Chick Corea DJF 2018 Artist-in-Residence
Pianist and bandleader Chick Corea will be this year’s artist-in-residence at the Detroit Jazz Festival over Labor Day weekend.
The annual press conference was held at the venerable Detroit Athletic Club on April 11 to introduce Corea and two members of the DJF Resident Ensemble: bassist Esperanza Spalding and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. Spalding and TLC will be part of a tribute to Geri Allen who left us last year after leaving a significant mark on the jazz scene in Detroit and elsewhere. The bass-drum duo held our attention for quite a while with their delicate interplay and were then joined by the veteran pianist Corea on “All Blues.” We hope to see the threesome again on the festival stage this summer.
ABOVE: Chris Collins and Chick Corea
LEFT: Esperanza Spalding and Terri Lyne Carrington
Festival director Chris Collins reviewed this year’s lineup, which includes Corea in a several settings: with his Akoustic Band, Elektric Band and with his sextet plus the Detroit Festival Symphony Orchestra. Notable names in the lineup are: Dr Lonnie Smith’s Organ Trio; organist Joey DeFrancesco; trumpeter Nicholas Payton; saxophonist Ravi Coltrane; bassist Marcus Miller; guitarist Pat Martino; the Brecker Brothers Reunion Band; and vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant. Many former Detroiters will be featured — for example violinist Regina Carter in a Straight Ahead 25th Anniversary Reunion, and drummer Karriem Riggins’ Detroit Generations.
photographs by Lars Bjorn