Detroit Jazz Festival

Detroit Jazz Festival
Logo for the Detroit Jazz Festival
Genre	Jazz
Dates	Labor Day Weekend September 2–5, 2016
Location(s)	Detroit, Michigan
Years active	1980 to present
Founded by	Robert McCabe, Detroit Renaissance
Website
Detroit Jazz Festival

The Detroit Jazz Festival is a free jazz music festival held each year over Labor Day Weekend at Hart Plaza and Campus Martius Park in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.. The head of the festival is Chris Collins, who also serves as President and Artistic Director of the Detroit Jazz Festival. Until 2000, it was known as the Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival. The festival again changed names in 2005, becoming the Detroit International Jazz Festival after Ford Motor Company removed its sponsorship. In January 2006, Gretchen Valade, Chairman of Mack Avenue Records founded the Detroit International Jazz Festival Foundation, which took over production and management of the festival. Since 2012 the festival name was changed to The Detroit Jazz Festival.

The Detroit Jazz Foundation has other events year round, and is involved in musical education. They have programs called Jazz Infusion and Jazz Week. Jazz Week started in 2007 when the Wayne State University Department of Music embarked on a long-term partnership with the Detroit Jazz Festival, serving as their Educational Advisor. Jazz Week at Wayne, one result of this collaboration, is a one-week workshop that provides forty high school students with an intensive and rewarding jazz education. All participants, selected from surrounding high schools, are awarded full scholarships to attend the program. Every year the Detroit Jazz Festival hosts an Artist in Residence. The 2016 artist is Ron Carter.

Notable past performers have included Dave Brubeck, Mulgrew Miller, The Manhattan Transfer, Paquito d'Rivera, Dave Holland, Regina Carter, Take 6, and Tower of Power, Wynton Marsalis, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, Gary Burton, Pat Metheny and Joe Lovano. 2016 performers include Ron Carter, George Benson, John Scofield, Brad Mehldau, Mark Guiliana, Jason Moran, Omar Sosa, Luciana Souza, and Alfredo Rodriguez.