Brian McCollum
Detroit Free Press Published 6:53 PM EDT Jul 1, 2020 For the first time in four decades, there won't be a jazz festival to attend in downtown Detroit this September. But
there will still be free, live jazz music: The Detroit Jazz Festival
will become a virtual event this Labor Day weekend — a four-day show
that will air digitally, on television and on radio. Yielding to
the realities of the coronavirus pandemic, festival officials and Mayor
Mike Duggan announced the move Wednesday. Rocket Mortgage is aboard as
presenting sponsor. The 2020 jazz fest will run Sept.
4-7 featuring mostly local talent performing live on three soundstages
in the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. The performance
spaces will be fashioned after the festival's traditional stages, but
without audiences.
The
fest will stream online on the city of Detroit's Channel 22 digital
station and the festival's own digital platforms, with performances also
broadcast on Detroit Public Television, WDET-FM (101.9) and WRCJ-FM
(90.9). The Detroit Jazz Festival's original 2020 lineup,
announced in March, included artist-in-residence Dee Dee Bridgewater,
along with Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders, Gregory Porter and others
who would have traveled to perform. While they won't be heading to
Detroit for the virtual event, fest director Chris Collins hinted
they'll have some kind of role. "I have a hunch you'll be seeing them in some form during the four-day programming," Collins said. Performances
at the RenCen will be staged under a set of intensive protocols,
including onstage social distancing and regular disinfecting of gear and
green rooms. The move to a "health-conscious" virtual fest
followed consultation with local, state and federal authorities, Collins
said, and officials evaluated several contingency plans for an
in-person event before opting for the streamed edition. Jazz fest
officials were part of a 100-plus-person entertainment subcommittee
that submitted a package of event reopening and safety
recommendations to the state of Michigan in June. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
hasn't yet adopted the proposals. The Detroit Jazz Festival is
holding open submissions for Detroit musical talent. Artists can apply
through July 15 at detroitjazzfest.org. The festival has also put
out an open call for visual artists, one of whom will be selected to
design the event's official poster — ideally capturing the spirit of the
music and the 2020 zeitgeist, including the pandemic and Black Lives
Matter movement. Proceeds from poster sales will go to the Detroit Arts Fund, established earlier this year. There's
no word yet on the status of two other prominent September festivals,
including Soaring Eagle Arts, Beats & Eats in Royal Oak and the
Movement techno fest, scheduled Sept. 11-13 in downtown Detroit after
postponing its traditional Memorial Day spot. from https://eu.freep.com
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