The Detroit Jazz Festival was founded in 1980 by Robert McCabe and the Detroit Renaissance. From that year to 1991 the free event, which attracts people from metro Detroit and many parts of Michigan as well as Canada, operated through a partnership with the famed International Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland
In 1991, the festival merged with the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, an arrangement that lasted until 2005. Mack Avenue Records chairperson Gretchen Valade then became a major sponsor, with additional support from the Knight Foundation. The festival is now managed and produced by the Detroit International Jazz Foundation.
Among the hundreds of acts performing this year are Ahmad Jamal, Charles Lloyd, Freddie Cole, the Yellowjackets, Joshua Redman, Kimmie Horne, Geri Allen, Delfeayo Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Johnny Trudell, Dave Murray, Macy Gray and Robert Hurst.
For a full schedule and other information, visit detroitjazzfest.com.
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