Detroit Jazz Festival 2024: The Year of Alice

Detroit Jazz Festival 2024
Hart Plaza & Campus Martius
Detroit, MI
August 30-September 2, 2024

An annual pilgrimage to the Detroit Jazz Festival allows a jazz fan, or in this case, a jazz journalist, to reset to an internal default setting for what this music means to us on a very personal and spiritual level. The world's largest free jazz festival removes financial barriers of access and brings the music to the people, whether you are a Detroit local, or traveling a substantial distance to be present. While other festivals around the world take the music from its natural, urban digs, to an idyllic setting, the four day event in Detroit presents the music in the center of one of the great jazz cities in the world. This city that has produced jazz icons like Alice Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Joe Henderson, Betty Carter, Ron Carter, Marcus Belgrave and many, many others, has the eyes of the jazz world focused upon it for four days every Labor Day weekend, with 2024 being the 45th annual go-around.

Last year's Friday night opener was focused on the legacy of the late Gretchen C. Valade, whose generous support of the festival and all things jazz in Detroit, allows the event to retain its status as a free festival, drawing more than 300,000 annually. This year, Valade's angel-like status was once again celebrated with the opening of the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center at Wayne State University. Featuring a 325-seat concert / performance space named "Detroit Jazz Hall," and a downstairs nightclub dubbed Dee Dee Bridgewater's named for the legendary Detroit jazz artist, the refurbished classic building is yet another gem gifted to the Detroit jazz community by Valade. Late night sets were presented each evening after the core of performances had finished at Hart Plaza and Campus Martius, the mainstage areas along the Detroit River Walk and in Cadillac Square downtown.

Just for extra measure, the Valade center staged a grand opening on Thursday evening preceding the usual Friday night opener. The opening night reception and performances were simulcasted on a large screen at Campus Martius, including a stunning set by Bridgewater with the Wayne State Jazz Legacy Big Band, in her namesake space. Brandee Younger, one of the premier harpists in jazz today, performed a tribute to the late great harpist, Dorothy Ashby, herself a daughter of Detroit.

"The Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center will enhance Wayne State's Department of Music and local community, while welcoming national and international jazz artists to a state-of-the-art facility designed for music performances, live streaming and recording," said Hasan Elahi, dean of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts. "This will provide a unique opportunity for the university to continue its contribution to the rich musical legacy of our city and widen its impact for current and future generations."

The Valade center also staged late night sets each evening at 10:30, adding to the late night fun that also includes after-hours jam sessions at the iconic Cliff Bell's jazz club. The festival in past years had held jam sessions in the ballrooms at the Detroit Marriott at Renaissance Center, but had to abandon the sessions due to fire code concerns. The Valade Center provides two venues to accommodate after hours activity for the festival. Sets featuring The Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio, Jon Cowherd solo piano, The Jauron Perry Quintet, Flash Point Quintet, Srisley and The Birdman Sextet went on until 1 AM.

The opening of the center shed light on Valade's remarkable support of jazz in Detroit, extending beyond the festival to impact up and coming artists that will carry the music forward. It is the kind of support all cities dream of and seldom receive. While much of the corporate support that touches jazz emanates from generous donors who are not necessarily engaged with the jazz community, Valade was a true lover of the music, who wrote and performed jazz. It was in her soul, part of who she was. That love and care for jazz is ultimately what led to her gift that remains ongoing generation to generation. Her grand investment in the city's jazz culture also includes the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe in Grosse Pointe, and the world renowned Mack Avenue record label. Valade passed away in December of 2022 at 97 years of age, leaving a living legacy that touches, and will continue to impact, many thousands of lives annually.

Opening Night: An Homage to a Sister of Detroit

The threat of passing thunderstorms loomed over the opening night festivities at Hart Plaza, with temperatures hovering around ninety degrees with high humidity. A massive line began to form to gain entrance into Hart Plaza to take in festival artist-in-residence Brian Blade and his Fellowship Band, and a tribute to Detroit native Alice Coltrane titled, "Translinear Light." While sunny, hazy skies prevailed, a genuine threat of lightning existed, with local radar showing an electrical storm heading for the south end of Detroit along the Detroit River—the exact location of the festival site at Hart Plaza. A decision would have to be made early, as any interruption created by the pending storm would pose a real danger to the festival crowd, and the performers themselves.

After considering the massive effort and time required to move the performance indoors, the festival staff made a decision to cancel the Friday night performance that is normally staged before a massive audience. The performance would be live streamed from the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center at Wayne State University with no live audience, save members of the press and the entourage surrounding the band. It required a skill set acquired by the festival during the Covid years of 2020 and 2021, when the festival reached millions without a live audience via the strength of their newly found broadcast skills. For the safety of all, that same approach would be used for the 2024 Friday night performance, with the following three days of the festival back to normal. The weather forecast was favorable looking forward through Monday. This announcement was made by festival director Chris Collins in the proverbial nick of time.

"Due to the impending severe weather conditions projected to impact Hart Plaza during tonight's scheduled performances and acting out of an abundance of caution and the safety of our patrons and artists, we have decided to present both concerts, Translinear Light The Music of Alice Coltrane, and Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band as live streamed only performances from the Gretchen C. Valade Center.These presentations will be live streamed for free on our website."

Moving the performance to the new digs at Wayne State was a massive undertaking, including moving a precious commodity—Alice Coltrane's gold harp. Younger would perform on the instrument that evening. In addition, the band lost its rehearsal time in the process, augmented by the fact that the performance included a twenty-five-member chamber orchestra. Details right down to tuning the piano at the center needed to be attended to, and a sixty-minute rehearsal with conductor Brandon Waddles presiding over the brilliant arrangements of the music of Alice Coltrane by Detroit's own Mike McGinnis. After that extended rehearsal, everything was set to resume the program at 8:30 PM.

Meanwhile, the public was advised of the decision through various forms of communication in time to allay the arrival of most, but not all, festival patrons from the long lines that typically form during the four-day event.

Translinear Light would inevitably become one of the true highlights of the festival, no matter the means of delivery. The core of the band was a remarkable assemblage, headed by Ravi Coltrane, the son of Alice and John Coltrane. Younger would be the voice expressed through Coltrane's harp, with the double bass duo of Robert Hurst and the great Reggie Workman. Jeff Tain Watts was on drums and timpani.

The performance included beautiful arrangements of the music that created a collective resonance among the musicians, each approaching the music with noticeable reverence and strength. While each had their moments as soloists within the modal harmonic framework of the music, it was more a matter of meditative offering and receiving in group mind. Younger's playing blended magically within the chordal aspects of the music layered with piano and Fender Rhodes. While the instrument itself provided a degree of magical intervention, Younger's status as one of the premier jazz practitioners of the instrument was clearly expressed. Her focus on beauty itself was perfectly offered in both moments of soloing and support. She was in a way, awakening the instrument after many years sequestered from a live and public audience.

The performance was the debut of McGinnis' brilliant and touching arrangements. Beginning with "Spiritual Eternal," a Watts intro led to the bass tandem that was a notable and historic gathering in itself. Throughout the evening, Hurst would provide a foundational resonance enhanced by the intricate solo work or "blowing" of Workman. Younger's opening to "Andromeda's Suffering," welcomed the nimble tenor work of Coltrane and the stormy timpani of Watts. Much of the music was effectively a modal ostinato, but in essence a collective chant of vibrational spirituality. Ravi Coltane pointed out that Workman had performed extensively with both his mother and father.

The Detroit Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra provided a strong current of sound that acted as a vehicle of flight for the band as it maneuvered through the open landscape of Coltrane's transcendent works. Working his way through "Galaxy in Satchidananda" and "Los Caballos," son Ravi responded to his mother's musical calling with rapid fire passages and long tones that echoed memories of his father as well. This was music the tenorist had grown up with, and had worked in tandem with his mother on. HIs familiarity was a key to free transit within the orchestral wash of harmonic support received orchestrally in the moment.

Listening to the music that evening conjured images of the entire Coltrane legacy—not only of Alice, but of John, of their son Ravi and daughter Michelle, who led a vocal quartet through idyllic harmonizations of her music in Sanskrit and Aramaic. It illuminated the musical and spiritual impact that she imparted on generations, and how her husband's explorations blazed certain trails for her as well. It spoke to how music can create bridges of communication that transcends time, individual identity and spiritual alignment.

The livestream of the show would reach millions in all sectors of the globe, but still there were many disappointed with the arrangement, especially when the electrical storms that had threatened, passed to the south without landing on the festival site at Hart Plaza. It was a gut-wrenching decision for festival staff, but in the end, the correct decision. Putting the public and the artists at risk would contradict the essence of what music is—a source of spiritual healing and the realigning of humanity to a peaceful place. Chris Collins and his staff absolutely made the right decision, and still managed to deliver this historic performance to the public.

Day 2: Something Joyous, Swingin,' Weird and Wonderful

Part of being an out-of-town journalist covering The Detroit Jazz Festival is to become acquainted with the rich history of the music that began with the great migration of African Americans to Detroit in the 1940's, drawn to the city by the lure of jobs in the auto industry. Part of that amazing history is the independent Tribe collective of the 1970s that included a record label featuring Detroit jazz greats such as Marcus Belgrave, Phil Ranelin and the great saxophonist and vocalist, Wendell Harrison. That made attending the eighty-two-year—old Harrison's noon set at Campus Martius a must. While Harrison's chops may not be as sharp as they were during his activist times with Tribe, his ultimate musicality and presence is massive and impressive. His vocals are still soulful and narratively to the point. Struggling at first, he joined guitarist Jacob Schwandt in traversing the classic ballad "My One and Only Love," with melancholic dexterity. He seemed to find his path from that point on, driven by the brilliant young Detroit drummer, Louis Jones III, and guided harmonically by pianist Pamela Wise. Harrison pointed out that he had a forty-three-year history with Wise, evident by her elegant phrasing behind her partner's vocal work. The audience bore witness to Detroit history during that hour-long set.

The riverfront stage featured a jam session that included musicians in their teens mostly, with half hailing from Tottori, Japan. Standard jam session protocol prevailed, with musicians calling tunes and jamming with new found musical acquaintances. Two standouts clearly emerged in Detroit pianist Jacob Hart and sensational fifteen-year-old alto saxophonist, Kahlil Childs.

The well tenured Walter White followed Harrison and Tribe in what amounted to a diametric leap in opposites on the Campus Martius stage. A highly skilled trumpeter in the Maynard Ferguson vein, White led the band through his arrangement of Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk," in rambling, shape shifting fashion. Something that drew attention immediately was a tenor player sequestered on stage right, in the person of one Chris Collins, the festival's ever-present director. For all the tremendous effort Collins puts forth year-round for the festival, it was nice to see him in his true element as a world class jazz musician. The band also featured outstanding bassist Jeff Pedraz, a Philadelphia native now based in Detroit. Trumpeter Josie Ala stood out in sharp contrast to bandleader White, with a trumpet sound that was warm, bold and probing.

The new Bad Plus quartet took the Campus Martius stage during peak sun time on that location in Cadillac Square, with the actual stage and front of audience taking the most direct hit. It took the entire set for the sun to set behind the tall buildings of downtown, with the band underwhelmed by the conditions, and overwhelming in their new, eerily atmospheric presence. In many ways, the format is more in line with what Reid Anderson and Dave King have always proposed with the band in its piano trio history, but notably moving away from covers to all originals. The addition of guitarist Ben Monder and saxophonist Chris Speed creates a tremendous amount of space to operate, giving King lengths of territory to maneuver within on drums. I heard it be mentioned that the band has always been weird, so adding the very weird guitarist Monder gives them a dark element never before presented. Maybe, but if the band's seventy-minute set was weird, it was weird and wonderful.

The now guitar-based sound is very visual, as if the tunes were vignettes of larger film scores. With Monder producing sustained harmonies and chromatic runs interspersed with Speed's well conceived melodies on tenor saxophone and clarinet, King and Anderson seem to have found a formula to keep the experiment moving forward. In fact, while some may opine that without the dark imagination of Ethan Iverson, or the new found wisdom and musical intelligence of his replacement in Orrin Evans, that this is not The Bad Plus at all. Whatever the case may be, the Detroit audience found out that the broad, imaginative musicality of the ever-present drums and bass duo within the band had found new family in Monder and Speed, unlocking what could be an exciting future. The new music is complex emotionally, but built on simple motifs. The band's rock roots were fulfilled with Anderson's lyrical "French Horns," and put into overdrive with King's "Sick Fire." Monder's mastery was a clear delight to the audience, taken in by his embracing harmonizations and explorative chromaticism.

The Carhart Amphitheater at Hart Plaza was a place a festival goer could sit for the entire afternoon and evening without ever being disappointed. In turn, it unfailingly presented a wide swath of the jazz legacy on one stage, during one evening of time. Jamaican jazz legend Monty Alexander excited the crowd with his trio, while Latin jazz trumpeter Charlie Sepulveda got the crowd dancing with his groove-based, high-energy large ensemble. Vocalist Melanie Charles displayed the wondrous instrument that is her voice along with her adept approach on flute. There were moments of deeply introspective vocal work that stood out from her more pop oriented, r&b stylings. Chicago up-and-coming saxophonist Isaiah Collier joined her on soprano for a spell, with both artists seemingly lifting each other to new dynamic heights. One could quibble about Charles' wide swings in style that populate her performances, but it should be mentioned that there is no finer vocal instrument in jazz than her soulful voicings in focus.

Saturday night came to peak fruition in the final Hart Plaza set of the evening, As darkness descended on the crowd and pleasant temperatures permeated the breeze blowing in from the Detroit River, a massive crowd populated the amphitheater and plaza above to hear Christian McBride and Inside Straight. The straight-ahead combo is just one iteration of McBride's performance persona, but could very well be his most lethal. The quintet was swinging, straight-ahead, yet constantly reaching for new territory within the post-bop tradition. Supported strongly by the perennially underrated pianist Peter Martin and powerful presence of drummer Carl Allen, McBride the bassist drove the vehicle fast and forward, while his incarnation as bandleader presented eloquently noble purpose and just plain, unadulterated fun. Sensational vibraphonist Warren Wolf and the fine voice of alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw were thus gifted this powerful, intuitive engine that is the band's rhythm section.

McBride's "Listen to the Heroes Cry" provided the perfect vehicle for this elite quintet to take off. Wolf provided a scintillating intro to his tune, "Gang Gang," a standard he maintained throughout the performance. McBride's bass style, especially while soloing, has the soul of his native Philadelphia written all over it. The bassist mentioned the parallel between Philly and Detroit, both in the pantheon of greatness that each city has contributed in major movers of the music, but also in the soul of everyday life. He spoke to the fact that both had produced great boxers, especially in the golden era of the sport. Detroit can be equated to the toughness and intelligence of native son Joe Louis, just as the same can be applied to Philly and the great Joe Frazier—both signifying the brash, edgy, melodic, adventurous spirit within form and probing intelligence. McBride's blues-drenched homage to a particular expression of his great aunt followed, with "Used to Could" featuring soft and sweet voicings from Wolf and Shaw. The front line duo shined in call-and-response fashion on "Stick and Move," bringing the evening to a close.

Of course, there are sets that will be missed when you attend a monster of a festival like Detroit. There lies a myriad of sound that hovers between Hart Plaza, and a short distance away in Cadillac Square, surrounded by an urban setting that lies in the center of this great music city. On this Saturday night, while Inside Straight was performing front and center, Detroit drummer and bandleader Sean Dobbins was presenting on the river stage, "The World We Know," featuring original compositions aimed at creating dialog to resolve the social and cultural divisions we are challenged with in this time. It was an important program to witness and fortunately, one that can be accessed post-festival on the Detroit Jazz Festival website. All festival patrons have similar stories of regret, you cannot see it all, and if you do, you likely were still missing so much. Of course, this is a fine problem to have when presenting an event of this magnitude, tenure and cultural significance.

Day 3: What is This Thing We Call Jazz?

No visit to the Detroit Jazz Festival is complete without attending some sets offered by the area's multitude of university jazz programs. Most outstanding of these year in and year out is the Michigan State University band led by the great bassist, Rodney Whitaker. Dubbed the "Bebop Spartans," the band consistently produces musicians that continue to have a strong voice in the music on an international scale. The 2024 edition featured among others, the trumpeter Jauron Perry, this year's winner of the 2024 Detroit Jazz Festival Collegiate Combo Competition. The band bears the marks of its leader, swinging hard and serving up an ample portion of the blues in their playing. Whitaker came up through the tough love mentorship of Detroit legend Marcus Belgrave, and Whitaker subscribes to the same. The strong relationship and love between the band as a whole, including its leader, is plain to see onstage.

The band's performance included a dynamic arrangement of "A Night in Tunisia," and local tenorist Tim Warfield's "Tin Soldier." Stand-out performers included Perry and drummer Sarah Whitaker. Vocalist Amanda James delivered a rousing and on point interpretation of the Lennon / McCartney classic, "Can't Buy Me Love." The band may have been most spellbinding, working their way through Thad Jones' "Kids Are Pretty People," another gem from the great son of Detroit.

Perry's set at Campus Martius represented the annual tradition of awarding a set to the winner of the festival's national collegiate competition The twenty-year-old trumpeter arrived clad in a bright orange blazer, very reminiscent of the late great, Roy Hargrove. His overall sound bears the same marks, speaking to the narrative of Hargrove being the most influential trumpet voice in jazz since Miles Davis. Perry's inclusion of Hargrove's "A Clear Thought" drove the point home. Perry stayed closer to home to begin with, hitting with mentor Whitaker's "Childhood" in swing mode. The post-bop sound of the band was hard hitting, but dynamically diverse. While Perry's artistry is evident and presumably ascendent, perhaps most impressive was his savvy as a bandleader and overall onstage presence. As a son of Detroit at the very beginning of his career, playing a set at his hometown festival, a festival of international renown, was humbling and as the young man put it, "Almost surreal." In a town that has produced trumpeters Thad Jones, Donald Byrd and Belgrave, the trail has been blazed. It appears Perry is prepared to do some blazing of his own. He follows the current new generation of Detroit trumpeters in Trunino Lowe and Allen Dennard.

Jazz and Removing the Barriers of Access at DJF

If you are a jazz regular who frequents jazz performances at clubs and performance halls year round, then you would likely notice the audience at the festival as more diverse in every way. Of course, the abundance of younger faces stood out, faces you would not see at establishments requiring that patrons are twenty-one years old. There was no generational dominance of any sort, with jazz fans both young and old hanging in the massive crowds together and enjoying the true fellowship that only jazz can provide in our culture. It is the uniting force that we so desperately and honestly need in these very divisive times.

Gretchen Valade's mandate that the festival remain free, removes barriers of access and allows everyone to arrive together, to enjoy the music and the fellowship it brings with it. It is Black music, it is American music, it is our music gifted to the world. When we gather as a community united in sound, we are at our best as a culture, joined by love and fellowship. With beauty and artistry, the music gives us hope for the journey ahead and what we can create together.

With blissfully blue skies overhead, the legendary guitarist James Blood Ulmer took the stage at Hart Plaza for a mid-afternoon set. Seated, caressing his black Gibson Byrdland guitar behind dark gold rimmed sunglasses, the eighty-four-year-old blues and free-funk veteran wore a wry smile and nodded positively towards the large crowd gathering to take in his set. In trio with electric bass and drums, Ulmer began playing plectrum free, his thumb gently alternating between the bass line and basic chordal harmony. His jagged fingerstyle technique and soulful blues vocals were the trademarks of this seventy-minute set that defined in no uncertain terms the long and multi-faceted journey of this blues and jazz warrior.

While known largely for his work with Ornette Coleman and Arthur Blythe in more avant-garde settings, Ulmer has always been about the blues at his core, and this set bore no exception to that. Even in forming his Music Revelation Ensemble in the 1980s and 1990s with David Murray, Ulmer's guitar work and vocals have always been tethered to the delta and the music that proliferated there and traveled north during the great migration. Ulmer's set remained centered on his deepest roots into the music, and revealed a voice unedited by time or popular influence. It was pure in a sense, and had a way of bringing the audience back to a place where receiving all derivatives of the blues was possible. It was a reality check, a way of assuring one's understanding of where all of the music that surrounded us over those four days in Detroit rose from. Ulmer took us back, and then revealed to us what was to come still.

A quick jaunt from Hart Plaza to Campus Martius took us to a vibraphone summit that would shake loose any sort of humdrum notions of the long weekend and send us flying as if propelled by some sort of musical catapult into the early evening sky. Vibraphone greats Joe Locke and Warren Wolf were joined by Jason Marsalis and the relative newcomer Chien Chien Lu. Wolf, who electrified the festival audience the night before with Christian Mc Bride and Inside Straight stood out from the beginning, with Locke following suit magically with his astonishing chops. The dynamic Locke had the audience on its feet with every strike of his four mallets.

With the evening crowd now turning massive as the sun began to set in the western sky, large lines formed in both directions entering Hart Plaza, while the walk down Woodward towards Campus Martius became a heavily trafficked, bustling mass of humanity. Along the way, street performers did their thing and street hustlers peddled everything from sunglasses to street food to festival merch.

Following Ulmer, Chief Adjuah played a set on the amphitheater stage at Hart Plaza that blended traditional elements with modern, electric interpretations of the music. Adjuah, the former Christian Scott, cloaked himself in the traditions of the past with attempts to redefine where the music is headed both in terms of sound and social significance. He heralded that the time to reevaluate the music one hundred years in was at hand in the here and now.

Adjuah was followed by a better than expected set from saxophonist Joshua Redman with a group that featured nonchalant vocalist, Gabrielle Cavassa. The band played with precision and fluid grace, adorned with the laid back narrative provided by Cavassa. Redman's playing was sharp, dynamic and unbridled by complex, harmonic guidance.

The second of three performances by festival artist-in-residence Brian Blade was the highlight of the evening, staged among the tall buildings and urban hustle of Cadillac Square at Campus Martius. Titled "Three Visitors," Blade was joined in the core trio by Venezuelan pianist Edward Simon and ace veteran bassist Scott Colley. The trio was adorned by the Detroit Jazz Festival String Octet, a collection of the city's finest string players.

The core trio began, performing Simon's "Country," before the strings entered slowly and ominously for "Nostalgia," another Simon penned piece. Both appeared as rambling folk melodies, with baroque nuances and jazz harmony. Colley's bass would act as a counterpoint to the melody often, when not actually participating as a melody instrument. His playing, which employed superior bow technique and elegant pizzicato, was a highlight throughout the set, assisted by Simon's brilliant compositional skills and Blade's explosive playing.

Colley contributed as a composer as well, offering "The Thicket," followed by Simon's "I Wanna Be With You." Vocalist Becca Stevens, who wrote lyrics for the Simon piece, joined the group for vocals on the piece and delivered beautifully. She accompanied herself on the ten-string charango, a small lute-like instrument. Her soaring narrative was a perfect compliment to the sound of this precision trio and its string counterpart. In the distance, you could hear the roar of the crowd from Comerica Park, where the Detroit Tigers had put the finishing touches on a ninth-inning win. That, along with the telltale urban sounds of downtown Detroit added to the charm of the evening, and served as a reminder that this festival is staged right in the middle of this history-laden music metropolis.

The cooler evening air was a welcoming presence, with final sets by Kyle Eastwood, Ghost-Note and Carmen Lundy leading to what would be the final go around on Monday for what would become perhaps the finest day of music the festival would offer up in this 45th edition of the event.

Day 4: Carrying the Legacy Forward With Love

It is impossible for any festival attendee to traverse the grounds and see every set from every artist, just as the case definitively is for a journalist covering the four-day event. One would be remiss however, not to mention remarkable performances that may fly under the radar for most jazz fans, namely those made by young, unknown players attending the annual JC Heard Week at Wayne St. University, directed by Detroit guitarist and educator Chuck Newsome. This year two young musicians stood out in Detroit pianist Jacob Hart and San Diego-based alto saxophonist, Kahlil Childs.

The opening sets on Monday put young musicians in the spotlight, with the University of Michigan Jazz Showcase under the direction of Ellen Rowe occupying the Campus Martius stage, and the Detroit Public Schools Showcase settling in at the Riverfront stage. UM saxophonist Houston Patton showed why he is already a known quantity on the club scene in Detroit and Ann Arbor. However, what was happening at the amphitheater stage at Hart Plaza took precedence simply due to exceptional young talent. The JC Heard Week All-Stars featured Hart and Childs, who performed in a stunningly professional and virtuosic manner. The duo are both just fifteen years old. The tall, lanky Childs used the full range of his instrument while effectively using dynamics to build an arc within each solo. His sound can be sweet and equally harsh when called for, executed with remarkable technique and most importantly, a keen understanding of nuance that is rare for veteran players much less a ninth grader. The young altoist's approach is that of many of the great tenor players in jazz history, with a great spiritual awareness of the musical environment where he is residing in the moment. Hart was a complete game changer, steering the rhythmic qualities of the band from behind the piano like an adept music director on the podium. His ornate sense of harmony extends from his comping to his solos, where his chordal work interspersed with melodic, cascading runs were eerily reminiscent of the great McCoy Tyner. The twosome have been playing jam sessions in and around the festival since they were fourteen, giving them the edge of bandstand experience that takes them far beyond institutional learning of any sort. Both contributed original compositions to the set, as did the entire ensemble as part of the programming.

The dominating appearance of Childs and Hart tended to obscure the other talented young musicians that annually rise from this formidable Detroit mainstay program. Guitarist Bre Vendittelli falls into this category. She delivered a guitar style that reflects traditional jazz guitar methodology with a modern edge. Think Jim Hall meets Emily Remler meets Kurt Rosenwinkel. Comps aside, Vendittelli possesses something besides technique that many musicians never truly discover—the ability to be unequivocally herself, to stand on her own in a very open and vulnerable way and deliver. For all the greatness one is surrounded with at this festival for four days, this hour-long set was perhaps the most inspiring for those concerned about the future of the music. As rock legend Pete Townshend once put it, "The kids are alright."

Kasan Belgrave and the Legacy He Inevitably Carries Forward

The Detroit legacy of Marcus Belgrave is unlike any other in America. The great trumpeter and educator passed in 2015, after mentoring two generations of Detroit jazz musicians. He in turn impacted the ideology of two generations of mentors, an astonishing impact on one of the world's great music cities. His wisdom deeply impacted the careers and lives of Geri Allen, Kenny Garrett, Regina Carter, Robert Hurst, Rodney Whitaker, Karriem Riggins and Ali Jackson to name a few. His son, twenty-five-year old Kasan, is a formidable woodwinds player in career launch mode. He was the recipient not only of his father's tough love mentorship, but that of Marcus' colleagues and students. The expectations heaped upon this young man are enormous, and equally unfair. Time spent with him reveals a polite, humble and intelligent individual who deals with these expectations with grace and ease. That being said, the pressure derived from those expectations does not disappear. It is a matter of taking those pressures in stride, and allowing them to inspire you and give you a strong sense of humility.

Having a set at the 2024 Detroit Jazz Festival, in his dad's old stomping grounds was a highlight of his young career, and a high point of the festival at large as well. His premier as a leader at the festival was on the main amphitheater stage at Hart Plaza, giving it priority status among festival goers. For Belgrave, leaping into this opportunity with the brotherhood of his long time friends onstage was a comfort. Drummer Louis Jones III, trumpeter Dennard, trombonist / bassist Michael Abbo and pianists Brendon Davis and Jordan Anderson are young, talented and restless in lending both emotional support for their bandleader, while contributing lethal chops to the effort. Following an introduction that trumpeted the Belgrave legacy and intimated of its continuing legacy, the young Belgrave launched into his set on alto in fiery swing mode, tearing through his original appropriately titled "Take Off." From the first take, one recognized Belgrave's melodies as resonant standing alone and playful conversationally between the musicians. Along with Marquis Hill's "Phase 2," Belgrave was focused on speed out of the gate, no doubt due in part to the adrenalin generated by the massive crowd gathered and the accolades delivered in his introduction. His darting alto was balanced out by the long tone approach of trumpeter Dennard. Mixing in powerful melodic bursts, the trumpeter stuck the bell of his horn right into the microphone Miles Davis style. Bassist James Muir Cotton and drummer Jones held down the groove lock and key, but allowed quite a bit of rhythmic wiggle room for their horn playing brethren to operate.

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