We have some good jazz coming to the area this summer. Surprising, since Detroit is usually a black hole for well-known jazz talent.
June 12: David Sanborn at Chene Park. Saw Sanborn in Ann Arbor many years ago. Great playing, horrible sound system. Also saw him as part of a "Montreux Festival" tour w/ four other artists a couple of years ago.
August 1: The Rippingtons/David Benoit/Jean-Luc Ponty at Freedom Hill. Can't ask for more in one concert! I've always wanted to see Benoit...this is a great lineup! Saw Ponty earlier this year, and it was an excellent show. Have never seen Rippingtons, but am more a fan of their earlier recordings, not the newer stuff. (As popular as their earlier GRP recordings are, I'm sure they'll play a few of them!)
I have tickets for both.
Mangione's also back in town later this summer, and I may try to get in to see that one also. I only caught part of his set last year, and from what I heard, it was one of those nice "memory lane" type of concerts where he played all songs I was familiar with. July 31 at Chene Park.
There are other jazz festivals being announced here this summer, but no names have been announced yet. There's a festival at Freedom Hill, as well as a Jazz On The River series over a long weekend (which we attended last year--Joe Sample, Yellowjackets and Mangione).
Thankfully they've gotten away from the cesspool that the Montreux/Detroit festival had become. (Who wants to go into Detroit's filthy, garbage-lined downtown area, eating from cruddy-looking food stands, and dodge the pickpockets, winos and bums to see jazz? And they wondered why attendance fell off??)
-= N =-
June 12: David Sanborn at Chene Park. Saw Sanborn in Ann Arbor many years ago. Great playing, horrible sound system. Also saw him as part of a "Montreux Festival" tour w/ four other artists a couple of years ago.
August 1: The Rippingtons/David Benoit/Jean-Luc Ponty at Freedom Hill. Can't ask for more in one concert! I've always wanted to see Benoit...this is a great lineup! Saw Ponty earlier this year, and it was an excellent show. Have never seen Rippingtons, but am more a fan of their earlier recordings, not the newer stuff. (As popular as their earlier GRP recordings are, I'm sure they'll play a few of them!)
I have tickets for both.
Mangione's also back in town later this summer, and I may try to get in to see that one also. I only caught part of his set last year, and from what I heard, it was one of those nice "memory lane" type of concerts where he played all songs I was familiar with. July 31 at Chene Park.
There are other jazz festivals being announced here this summer, but no names have been announced yet. There's a festival at Freedom Hill, as well as a Jazz On The River series over a long weekend (which we attended last year--Joe Sample, Yellowjackets and Mangione).
Thankfully they've gotten away from the cesspool that the Montreux/Detroit festival had become. (Who wants to go into Detroit's filthy, garbage-lined downtown area, eating from cruddy-looking food stands, and dodge the pickpockets, winos and bums to see jazz? And they wondered why attendance fell off??)
-= N =-
