
for 10 p.m. Sunday.

*For the kids*

A Kid Bop picnic area has been carved out in the grass near the foot of 
Hart Plaza, where daily performances of Hayes Greenfield's 
"Jazz-a-ma-tazz," storytellers and puppets will keep younger fans satisfied.

*Light of the sky*

A fireworks display is scheduled at 11 p.m. Saturday.

*Rap sessions*

The Jazz Talk Tent has been expanded for 2007. There are panel 
discussions, interviews, presentations and performances Saturday through 
Monday.

-- 
Dr. Jazz
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