Detroit Jazz Festival reveals 2025 lineup for Labor Day weekend
The Detroit Jazz Festival – the world's largest free jazz festival – announced its 2025 lineup on April 15 during a livestreamed preview event at the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center, on the campus of Wayne State University. The evening featured live performances from the 2025 Artist-in-Residence Jason Moran, as well as the Detroit Jazz Festival All-Stars Generation Quintet.
The partial lineup does not yet include a number of local musicians and acts, which still have until June 1 to submit applications. It does, however, include a constellation of national and international acts both new and returning, in a particularly muscular emphasis on straight-ahead jazz.
'We'll also have a number of surprises along the way,' Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation president and artistic director Chris Collins told the Free Press. 'There's a few things we have yet to announce, and we will look for some special events to happen here and there, (including) a couple of Midtown after-hours specials at the Gretchen Jazz Center. It's very special – and thank goodness for our sponsors and donors, it's still, once again, completely free after 47 years. It's unheard of, anywhere, to have this level of premier festival at no cost to attendees.'
The 2025 partial lineup:
Special Performance by 2025 Artist-In-Residence Jason Moran (TBA)
Keyon Harrold: 'Foreverland'
More: Detroit Jazz Festival announces 2025 artist in residence
Maria Schneider Orchestra
Kenny Barron
Hiromi's Sonicwonder
Chris Potter Trio featuring Matt Brewer and Kendrick Scott
John Pizzarelli
Endea Owens & The Cookout
Herlin Riley Quartet
Tatiana Eva-Marie & The Avalon Jazz Band
Special Performance by the 2025 Artist-In-Residence Jason Moran (TBA)
Chucho Valdés and Paquito D'Rivera Reunion Sextet
Branford Marsalis Quartet
Connie Han Trio
Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanos
Lakecia Benjamin
Walter Smith III Quartet
Special Performance by the 2025 Artist-In-Residence Jason Moran (TBA)
The John Scofield Trio featuring Vicente Archer & Bill Stewart w/ Special Guest Nicholas Payton
Kris Davis
James Francies Trio
2025 Kresge Eminent Artist Award Winner: Marion Hayden Legacy Ensemble with Special Guest Kamau Kenyatta'
The Detroit Jazz Festival will be held in downtown Detroit on Aug. 29-Sept. 1 (Labor Day weekend). For more information, visit detroitjazzfest.org.
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Jazz Festival reveals 2025 lineup for Labor Day weekend
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