Detroit Jazz Festival stretches notes and genres, pays tribute to fallen local icons

As temperatures turned up over the Labor Day weekend, so did the crowds at Hart Plaza and Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit.

Music lovers hung on every note as an impressive lineup of Detroit Jazz Festival performers stretched notes and genres and paid tribute some of the city's most influential creators and supporters.

The crowd roared and jammed Friday night as the nexus of jazz and hip-hop were celebrated during a headliner set led by 2023 artist-in-residence Karriem Riggins, who presented "Interplay," with special guests Madlib, J. Rocc, Wildchild and Sasha Kashperko, burning up the stage with beats, rapping and blistering horn solos.

"I am full of joy," said Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation president and artistic director Chris Collins on Sunday. "There's always a vibe here, and it's exaggerated this year. We go until almost 11 p.m. on all stages, so cats are playing later. Audiences are bigger. Everyone is excited about the energy for our visiting artists and our hometown artists. Everyone is super, super excited about the direction and the feelings in the air.

"We've had record crowds so far. And on top of it, halfway through the show Friday night, I checked with our metrics room — we keep real-time metrics so we can confirm watchers on our free live stream — and we had already reached almost half a million viewers worldwide. So I think all those are indicators that special stuff is happening here and the joy that's around this music, as well as the respect."

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There was an onstage health scare Friday night as the festival kicked off with Dr. Valade's Brass Band, composed of regional youth players and led by New Orleans drummer Shannon Powell.

During their first song, Powell passed out onstage.

"The good news is, we have an onsite medical team," said Collins. "Years can go by where you don't use that asset, but you want it there, and they reacted quickly. The Detroit Police Department also reacted quickly to keep people from crowding around him onstage, and as they took him out, he gave a thumbs up to the audience. He ended up not going to the hospital or anything; he just went to his hotel room to recover and he left on his regular flight home. I spoke with him, and he feels like a million bucks."

Opening night continued with a musical tribute to key festival supporter Gretchen Carhartt Valade, who died last December. Valade in 2016 rescued the festival from financial trouble and established the Gretchen Valade Endowment of the Arts, a private foundation that makes a significant donation to the festival each year. She stipulated that the festival should always remain free to the public, and the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation works hard each year to carry out her wish.

Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater joined the band on the Carhartt Amphitheater Stage, performing "Feeling Good" and even a song written by Valade herself. Titled "Lights of Detroit," the touching piece was a love letter to the city Valade loved, with references to Grand Circus Park, the Boblo boats and more.

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Saturday performances included Detroit natives and 2023 National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters Kenny Garrett and Regina Carter, 2023 Youth Jazz Vocal Competition winner Phoebe King, and Stefon Harris & Blackout. Miho Hazama and m_unit dazzled with a bright mix of horns and strings, and Cuban-American drummer Dafnis Prieto and Brazilian singer Luciana Souza delivered a thrilling Latin jazz set that garnered a standing ovation.

Scheduled for Sunday night was the highly anticipated “J Dilla Lives Forever” set, paying homage to the late, visionary Detroit rap producer, with Riggins leading the tribute along with special guests Common, Jessica Care Moore, Beej, T3, J.Rocc and more.

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Monday’s acts include Detroiter and 2023 NEA Jazz Master Louis Hayes, an 86-year-old living legend who drummed with the likes of Horace Silver, Cannonball Adderley, McCoy Tyner, Oscar Peterson and many others.

2023 Best New Artist Grammy winner Samara Joy will perform in Hart Plaza, a tribute to late Detroit piano legend Barry Harris will be staged and Riggins will again welcome several guests to close out the festival on the main stage in Campus Martius.

The festival can be streamed for free all weekend at detroitjazzfest.org/live/

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Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Jazz Fest stretches notes and genres, pays tribute to icons