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The 2023 Detroit Jazz Festival is almost upon us, taking place in its annual Labor Day weekend slot on the yearly jazz festival calendar. The largest free jazz festival in the world brings the music to the people of Detroit, and the world, on September 1-4 in downtown Detroit and in Hart Plaza along the Detroit riverwalk.
To those that visit the city for the festival, there is one obvious difference between Detroit and festivals more idyllically set in places like Monterey or Newport. While the quality of the programming is at a similar level, the urban setting surrounds the presentation of the music in the Motor City. It stages the music in the urban setting from which it has risen. While the festival shines light on this jewel city of Black American music, it doesn't take long upon arriving to realize that the local jazz scene is the difference maker between the Detroit experience and those of other notable festivals around the globe.
The prominence of the current Detroit jazz scene is most visible at the midnight jam sessions that take place in local clubs like Cliff Bell's after the music ends each evening at the festival's four main stages. Local veterans and students from the many surrounding university jazz programs in the area mingle with festival headliners both socially and musically. Over the course of three hours, both young and veteran musicians continually cross the stage, chorus by chorus. But to fully understand Detroit's standing in the evolution of jazz, a brief music history of the city, and the staggering amount of talent it has produced is a necessity.
While the world of popular music has focused on Motown Records and its host of award winning artists as “The Detroit Sound," history speaks to a more complete history dating back to the 1940's, long before soul, r&b and rock 'n roll spun out of Black music and the blues tradition.
The automobile industry created a thriving Black middle class in the 1940's and 1950's, and with it, a thriving nightlife and music culture. Exceptional school music programs were created, and mentorship was provided by musicians who arrived during this migration and by those native to the area. Mentors like
To those that visit the city for the festival, there is one obvious difference between Detroit and festivals more idyllically set in places like Monterey or Newport. While the quality of the programming is at a similar level, the urban setting surrounds the presentation of the music in the Motor City. It stages the music in the urban setting from which it has risen. While the festival shines light on this jewel city of Black American music, it doesn't take long upon arriving to realize that the local jazz scene is the difference maker between the Detroit experience and those of other notable festivals around the globe.
The prominence of the current Detroit jazz scene is most visible at the midnight jam sessions that take place in local clubs like Cliff Bell's after the music ends each evening at the festival's four main stages. Local veterans and students from the many surrounding university jazz programs in the area mingle with festival headliners both socially and musically. Over the course of three hours, both young and veteran musicians continually cross the stage, chorus by chorus. But to fully understand Detroit's standing in the evolution of jazz, a brief music history of the city, and the staggering amount of talent it has produced is a necessity.
While the world of popular music has focused on Motown Records and its host of award winning artists as “The Detroit Sound," history speaks to a more complete history dating back to the 1940's, long before soul, r&b and rock 'n roll spun out of Black music and the blues tradition.
The automobile industry created a thriving Black middle class in the 1940's and 1950's, and with it, a thriving nightlife and music culture. Exceptional school music programs were created, and mentorship was provided by musicians who arrived during this migration and by those native to the area. Mentors like
Barry Harris
piano1929 - 2021
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