By: K. Michelle Moran | C&G Newspapers | Published August 14, 2025
DETROIT — Detroit’s reputation as a place where musical excellence is nurtured and celebrated will be on display over Labor Day weekend when the Detroit Jazz Festival returns for its 46th year.
The free festival — which features artists from international jazz luminaries to stellar students — will take place on stages in downtown Detroit and in midtown, on the Wayne State University campus, from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1.
Jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran is this year’s artist-in-residence. Among his performances will be a collaboration with electronic music artist Jeff Mills at 9 p.m. Aug. 29, his presentation of the music of Duke Ellington featuring the Detroit Jazz Festival Collegiate Jazz Orchestra at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 31, and Moran and the Bandwagon with special guests Meshell Ndegeocello and Akili Bradley at 6 p.m. Sept. 1.
Other headliners include Marion Hayden and Legacy with special guest Kamau Kenyatta, Keyon Harrold, John Pizzarelli, Maria Schneider Orchestra, Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanos, Chucho Valdés & Paquito D’Rivera Reunion Sextet, and Branford Marsalis Quartet.
“The festival is all about this music,” said Chris Collins, president and artistic director of the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation. “This is a (45) year tradition of music that is woven into the DNA of Detroit.”
Musicians on the bill with metro Detroit roots include Hayden, Rodney Whitaker and Allen Dennard, whose quartet will be playing at 5:45 p.m. Aug. 30. Collins said Dennard came through the DJF’s youth program in middle school. Another rising jazz talent from the DJF education program, Wayne State University graduate Louis Jones III — a drummer and composer — will be joined by his band, The Flood, for a set at 3 p.m. Sept. 1.
Zen Zadravec was born in Winnipeg, Canada, but now calls Livonia home. He’s played the DJF before but is excited to be making his main stage debut at 2:45 p.m. Aug. 30, which he said is “a huge honor.” Making it even more special is the fact that his piano teacher, Kenny Barron, will be performing on the same stage that day, at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 30. Zadravec’s latest CD, “The New Paradigm,” will be celebrated with release party concerts in October at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café in Grosse Pointe Farms.
“There’s going to be straight-ahead (jazz with) elements of fusion and funk,” Zadravec said of the new CD and works he and his band will be playing at the festival.
He said the festival is a chance for audiences to connect with something real — a contrast to the carefully curated images fostered on social media.
“My goal as a musician is not just to play good music, but that people will be touched by the compositions and they will walk away feeling better than when they came … and be inspired,” Zadravec said.
High school bands from across Michigan selected for the DJF include Notre Dame Preparatory High School Jazz Band from Pontiac at 1 p.m. Aug. 30, Utica High School Band at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 30, Rochester Adams High Band at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 31 and Cass Tech High School at noon Sept. 1. They’ll perform at Detroit Jazz Hall inside the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center at Wayne State University, a performance space specifically designed to best showcase jazz. The venue opened last year and is the festival’s fourth stage this year, Collins said.
“I wanted them to be on a professional stage with a professional crew and lighting,” Collins said of the high school bands.
As an educator and touring musician himself, Collins is always meeting other musicians and encountering new talent. He also continues to have an open submission process for festival artists from February to June, to find musicians who weren’t on his radar.
Audiences will hear jazz veterans and newer artists on the same stages. Collins said he’s always interested in established artists who continue to evolve and try new things, as well as exemplary artists who aren’t as well known yet.
“We really want to celebrate the idea of legacy and this art form that is living and breathing — it’s not a museum piece,” Collins said. “The Detroit Jazz Festival is about the art form of yesterday, today and tomorrow, and we go to great lengths to (reflect that).”
The festival begins at 6 p.m. Aug. 29 with Dr. Valade’s Brass Band featuring Shannon Powell. The traditional New Orleans-style brass band’s name pays tribute to the late Gretchen Valade, a philanthropist and businesswoman from Grosse Pointe Farms whose lifelong love of jazz led her to rescue the festival when it was on the verge of collapse circa 2005, leading her to be nicknamed the “Angel of Jazz.” Her private foundation, the Gretchen C. Valade Endowment for the Arts, continues to provide funding for the festival. Valade died Dec. 30, 2022, at the age of 97.
Keeping the DJF free was one of Valade’s goals, but putting on a free festival isn’t cheap. Collins said it costs about $4.5 million to $5 million annually to produce the DJF. That’s why corporate sponsorships and donations of any amount are always needed. VIP festival tickets are a way to support the event while enjoying special seating and hospitality. Collins said an audit this year found that 85 cents of every dollar donated goes directly into festival programming.
The festival — which attracts visitors from around the world — brings roughly $30 million worth of economic development to Detroit over four days, Collins said.
Those who can’t attend in person can watch a free festival livestream via the DJF website, which drew almost 2 million unique viewers in 38 countries last year, Collins said. For a full festival schedule or more about donation opportunities, visit detroitjazzfest.org.