Michael Jewett and Detroit Jazz Festival President and Artistic Director Chris Collins discuss this year's festival.
TRANSCRIPTION:
Michael Jewett: Labor Day weekend is upon us! And with that, the very welcome return of the Detroit Jazz Festival. And a highlight of our Detroit Jazz Festival Preview week here on WEMU: our conversation with festival director Chris Collins. How are you doing? It's always great to hear from you!
Chris Collins: Oh, likewise, Michael! And always great to hear from EMU, one of my favorite stations in such a long-standing collaboration between our two cities and are two organizations. It's the ecosystem of this music, man, and the collaboration and relationships is really one of the things that makes it so special.
Michael Jewett: I love that! I love that concept of an ecosystem. We won't dwell too long on the long collaboration. I don't know if we need any help feeling old, but it is a very long and mutually beneficial relationship. I thought we would begin--you know, we're in audience centered businesses--to talk about the audience. And I've told you this many, many times, what a thrill, what a kick, what a lift I get from being part of the magnificent audience that's assembled in downtown Detroit and on the Detroit riverfront over Labor Day weekend. And I wonder if you had a special message, maybe to long-standing, long-time attendees or maybe some words of encouragement for those who may have never attended the Detroit Jazz Festival before.
Chris Collins: Sure. Well, you know, first and foremost, jazz is for everyone--every family, every generation is a living, breathing art. It's not something that's stuck in some museum piece of 50 years ago. The beauty of jazz is the fact is ever evolving. There's a history and a legacy and a language that must be part of the music for it to be jazz. But where we go from there is untold, and it suggests the future of the musical craft, the musical art, and it suggests who we are now. And I often remind people of a couple of things. You know, every culture is looked upon in the past and often defined as to what's important to them, what their values lie, by the art they leave behind. Because art only exists through philanthropy and support from the community. And something this fragile, one of the premier jazz festivals in the world, featuring real jazz but keeping it free is a very fragile entity. And yet, the support from sponsors and donors and others and radio stations like WEMU has helped to say this is important to us in this part of the country because we know we have this symbiotic relationship with jazz. And so, even if you're not a jazzophile, even if you're a neophyte, come down, enjoy the beautiful festival vibe of food and drink and family atmosphere and be, I guarantee, surprised at how drawn in you are to the energy and music on stage. And I've often thought of this point where the major artists around the world will tell you some of the greatest festival audiences for jazz are here in Detroit, and my philosophy has taken shape in that here, because we've knocked down this barrier and make it admission free. One of the things that happens is something that wants to happen and that is inclusion, diversity, all this stuff we talk about, it wants to happen. We as institutions have to think of how what barriers have to be broken down to allow it to happen. And it's there. It's got to be one of the best tests of the value of diversity and inclusion in that. The audience at the Detroit Jazz Festival, which is not all jazz, has, as I said, they're neophytes. There are people in the middle. There are people from a third from outside the region and country. They come together in this open, welcoming atmosphere. And suddenly, the top jazz artists are saying the very best audiences are in Detroit, and that's because it welcomes and includes everyone. I think those are important aspects of it all.
Michael Jewett: Beautiful! Bravo, bravo! Labor Day weekend upon us. Friday, August the 30th, opening day, opening night through Labor Day itself, Monday, September 2nd. Downtown Detroit and the riverfront area--the Detroit Jazz Festival. All the latest at detroitjazzfestival.org. Can we speak a moment about this year's artist-in-residence, Brian Blade? I think it's interesting you're going to hear from someone other than drummers. It's like it's two years in a row you've had like is there is there some sort of drummer-led conspiracy here or are you always looking for some odd angle? But, a quick nod to records from last year. Brian Blade, this year's artist-in-residence. Tell us about him.
Chris Collins: Yeah. You know, we work on these over a number of years, in many cases. We want to make sure it's the right moment for the artists. We want to make sure the artist is the kind of artist that will reach out to the community, work well with our youth, be a mentor or an ambassador. And Brian is all that and more! He is one of the greatest drummers. I mean, I can say, bar none, on every concert have been to, I think, "Wow! Herbie and Brian are really doing it up there." The next guys, I go, "Man, Christian and Brian are killing it!" Brian is 1 in 1,000,000. But on top of that, this guy is one of the nicest, most generous, giving human beings I've ever met in my life. And it's reflected in his music, his fellowship band and the different contrivances. We have a set with String Octet. He has another set where Jim McNeely has arranged and produced his textural ideas into a big band setting, using the Detroit Jazz Fest Orchestra. And I want to say every one of these are unique, and they bring to bear who he is as a musician and, in his band, this generous, giving, communicative, communal experience that will reach everyone. And even if you've never listened to jazz before, you will find yourself falling in love with the music of Brian Blade because it transcends the genre and is an expression of emotion and feeling and impressionistic ideas coming together in a format that's melodically and harmonically very editorial. So, it's not just a dense barrage of technique and craft. It is true art and a true statement. So, I can't say enough about Brian. And in fact, an interesting addition this year is because the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center is having its grand opening the day before the festival, we have programming each night. We call it the Midtown After Hours specials on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the festival. They're free. They're at the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center, which is on the corner of Cass Avenue and Hancock in Midtown Detroit on Wayne State's campus. And the Friday, I've selected four groups from around the country--Michigan, Indiana, New York, Boston, Texas. And they'll be playing from 10 to 1 AM after the festival there. And then, the next night from Brian's band, the great Kurt Rosenwinkle, is splitting off to do a very rare Kurt Rosenwinkle Trio from 10:30 to 11:30. And then on Sunday, Jon Cowherd, who was our artist-in-residence, he's going to break off and do a solo piano concert on our brand new, hand-selected model-B, nine-foot Steinway Grand, which is glorious, as is the room, which, as you've heard me say, are specifically and acoustically designed for jazz. They're all free. You just show up and come on in and get to experience the new Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center and hear these amazing artists in a setting that will not be available for festival or anywhere else.
Michael Jewett: You mentioned, Jon Cowherd, the magnificent player who's kind of maybe, under documented or underappreciated. But, while we're on the subject of jazz piano, something near and dear to my heart, I think it's great that you have a couple of different generations of players. Alexander the Great will be back. Monty Alexander, who is celebrating his 80th birthday and also, coincidentally, the 80th anniversary of D-Day, which is the name of his project. His trio is playing on Sunday.
Chris Collins: Yep.
Michael Jewett: That same evening, one of the, I think, the Jazz Journalists Association's rising star, if I got that right or maybe emerging musicians: Isaiah J. Thompson, who is relatively young and making all sorts of waves. So, you've got like that multi-generational aspect of jazz on display at the festival.
Chris Collins: Big time! It's so important to me whether I cross artists in my own playing career. I have the open submission from February to June, so everyone can send me their stuff. It's an old school, jazz festival thing. It doesn't exist much anywhere else, but it's important to me. It allows me to go out and hear cats, like Isaiah, cats like Cameron Graves and what he's doing on the West Coast, which has its own flavor and, of course, our great legendary artists, like Monty and others. It's an example of what I was saying earlier, where jazz is a living, breathing thing. It affects every generation. And year after year, the question I always get is, "Do you still see young people coming up in jazz after all?" Look, I got news for you. You know, baroque and classical music are a heck of a lot older than jazz. And there's still young people that, right out of the crib, are going to spend their hours of every day preparing to be in that world. And jazz has only been around for 100 and some years.
Michael Jewett: Still young!
Chris Collins: And I'm here to tell you that, every year, there's just new classes of young people taking it in fresh, new directions, building on the legacy and the language and history of the music. And that's what Detroit Jazz Fest is all about.
Michael Jewett: Happening Labor Day weekend. It's here! Friday through Labor Day itself. August 30th through Monday, September 2nd. The 2024 Detroit Jazz Festival. Complete information at detroitjazzfestival.org--a great resource as well is the. And I want to make sure I get the technical stuff from you. It would be the app--the Detroit Jazz Festival app, which keeps you connected in all sorts of different ways. You can get that via the website as well, if I'm not mistaken. They will lead you and link you to that.
Chris Collins: Yeah. We've changed it a little bit. It's detroitjazzfest.org. And now, our free live streams to the world--the raw streams--are on detroitjazzfest.org and all our social media and YouTube are these streams that go out to the world. They're completely free. And I want to tell you, Michael, you know there's over 325,000 in-person folks. But last year, metric by a California company, we had 1.6 million viewers in 32 countries around the world on the stream. So, we want to make sure we extend this mission that this is for everyone and should be free to everyone--TO EVERYONE! And we're really meeting that goal. And it's even a great tool if someone has accessibility issues, can't leave their home, their hill or they're out of town or out of the country, let your families know this is a way to get a really good look at the beauty of Detroit and the community and the citizenry and, of course, the incredible artistry.
Michael Jewett: Just talking to you, I don't know if I can contain myself 'til Labor Day weekend. It's always such a lift. It's like Christmas, my birthday, Halloween and Thanksgiving all rolled into one on Labor Day weekend. Thanks for taking some time with us again! Just so much, so much great stuff. Detroitjazzfest.org for complete information. It's this weekend! Folks, we look forward to seeing you out there! And keep it tuned up to WEMU for more of our Detroit Jazz Festival preview week. Thank you so much, Chris!
Chris Collins: Yeah! Thank you, Michael! Have a great day!
Michael Jewett: All right. We're good. Ta-da!
Chris Collins: All right, Mike. Thank you, man. Your energy--I could feel it over the phone line, baby.
Michael Jewett: My young Shakespeareans are just...you know, I got young people in the thing, and they were just. I said, "You got to check out these artists." So, I think I'm going to get them on our festival shuttle. And they're going to check out some sounds. Have a good one, man!
Chris Collins: Super! Hey, I will tell you, I just took delivery on, Alice Coltrane's restored harp, which will be premiered on this Friday's show. You know, I'm here to tell you it sings! I've seen so many pictures you have in black and white in here. It's this American treasure. This relic is going to be part of the festival this year, this world premiere. It's just all sorts of offshoot stories that are going to bring meaning to everyone's lives. I can't wait! And particularly for people like you to experience that, I know you're going to have the same feelings I have.
Michael Jewett: It's a beautiful thing you're doing, man! Keep it happening! We'll see you this weekend!
Chris Collins: I look forward to it, Michael!
Michael Jewett: All right. Take care. Bye bye.
Chris Collins: Bye bye.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
