3 acts to see on first day of Detroit Jazz Festival
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The Detroit Jazz Festival returns in person — and online — Friday evening with three acts to kick off the Labor Day weekend series of free concerts.
A kickoff party at Hart Plaza’s Carhartt Amphitheater stage will feature a double-dose of brass bands, plus a performance of the festival's artist-in-residence, Chucho Valdés, who's bringing some friends:
6-6:40 p.m. Dr. Valade’s Brass Band featuring New Orleans drummer Shannon Powell: Powell, who will also play Saturday afternoon with the New Orleans Groove Masters, plays regularly with Preservation Hall Jazz Band and has worked with many of the top names in jazz. He'll bring fire and drive to power the brass onslaught.
7-8:15 p.m. Chucho Valdés with fellow Cuban pianist Hilario Durán, pianist John Beasley and the Yoruban Orchestra: They'll be performing “La Creación (The Creation)." It tells, through music, the story of creation borne out of the Afro-Cuban religion santeria. Valdés has called it "his masterpiece."
9-10:15 p.m. The Soul Rebels: Perhaps one of New Orleans' funkiest exports, the Soul Rebels pull in soul, jazz, funk, hip-hop, rock and pop to curate a wide-ranging repertoire with a massive sound. The big-hearted fun they bring will be sure to get the party rocking.
Valdés' performance will be a three-movement Latin jazz piece.
“It is the story of Africans in the Caribbean, but also of Africans on the continents of the Americas,” Valdés told the Free Press, “and is a form of educating the people — of sharing the knowledge of where we come from.”
More:Detroit Jazz Festival will be back in person, but also stream free online
While the opening night performances will all be on one stage, the festival will spread to four stages the rest of the weekend.
More festival details and highlights here, and a full schedule is available here.
More:Pig races, jazz and cider: 5 things to do in metro Detroit on Labor Day weekend
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Jazz Festival: 3 acts to see on opening night
