The Detroit Jazz Festival, the world’s largest free jazz festival, has announced an expansion to its programming during Labor Day weekend to include free jazz performances at the new state-of-the-art Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center, located on the campus of Wayne State University.
Billed the “Midtown After Hours Special,” the jazz performances will include jam sessions and performances from artists affiliated with the Detroit Jazz Festival.
Located at the corner of Cass Avenue and Hancock Street (4743 Cass Ave.), the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center houses two venues — the Detroit Jazz Hall and Dee Dee Bridgewater’s (formerly Hilberry Theatre).
Valade’s gifts totaling $9.5 million to jazz studies and performance at Wayne State helped to fund the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center. The two renovations to existing performance spaces are part of the Hilberry Gateway integrated performing arts complex for theatre, music, and dance.
The two renovations include Detroit Jazz Hall, a 325-seat venue with VIP seating options, is specifically designed acoustically and logistically for jazz in all its forms and is well-suited for other creative and interdisciplinary activations.
The second venue is Dee Dee Bridgewater’s — a hip, jazz club style venue that embodies the intimacy, vibe, and listening experience of the traditional environment in which the jazz language has evolved and continues to be propagated. The 120-seat space wraps around the stage.
“The expansion of our free jazz programming to the new Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center is a natural evolution of our mission of jazz in the community and commitment to the legacy of our Angel of Jazz, the late Gretchen C. Valade,” says Chris Collins, president and artistic director of the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation.
Midtown After Hours Special Performances at the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center:
Friday, Aug. 30
- 10:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. — Collegiate Combo Competition presented by Central Michigan University
- Finalists: Flash Point Quintet (Indiana), Srisley (Boston), The Birdman Sextet (Texas), The Jauron Perry Quintet (Michigan, New York) – Dee Dee Bridgewater’s
Saturday, Aug. 31
- 10:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. — Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio – Detroit Jazz Hall
Sunday, Sept. 1
- 10:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. — Jon Cowherd Solo Piano – Detroit Jazz Hall
The Detroit Jazz Festival is in downtown Detroit and runs from Aug. 30 – Sept. 2 (Labor Day Weekend).
The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization that presents jazz and educational workshops throughout the year.
The foundation produces the Detroit Jazz Festival, which is its signature event and the largest free jazz festival in the world. The festival also is a major tourist attraction for the City of Detroit, with 26 percent of its audience coming from out of state.
The Detroit Jazz Festival is supported by the Gretchen C. Valade Endowment for the Arts, a private foundation generously created by the late Gretchen C. Valade. The foundation also receives grant funding from the DTE Foundation, Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, Kresge Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Carolyn and Mel Wanzo Music Legacy Endowment, and National Endowment for the Arts. Hundreds of individuals also contribute to the Festival through membership and donations.
Major corporate partners include Rocket Cos., Carhartt, JPMorgan Chase, Absopure, Kia, Mack Avenue Music Group, and AARP.
For more information, visit https://www.detroitjazzfest.org/.
