Detroit Jazz Fest President Talks About Going Remote Amid COVID-19 Concerns
WDET will carry Jazz Fest performances live all Labor Day weekend starting at 7 p.m. Friday through Monday.
Earlier this month, organizers of the Detroit Jazz Fest made the difficult decision to switch to a remote format. This decision comes after the latest COVID-19 surge, which threatens to worsen in the coming months. WDET will air performances live and audience members can also stream the festival live online or through the Detroit Jazz Fest Live app. The festival will be available online and on the air from Sept. 3 through Sept. 6.
“There were some logistic challenges we faced … which resulted in our footprint being reduced, which then impeded on our social distancing protocols. I made the final decision that it was too much of a threat to our community.” — Chris Collins, Detroit Jazz Fest
Listen: Detroit Jazz Festival pivots to a virtual and broadcast live format.
Guest
Chris Collins is the Detroit Jazz Fest president and artistic director.
Collins explains that the festival organizers chose to switch to an all-virtual format because in-person performances posed a danger to the community. “We spoke with a lot of folks, we created some very valuable protocols on the footprint for social distancing and overflow areas … we decided after a long contemplation to go in-person. What happened after that happened within a very short period of time. There were some logistic challenges we faced … which resulted in our footprint being reduced, which then impeded on our social distancing protocols. I made the final decision that it was too much of a threat to our community,” he says.
Collins is still excited about hosting a virtual festival. “Experiencing the music at the time it happens, if you’re there, you’re part of it and this [remote] format captures that really well … it’s only streamed live in real time,” he says.
This year’s lineup features Artist-in-Residence Dee Dee Bridgewater, Herbie Hancock, Omar Sosa & the Havana-Detroit Jazz Project, and more, as well as hometown artists such as Scott Gwinell Jazz Orchestra, Pamela Wise Ensemble, among others.
Web story written by Molly Ryan
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