Macy Gray's approach to jazz is 'organic and ... refreshing,' says the festival's artistic director. (Guiliano Bekor)
Just as summer fades, downtown Detroit heats up with the yearly confluence of music, fans and perfect weather that is the 2013 Detroit Jazz Festival, running Friday through Monday from the riverfront up to Campus Martius.
Collaboration and improvisation is a key part of jazz and during the festival, the interplay between musicians and fans as cool river breezes waft through the stages is magic.
It’s hard to say who gets more out of the experience, musician or listener.
“You’re looking for an experience to get you out of a routine,” says the festival’s artist in residence, Panamian pianist Danilo Perez, who kicks off the festival at 7 p.m. Friday on the Chase stage. “You want some joy in your life, or you have some questions. I say two words, ‘inspiration’ and ‘potential.’ Inspiration at the jazz festival because you come and hear all these things and for a minute, you think all the problems are solvable. For a day! The second potential thing is that you meet people. You may be sitting there, and all of a sudden meet someone you have never met, that creates a collaboration.
“Jazz is more powerful than other cultural experiences because it depends on that collaboration. A performance doesn’t go without the audience.”
Bass player Chris Brubeck returns to the festival with his brothers to take part in several tributes to their father, the late Dave Brubeck. Brubeck says his father loved playing the Detroit Jazz festival in part because he got the chance to move around the festival and see his sons’ group play, but also because of the way he connected with the audience.
Brubeck mentioned a prestigious jazz festival he just played where the audience seemed to be more concerned with conversing, than experiencing the music. During a long Hubert Laws solo, the decibel level of the chatter never went down. “They weren’t a listening audience. There wasn’t the level of respect there is in Detroit,” Brubeck says. “Detroit listens. What’s great about Detroit, they will be rowdy when you want them to be and really listen when you want them to.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130828/ENT01/308280011#ixzz2dGqp0MsS
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