Jul 17, 2025 12:44 PM
DownBeat’s 73rd Annual Critics Poll: One for the Record Books
You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
The Detroit Jazz Festival has announced its lineup for Labor Day weekend during a livestream preview event that included a live performance from the 2022 Artist-in-Residence Chucho Valdés.
(Photo: Courtesy of the Detroit Jazz Festival)The Detroit Jazz Festival has announced its lineup for Labor Day weekend during a livestream preview event that included a live performance from the 2022 Artist-in-Residence Chucho Valdés. The Festival is expected to be back live, in-person in downtown Detroit.
The Detroit Jazz Festival Livestream Preview Event was held with a limited audience at the future home of the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center at Wayne State University, in Midtown Detroit. The Gretchen Valade Jazz Center is scheduled to open Fall 2023.
The lineup announcement coincided with International Jazz Day, a global celebration to raise awareness about the virtues of jazz as an educational tool, peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people.
“It’s extremely befitting we announce the 2022 Festival lineup on what is considered a global day of unity in the jazz community,” said Chris Collins, president and artistic director, Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation. “As we look forward to pivoting back to an in-person format, this year’s lineup reflects our renewed mission to feature legacy artists, propagate and nurture the next generation of jazz performers and audiences, and showcase the diverse tapestry of jazz in one festival.”
“We are proud to present the Detroit Jazz Festival, a marquee event that celebrates jazz’s rich history in our hometown of Detroit,” said Laura Grannemann, the vice president of the Rocket Community Fund. “This event is more than a festival, it’s a community that comes together to celebrate music, our city and each other.”
The full festival schedule will be available as the event nears. DB
James Brandon Lewis earned honors for Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Three of his recordings placed in the Albums of the Year category.
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