Detroit Jazz Festival

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The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation celebrates Detroit’s rich history of jazz by providing year-round concerts, educational programming, & of course, presenting the world’s largest free jazz festival, featuring world-class talent on Labor Day weekend. For over 40 years, the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation has celebrated Detroit’s rich history of jazz music by providing year-round concerts and educational programming, and of course, organizing the world’s largest free jazz festival over Labor Day weekend. With the support of corporate sponsors, philanthropic organizations, individual donors and volunteers, the Detroit Jazz Festival is free to music fans looking to revel in the artistry and improvisation of jazz legends, rising stars, legacy and homecoming artists. Each year’s lineup of more than 60 performances spanning multiple stages in Hart Plaza and Campus Martius, as well as spontaneous late-night jam sessions, offers something for everyone. Our year-round educational programming creates one-of-a-kind opportunities for regional students and aspiring musicians to help them achieve artistic excellence, while our concerts celebrate the works of students and mentors, in addition to local and national artists.

Catch Detroit PBS as "Detroit Performs" features two artists from the Detroit Jazz Festival!☝️ Sequoia Snyder, aka REDWO...
09/16/2026

Catch Detroit PBS as "Detroit Performs" features two artists from the Detroit Jazz Festival!
☝️ Sequoia Snyder, aka REDWOOD, shows off her keyboard and bandleading skills on the JP Morgan Chase Stage, with Inner Knowing, part of the Detroit Signature Series presented by Rocket Companies.
✌️And on the Carhartt Amphitheater Stage, Himiko Kikuchi performs with the Tottori Young Lions Trio.
🕰️ Watch it now (7:30 p.m.), September 16, on Detroit PBS. Or find it anytime on PBS.org: https://www.pbs.org/video/sequoia-redwood-snyder-himiko-kikuchi-at-the-47th-detroit-jazz-festival-wwuill/

Redwood - Artist

09/16/2026

Just before Artist-in-Residence Joe Lovano closed the 2026 Detroit Jazz Festival, he talked a little about how he hoped to honor centennial artist John Coltrane in his final performance.

"Across four days, the Detroit Jazz Festival honored the architects of the music while giving contemporary musicians roo...
09/15/2026

"Across four days, the Detroit Jazz Festival honored the architects of the music while giving contemporary musicians room to reinterpret their legacies. From Weston’s African-centered compositions to Davis’ electric explorations and the enduring spiritual force of Coltrane, the festival demonstrated how jazz history continues to live through the musicians reshaping it in the present." Thanks, Veronica Johnson and JazzTimes!

O n Labor Day weekend, downtown Detroit’s Hart Plaza overflowed with jazz fans eager to hear local and national musicians at the 47th annual Detroit … Read More "Detroit Jazz Festival 2026: Contemporary Artists Highlight Centennial Honorees Randy Weston, John Coltrane, Miles Davis"

09/14/2026

The winner of the Youth Vocal competition presented by Lauren M Underwood, Bingham Legal Group, P.C. gets a cash prize and a performance spot on the festival stage, and Ava Valentina Noecker made the most of it, singing two numbers with the J.C. Heard JazzWeek@Wayne All-Stars. The University Liggett School senior was thrilled to be there.

09/11/2026

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: What is jazz? Last weekend we asked the next generation of musicians, playing at the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center at Wayne State University, to tell us in their own words. Different answers. Different perspectives. One shared love for the music.

09/10/2026

Just 23 years old, pianist🎹Joey Alexander has already had an amazing career, having made his American debut at 10. The Indonesian-born Alexander played his second Detroit Jazz Festival on Labor Day, closing the JP Morgan Chase stage.

09/10/2026

Gabrielle Cavassa signed merch after her fun, witty set at the 2026 Detroit Jazz Festival, and took a moment afterward to talk about being a "vampire," and the energy at the Carhartt Amphitheater Stage.

Lots of people marvel at the miracle of the Detroit Jazz Festival still being free, at a time when hardly anything is an...
09/09/2026

Lots of people marvel at the miracle of the Detroit Jazz Festival still being free, at a time when hardly anything is anymore, and especially entertainment.🎶 But it’s only free to the fans. Artists and crew get paid, green rooms stocked, instruments and equipment rented — it takes a lot of money💰, and it adds up.

❓Who pays? Generous donors and sponsors, without whom the show couldn’t go on. Every year we ask, and every year they give. So once again, we say thanks from the bottom of our jazz-loving hearts to… Carhartt, AARP, Comcast, JPMorgan Chase, Kia America, Rocket Companies, Amtech USA, Lauren M Underwood, Bingham Legal Group, P.C., Boost Mobile, Central Michigan University, Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, MGM Grand Detroit, Paxahau, Plante Moran, Signature Cruise Experiences, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Wayne State University, Andiamo, Audio Rescue Team, Carbliss, Cliff Bell's, I.A.T.S.E. Local 38, Digital Planet, DTE Energy, Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, Michelob Ultra, Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan, Steiner Printing, Stella Artois and 32 Bar Blues.

09/08/2026

Programming at the Detroit Jazz Festival goes strong through the final day, and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, the penultimate artist on the Carhartt Amphitheater Stage, showed the crowd a great time -- and explained why Detroit audiences are so popular with performers.

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Harper Woods, MI

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