Yearly Tradition

(September 8th) Today I headed to Detroit. I don't often venture into D-Town, but the Inernational Jazz Festival is one of my favorite music events and it has become a bit of a yearly tradition for me to attend. Great music, good time of year, and the waterfront - a near perfect combination. This is the Renaissance Center, perhaps the most distinctive building in the waterfront area of Detroit today.

Shooting the International Jazz Festival is a great challenge - as a spectator you are far from the action of the main events. There's little light and you're handholding while shoulder-to-shoulder with others. I was quite pleased with the sharpness of the images I wound up with, even handholding a 200mm for 1/45s in some cases. Of course, the most fun was listening to the fantastic music. The highlight act that we saw was a big band performance. Some years the orchestra has been huge, this year it was a little bit smaller. But every year they do a phenomenal job and the crowd loves it.

One of the best things about jazz is the improvisation. It's there in the music, but it's there elsewhere too. The musicians interact with each other freely and naturally, and they interact with the audience in the same way - even during their pieces.

The musical side of the improvisation often takes the form of solos. During a solo, a single musician will take the reigns and exactly what is played is something that hasn't ever been played before. The rest of the group follows along and harmonizes with the musical ideas that the soloist gives. As always, the Detroit International Jazz Festival was a blast in 2009 - if you are ever in the area around Labor Day I strongly urge you to check the event out!