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TRANSCRIPTION:
Jeremy Baldwin: I am joined here on the telephone by Chris Collins, who is the president and artistic director of the Detroit Jazz Festival. He is very busy but has taken a few minutes to talk to us about what's going on this weekend, all four days. Chris, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today!
Chris Collins: My pleasure, Jeremy! Never too busy to talk to not only you and WEMU, but your listeners. It's a incredible collection of wise music lovers!
Jeremy Baldwin: Well, I know a lot of listeners are planning to come down to the jazz festival. A lot of them have been coming for decades, of course. But I know when they come down, they're going to notice that a lot a things are the same, but there are some changes of note this year that people should be aware of. Can you tell us about some of those?
Chris Collins: Changes of note, I'm going to remember that, Jeremy.
Jeremy Baldwin: You can steal that.
Chris Collins: Yeah. Well, the thing that started it all is we really listen to our patrons, and, over the years, we wanted to really allow for all of the capacity. We have over 300,000 people in person, and over a million and a half on the broadcast. It's a lot of folks, and we want all have a great time. But also, safety and security is an issue, and we made a decision to make it easier to matriculate between the three stages and for people who might have some mobility challenges. The new setup is all three of our outdoor stages, all three are big main stages, same capacity as before. But now, they're all on the same plane as Hart Plaza, and it alleviates people having to walk all the way up Woodward to get to Campus Martius.
Jeremy Baldwin: Right.
Chris Collins: So now, the J.P. Morgan Chase stage is a brand new, incredibly engineered stage that's absolutely beautiful to behold. And with some of the new real estate we have on Hart Plaza, people are going to find the capacity is equal to what we had. It's just everything's a little closer and allows people if you sit and hear a set that you dig and you want to check out another stage, it's a walk away.
Jeremy Baldwin: It's quick. Yeah.
Chris Collins: And the best thing is, I mean, we work with our production company, Paxahau, and Audio Thunder does our sound equipment. I mean, the bottom line is my team has spent all year dealing with the engineering of sound, as well as stages, so that every artist and all the patrons have a very beautiful audio experience this year, but it doesn't bleed out to the other stages, which is always a concern. And the guys have done an incredible job with time, sound and everything. I think people are going to find every performance intimate but super-energetic.
Jeremy Baldwin: Wow! I'm looking forward to seeing the new stage and, of course, hearing music from the new stage as well. That sounds pretty good. What else has changed this year?
Chris Collins: So, the Detroit Police Department, we work very closely with them. They're incredible in keeping us safe. And they do have the scanners at the entrance. So, there's several entrances. There's a general admission. There's for those who have donated and have a VIP ticket, so on and so forth. So, there's different entrances to come in. Once you're inside Hart Plaza, the entire plaza is gated. It's still absolutely free, but we gated it for security purposes and to keep things up real stable inside. That's why we've asked people, for the first time in 47 years, we welcome people to bring chairs and things like that, but no coolers anymore out of safety and security. If you bring anything, any kind of a bag or anything bigger than just a handbag, something in it may set off the scanners, which means you're going to have to be searched, which means your entrance is going to be delayed. So, we're trying to alleviate that. But, yeah, bring your chairs. We've got some beautiful chair spaces and blanket spaces in addition to seating, so a place for everybody!
Jeremy Baldwin: That sounds good! Well, all right. Now, we got that business out of the way, that kind of stuff. Let's talk about music.
Chris Collins: Yeah!
Jeremy Baldwin: I mean, as usual, an incredibly diverse lineup of artists playing. And music goes from Friday evening all the way through Monday evening, barely stopping throughout the weekend. And in addition to all of these individual artists playing, I wanted to ask about a couple of the big tributes there. I know there's a Randy Weston tribute set happening and the Coltrane. What can you tell us about those?
Chris Collins: Well, it's an incredible year. I mean, I keep asking myself what was going on in 1926 because in addition Coltrane of course, and Miles and Randy Weston and Ray Brown, and the list goes on and on of those that are 100 this year. But as always, Detroit Jazz Festival and the artists who propagate but also evolve this music keep it as a living, breathing art form. Every generation has their mark on it, and that's how it goes. So, the things that are tributes to that are kind of special and unique and feature some new voices and some legendary ones. So, our artist-in-residence Joe Lovano, who's doing three different sets throughout the festival, will close the festival with his Coltrane 100, which is him and Melissa Aldana, an incredible band, and Nduduzo Makathini. It's going to be crazy good. On opening night, we have Electric Miles, which are alums from various Miles Davis bands doing more of his later period stuff. And a nice surprise, a trumpet player who actually many years ago won our first Detroit Jazz Festival instrumental competition for trumpet, Theo Croker, and he's gone on to have a really special career. And he is going to be filling those shoes.
Jeremy Baldwin: Big shoes to fill!
Chris Collins: Hoo hoo, baby! The Randy Weston thing is near and dear to my heart. I loved Randy. We were friends. He did amazing things with our youth in Detroit and also with collaborations that various professionals did. And his band wanted to gather his repertoire, put a spin on it, and presented to celebrate Randy. So, that's going to be very special on Saturday because it's the African Rhythms Alumni Quintet. It's an incredible legacy behind all of that.
Jeremy Baldwin: Should be great. Well, I know there's so many artists. We can't mention them all, but are there a few that you're especially excited about?
Chris Collins: Well, I figured a hundredth of Coltrane, I had to have Ravi here.
Jeremy Baldwin: Oh, right. Yeah. Ravi Coltrane.
Chris Collins: Yup. For me, it's a joy because I get to stretch into different circles of artists that are doing that wonderful things, so every set is near and dear to my heart. But I will say you know some of the special ones. I mean, Take 6, they're coming to the end of their career, and this is one of the last big festival opportunities to hear them and the excellence they bring. In addition, Bob James's quartet. He's got a mixed generation band. Actually, his bass player for years was an alum of Wayne State and worked around Detroit forever, Mike Palazzolo. And Bob wants to do more of a straight-ahead set that harkens back to his roots, which is going to be pretty gosh darn cool, along with Kurt Elling and the Yellowjackets together. I mean, Kurt's written some vocalese to Joe Zalano tunes, man. It's going to be awesome!
Jeremy Baldwin: It's going to be something! Yeah! Sounds great! Cool!
Chris Collins: Yeah, we're also have the great Detroit, all the Detroit, world-class artists that that make it so special, including our 2026 legacy artist, Jerry Boucher, and he's doing a tribute to AACM when he was very much part of that whole movement. So, very special cat. World-known. And he lives right here in Detroit. It's amazing!
Jeremy Baldwin: Let's also make sure that we mention the late-night sets that are happening for most of the weekend. What can you tell us about those and where they take place?
Chris Collins: Yeah, it's special. It's our fourth official stage, our only indoor stage. Still free. And we call them the After-Hours Midtown Specials. And Friday, Tia Fuller and her quartet are playing at the Detroit Jazz Hall of the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center on the campus of Wayne State.
Jeremy Baldwin: It's a nice room to see music too I've been in there. Yeah.
Chris Collins: Oh, thanks. Yeah, specifically designed acoustically, instruments, everything for jazz. Every seat is a good seat, and it's one of the last great gifts left to us by Gretchen Valade. And then, on Saturday, we have two shows going on, because we always get overflow in that facility. Upstairs, we have Delvon Lamarr with his organ group, which is going to be killer. And downstairs, we are opening, Wayne State is opening, and Dee Dee Bridgewater is opening the downstairs club-style venue called Dee Dee Bridgewater's in the same building, separate entrance right off Cass. You walk downstairs under an awning. You feel like you're going to a downstairs, super-hip Detroit or New York jazz club, and we're going to be featuring a group called the Low End Quintet that is a killing quintet from Boston and led up by Lois Majors, who's an incredible bassist. And she's so low-key, but she leads the heck out of this band from the bass. And they'll be playing downstairs, so if you want a different environment, you go there. And then, same thing on Sunday, a double set down there, where we have Nduduzo Makhathini playing with his trio in the Detroit Jazz Hall. And in Dee Dee's, we have the house band with Lois and her quintet, but we have a number of guest artists from the festival that'll stop by, because as soon as Dee Dee finishes her set downtown, she's going to come over and check out the new club. So, anybody who wants to be the first to experience the music and the environment, super hip, of Dee Dee Bridgewater at the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center, this is your opportunity to do it.
Jeremy Baldwin: That's very exciting, and a great tribute to Dee Dee too, naming it after her. That sounds like a lot of fun. I can't wait to see that place and see some music there. I'll let you go here in a minute, but kind of on a personal note, I've seen you down there working during the Labor Day weekend over the years. And you're always running around and going from stage to stage, taking care of issues and checking in with people. But do you get a few minutes once in a while to sit back and enjoy some music or you just have to like always be putting out a fire?
Chris Collins: You know, every once in a while, I'd like to make it a point to, because life is too short.
Jeremy Baldwin: Yeah.
Chris Collins: And these are very special performances. The audience are great. But I just came back from a European tour. I have a new record out at TRJ, so my thing is going along. And I look to blend that world and the jazz festival world together, being artists and talking to them. So, when I'm down there, that's kind of a role I play. I put on the nice clothes, and I'm the festival guide. But I'm running around because an artist that tours, I know exactly what the pressures and challenges can be. And I have a great team, and we talk and communicate to make sure that these artists who are moving around are able to have the best of everything, including experience and handling and food and whatnot, so they can put on the very best performance. And that's what keeps me hustling, because, one day, I'll pass this on. I look at myself as one of the many caretakers of this, and I want to pass it on healthy onto the next generation of administration. So, I take that seriously and emotionally too and kind of spiritually. It's an important role that I honor and value to the best of my ability.
Jeremy Baldwin: Well very important role. And I'm sure all the artists appreciate your attention and, of course, everybody, all the audience as well, whether they kind of realize what's going on back there or not. A lot of work goes into making this happen by everybody. All right, Chris. Well, good luck with everything! We're all crossing our fingers that we get some nice weather. Not too hot, not too cold, not too much rain, something nice. So, we can only do we can do there. But I will see you down there, and I'm sure many WEMU listeners will see it down there as well. Looking forward to it! Thanks for taking a couple minutes to talk to us today!
Chris Collins: Man, my pleasure! And thanks for all you do at WEMU! Cats like you keep this musical alive 365/7. And the ecosystem of this music is always stunning and beautiful to me! So, thank you guys!
Jeremy Baldwin: You are welcome!
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