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The region was humming with music and amusements Friday as metro Detroiters flocked to holiday weekend festivals.
On an evening as nice as you could ask of a Labor Day weekend, thousands streamed into Campus Martius as the Detroit Jazz Festival kicked off its 40th edition downtown.
“Stanley Clarke is here — and it’s not raining!” fest director Chris Collins told the crowd in a nod to the bassist’s previous jazz-fest washouts.
Clarke, who performed late Friday, is artist-in-residence for the 2019 festival, including planned sets Sunday and Monday.
Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, part of a lineup of speakers ahead of the music Friday evening, said he’s been attending the jazz fest since childhood, calling the free event “a point of pride” for the city.
“Detroit is a cultural center for the entire world,” he said.
Joan Belgrave was joined by Stephen Grady, chief of staff for Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, to highlight Friday’s ceremonial street renaming of John R at Madison to Marcus Belgrave Avenue.
“I don’t have to tell you guys how much he loved the city,” Joan Belgrave said of her late husband and renowned trumpeter.
More: Why famed bassist Stanley Clarke thinks Detroit Jazz Festival is one of best
More: Detroit Jazz Festival: 11 can’t-miss music acts from Labor Day weekend fest
Panamanian piano great Danilo Perez got the music going on the Campus Martius stage with a melange of world-hopping sounds, including his gorgeous new “Expedition” with accompaniment by Iraqi violinist Layth Sidiq and others.
Clarke and his band of young musicians — Detroit violinist Evan Garr among them — served up a crowd-friendly set of jazz-funk-rock fusion that drew in part from his 1976 album, “School Days.” The veteran Philly bassist brought his gutsy melodic riffing to the record’s title track, shouting out to Detroit’s Masonic Temple as he recalled playing the song at the historic venue.
In Friday’s crowd was Marvin Surles of Dallas, a Saginaw native who left the state four decades ago. Making his first Detroit Jazz Festival visit, the 61-year-old marveled at the energy around him in the rebounding downtown district.
“Look at the transformation,” said Surles, enthusing about the welcoming, “people-friendly” environment downtown.
“The people of Detroit have done something eclectic,” he said.
Miles to the north in Oakland County, meanwhile, the 22nd annual Arts, Beats & Eats took over the streets of downtown Royal Oak.
Rock band the All-American Rejects was scheduled to cap an evening of music and entertainment on nine stages at AB&E, traditionally the biggest attendance draw of Labor Day weekend.
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And at Novi’s Suburban Collection Showplace, the latest installment of the Michigan State Fair notched a second day of livestock and agriculture events along with an array of local performers.
The Hamtramck Labor Day Festival, another signature late-summer event on the metro calendar, is set to get rolling Saturday.
All four fests will run through Monday.
More: Look up! Northern lights could be visible throughout Michigan this weekend
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Read or Share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/08/30/detroit-jazz-festival-kicks-off-busy-weekend-metro-detroit/2169201001/