Summertime is Jazz Festival Time in Michigan

Jackson Blues Festival

The Jackson Blues Festival will take place June 4-6 at the Jackson County Airport, Reynolds Field, 3606 Wildwood Avenue, in Jackson. Daily admission is $5.

Chene Park Summer 2016

Chene Park on the Detroit Riverfront features a number of well-known smooth jazz acts this summer, like Spyro Gyra on July 20. The more mainstream jazz acts include Ramsey Lewis and Terence Blanchard on June 22.

Jazz at the Pond in Brighton

The Mill Pond Gazebo in downtown Brighton will feature monthly shows at 7:00 p.m. this summer. In case of inclement weather, the show moves into the Cobach Center, 200 West Main St.

Blues Fest Windsor 2016

Blues Fest Windsor is a four-day event with 28 bands starting on Thursday, July 14, and going through Sunday, July 17. It features all kinds of blues bands from all over the Midwest including Sugar Blue (Friday at 9:50), Chris Duarte (Sat. 11:30), Kenny Parker and Jim McCarty (Sun. 6:50), and Thornetta Davis (Sun. 8:10). It takes place on the Windsor Riverfront across from Caesars Windsor. It is a ticketed event.

Top of the Park 2016

The Ann Arbor Summer Festival features a few jazz and blues acts at Top of the Park on the stage in front of Rackham on the central campus of the University of Michigan.

There are also Summer Festival concerts at the Power Center with Bebel Gilberto (June 18), the fabulous vocalist Gregory Porter (June 22) and Cubanismo (June 26).

Music On the Plaza

This annual festival takes place at the Village Festival Plaza, Kercheval at St Clair in downtown Grosse Pointe. Concerts start at 7:00 p.m. on Thursdays beginning June 9. Rain location: Maire Elementary School, 740 Cadieux.

Elkhart Jazz Festival 2016

The lineup for this year’s Elkhart Jazz Festival is impressive, as usual, as it includes some great names in swinging jazz. The list includes:

  • Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue
  • Joshua Redman Quartet
  • a tribute to Wes Montgomery and Brother Jack McDuff with Dave Stryker and Pat Bianchi
  • Gene Knific Trio
  • Dave Bennett
  • Rebecca Kilgore
  • Blue Sky 5

The festival takes place June 24–26 in downtown Elkhart, Indiana.

Summer Solstice Jazz Festival in East Lansing

The 20th Annual Summer Solstice Jazz Festival (SSJF) will make its way to downtown East Lansing June 17–18, featuring the very best of local, regional and national talent. This year the headliners are pianist Marcus Roberts and saxophonist Joe McPhee.

This free-to-all festival is centered around a large tent located in the heart of downtown East Lansing in Parking Lot 1, 230 Albert Ave., Ann Street Plaza, located on the northwest corner of the Albert M.A.C. intersection and the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum, 547 East Circle Dr.

Friday’s festivities include a performance by 2012 Grammy Award-winner and MSU alumnus Ben Williams. Saturday kicks off with an extended Kozmic Picnik, an avant garde jazz event programmed by Deanna Relyea, the artistic director of Kerrytown Concert House and Edgefest in Ann Arbor. Relyea chose the marvelous saxophonist Joe McPhee as the headliner. The day will also feature 2016 Grammy‐nominated pianist/vocalist Karrin Allyson, former Wynton Marsalis sideman Marcus Roberts, and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra.

The festival is presented by the City of East Lansing, Wharton Center for Performing Arts and the MSU College of Music, with artistic direction by Rodney Whitaker.

Jazz at Roberts Riverwalk Hotel

Roberts Riverwalk Hotel has a jazz series on Thursdays from early June to August again this year. Happy Hour is 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. and the music starts at 7:00 p.m.

Taylor Music and Arts in the Gardens

The Music & Art in the Gardens enters its fifth season in Taylor starting in early June. The Taylor Conservatory and Botanical Gardens are located at 22314 Northline Rd in Taylor. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the music starts at 6:30 p.m.

Michigan Jazz Festival

The 22nd annual Michigan Jazz Festival is Sunday, July 17, at Schoolcraft College in Livonia. See details on our front page.

Detroit Jazz Festival

The Detroit Jazz Festival is Labor Day weekend in Detroit's Hart Plaza and Campus Martius. See details in our previous issue.