This Labor Day weekend, the 33rd annual Detroit Jazz Festival will sound off on Detroit's riverfront with an all-star line up. The roster for the free event, which runs from Aug. 31 through Sept. 3, will feature jazz legends Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea and Gary Burton, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny and trumpeter Terence Blanchard, Jazz Fest's 2012 artist-in-residence.
These artists and others performers at this year's Jazz Fest have won a combined 100 Grammy Awards.
"This year, we wanted to focus on going back to traditional jazz roots,"said Chris Collins, artistic director of the festival and the director of Jazz Studies at Wayne State University, in a release. "Bringing together these world-class jazz artists gives festival-goers the opportunity to experience jazz at its finest -- a collaboration between artists with history, experience and a style all their own."
The event will also feature a Jazz Talk Tent where festival-goers can learn more about featured artists and music history from jazz experts.
The festival is sponsored by a number of corporate backers, as well as by donations from individual sponsors, which organizers are trying to encourage through a "Keep It Free" fundraising effort. The Detroit Jazz Festival is world's largest no-cost jazz festival.
Here is the complete lineup for the 2012 Detroit Jazz Festival:
- Sonny Rollins
- Wynton Marsalis Quintet
- Pat Metheny; Featuring Chris Potter, Unity Band, Antonio Sanchez, Ben Williams
- Chick Corea and Gary Burton; Featuring the Harlem String Quartet
- Wayne Shorter Quartet; Featuring Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Lawrence Fields, James Genus, Joey Baron
- Terence Blanchard; Featuring Poncho Sanchez, Art Blakey Tribute, Peter Washington, Lewis Nash, Geoffrey Keezer, Chris Fuller
- Randy Brecker and Lew Tabackin
- Steve Wilson, Bird with Strings Revisited
- Fred Hersch Trio
- Tom Harrell
- Donald Harrison; Featuring Godfathers of Groove, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Charlie Gabriel, Christian Scott, James Andrews, Brian Lynch
- Mack Avenue Super Band; Featuring Kevin Eubanks, Sean Jones, Tia Fuller, Alfredo Rodriguez
- Jerry Gonzales
- Poncho Sanchez
- Papo Vazquez Pirates Troubadours
- Arturo O’Farrill Afro-Latin Septet
- Godfathers of Groove
- Ellery Eskelin Trio
- Peter Bernstein
- Larry Goldings
- Bill Stewart
- Kenny Garrett
- Curtis Fuller
- Louis Hayes
- Charles McPherson
- Richard Margitza
- Harvey Thompson
- Walter White
- Marcus Belgrave Homecoming Band; Featuring Geri Allen, Marion Hayden
- George Benson
- Gene Parker
Check out some performances by the 2012 Detroit Jazz Festival's headliners below:
Detroit Jazz Festival 2012
Flickr photo by Knight Foundation.