Carnival of Soul

DETROIT, MI — The 2020 Detroit Jazz Festival will be streaked and broadcast live for free over the Labor Day weekend, event and city of Detroit officials announced this week. The festival begins Sept. 4 and runs through Sept. 7.

The festival, which will be held without audiences, will offer the new virtual format in recognition of current city, state and federal safety guidelines for public gatherings during the pandemic. All performances will be streamed or broadcasted live from indoor sound stages at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center and are closed to the public.

“The Detroit Jazz Festival is one of our city’s most popular events, and we’re thrilled to know that this 41-year tradition will continue this summer — safely and with a spotlight on our world-class local artists,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in a news release.

Jazz enthusiasts will be able to view or listen to performances for free in a number of ways, including Channel 22, the city’s new Arts and Entertainment Channel; the Festival’s web page; on public radio and television stations; and on the DetroitJazzFest LIVE! app.

“The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation is taking health and safety and the use of technology to a new level of excellence this year,” said Chris Collins, Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation president and artistic director. “Working with city, state and federal authorities, we evaluated several contingency plans to ensure the health and safety of our extensive audience during the pandemic. After much consideration, it was decided to create a virtual performance environment that will duplicate the “live” performance experience.”

“This virtual format marries convenience with the excitement of a live performance that embodies the constant innovation in Detroit,” said Jasmin DeForrest, Director of Community Sponsorships at the Quicken Loans Community Fund. “JazzFest will be paving the way and reaching jazz lovers on a worldwide scale through this virtual format. Once again, we are pleased to highlight the festival and Detroit as a whole through music, art and celebration.

Details of the new format

• The 2020 Detroit Jazz Festival will take place on the same dates on three indoor large sound stages set up at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. Each stage will mimic the size, sound, lighting, crew and gear of traditional Festival stages.

• Each soundstage will be shot with three cameras in HD audio/video with broadcast specialists, directors and specialized crews maintaining the excellence in artist and audience experiences for which the Festival is known and what Detroit and jazz audiences around the world deserve.

• The programming includes opening night followed by 8-10 hours per day of live/real-time continuous jazz performances and programming streamed to various formats including a free public video/audio stream, maintaining the mission to keep the festival free and available to everyone.
• The Detroit Jazz Festival will be available free-to-the-public through internet channels. The festival is also coordinating with the city of Detroit to show the live performances on Channel 22. Live performances will also be carried by Detroit Public Television, WRCJ 90.9 FM and WDET 101.9fm. In addition, as always, the entire festival programming will be available on the proprietary DetroitJazzFest LIVE! app.

• The Detroit Jazz Festival will showcase mostly Detroit area artists, highlighting Detroit’s incredible jazz talent to the world, on the festival’s stages. An exciting new virtual lineup will be announced soon. There will be open submissions for Detroit area jazz artists through July 15. To apply and for more information, please go to detroitjazzfest.org.

“We have all felt the pain of all the canceled festivals and experiences around the globe,” Collins said. “The sheer financial strain the pandemic has put on artists, agents, crew and indeed the entire musical industry is epic. Fortunately, the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation is in an almost unique position to produce a real, live jazz format this year, albeit in a virtual environment, due to our status as a free festival for 41 years, a progressive funding structure from generous corporate sponsors and private donors, and a three-year investment in year-round streaming and broadcast technologies through our DetroitJazzFest LIVE! App.”

COVID-19 Safety Precautions

The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation has developed extensive health and safety protocols and collected data from related travel entities to ensure the artists’ health is protected and isolation maintained throughout their Detroit Jazz Festival experience. Below is a list of some additional info:

• All festival staff/crew/techs/interviewers will be in PPE and temperature tested daily.

• All hotel rooms, rehearsal rooms and sound stages will be located within the Marriott complex further maintaining artists’ health and safety by eliminating travel outside the controlled Marriott environment.

• Scheduled rehearsals and performances will be organized to allow maximum physical distancing. Rehearsal spaces, green rooms and all artist contacted equipment will be disinfected between each rehearsal/performance.

• The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation has established an on-stage plan for all performing bands based social distancing and current industry health and safety protocols.

Detroit Jazz Festival 2020 Poster Open Call for Artists

For the first time ever, the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation will partner with the city to create its iconic Jazz Festival Poster.

The Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship, Detroit ACE, will issue an open call to identify an outstanding DETROIT artist to create the 2020 Detroit Jazz Festival poster. The selected artist will receive a commission fee, receive media and public recognition at the 2020 festival and join the diverse collection of global artists who have created 40 years of posters.

The 2020 poster is intended to capture the spirit of this year’s festival – the art of jazz, the Detroit vibe and the defining events and realities of the year, potentially including the need (due to public health and safety) to stream/broadcast the festival in place of its traditional live/outdoor/downtown Detroit format, the global pandemic, the quest for justice, equality and freedom brought to the forefront by the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation will donate all proceeds from the sales of this year’s poster to the Detroit Arts Fund, which ACE established to support arts and culture in the city.