The annual event has dozens of performances across several stages at Schoolcraft College.
Jazz lovers unite: the smooth sounds of the Michigan Jazz Festival return this weekend to Schoolcraft College.
The 29th Annual Michigan Jazz Festival takes place all day July 21 on the grounds of Schoolcraft College. Featuring 39 performances across eight stages, the festival brings some of the most talented jazz musicians under one roof at the Vistatech Center. Schoolcraft College is a festival sponsor, having hosted the Festival since 1999.
This year’s festival takes advantage of all the new spaces redone in the Vistatech 2.0 renovations, which wrapped up last summer. New this year is the Michigan Humanities’ Jazz Talks!, which takes place in the new Collaborative Learning Studio. Guests can listen to interviews and discussions from presenters such as journalist and author Mark Stryker, as well as listen to George Sinnott interview people such as Ramona Collins, Jerry McKenzie and Barbara Ware.
Cabaret performances will take place in the American Harvest restaurant, which is expanded this year.
Returning after a one-year hiatus is the Future of Jazz Stage, which will take place in the Waterman Wing of the Vistatech Center. This stage features high school and college acts, including the Valentino Tischio Quartet, the Nolan Johnson Trio and the Wayne State Jazztet.
Those who arrive early to the festival can stop by the Presentation Stage in the Kehrl Auditorium for a vocal jazz clinic, Vocal Jazz A-B-C’s, put on by April Tini. This clinic will begin at 10:30 a.m.
Admission to the festival is free. Performances begin at noon throughout the festival and run all day. A full list of performances can be found at michiganjazzfestival.org.