Michigan Jazz Festival

In 1991 two big band leaders, John Trudell and Emil Moro, felt that many jazz festival organizers believed that only nationally-celebrated artists should be invited to play. They went to the Elkhart Jazz Festival in Indiana and met with bandleader Tom Saunders, who had some experience producing a festival. The Michigan Jazz Festival was about to become a reality and the first one was held at Freedom Hill in 1995. Attendance was sparse, but they dreamed on.

They knew that too many of Detroit’s jazz musicians had to leave Detroit to be recognized for their talents. The late Detroit drummer J.C. Heard once said, “Local? What does that mean? Everybody has to live somewhere.”

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In 1991 two big band leaders, John Trudell and Emil Moro, felt that many jazz festival organizers believed that only nationally-celebrated artists should be invited to play. They went to the Elkhart Jazz Festival in Indiana and met with bandleader Tom Saunders, who had some experience producing a festival. The Michigan Jazz Festival was about to become a reality and the first one was held at Freedom Hill in 1995. Attendance was sparse, but they dreamed on.

They knew that too many of Detroit’s jazz musicians had to leave Detroit to be recognized for their talents. The late Detroit drummer J.C. Heard once said, “Local? What does that mean? Everybody has to live somewhere.”

The concept of the Michigan Jazz Festival would be to showcase local talent and offer it at no charge, exposing young musicians to the music and taking it into the schools whenever possible. Musicians who were devoted to the furtherance of jazz and who were willing to play for union scale would be featured in this annual all-day event.

Jazz promoter Midge Ellis and Eileene Standley were asked to bring their organizational skills to the event and the festival moved to historic Botsford Inn and was a growing annual event from 1996 to 1998 until the Inn was sold to Botsford Hospital. Schoolcraft College was approached about its music department becoming a co-sponsor and moving the Festival there. Dr. Conway Jeffress, then Vice President for Instruction, thought it was a wonderful idea and the Festival moved to its present site. It has been presented there since 1999 with growing success and acclaim.

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