With hopes of creating an event to liven up Lansing’s Old Town neighborhood, a group of Lansing musicians put together the Lansing JazzFest in 1985. Ever since, the free summer festival has become a unifying destination for locals.
In 1985, a handful of Lansing musicians embodying a passion for jazz and a dream of a more lively Old Town Lansing envisioned an event that would bring the twang, rhythm and liveliness to a town that lacked excitement.
For nearly two decades, that vision has been a reality, and this year, Aug. 2-3, Lansing JazzFest co-founder Terry Terry said the free festival, hosted by the Michigan Institute of Contemporary Art, or MICA, was expected to bring out record crowds.
“The mission of our organization, MICA, is to create an open space in our community where people can come together, meet old friends, make some new friends and have conversations about how we can make ours a better community in the context of music and the arts,” Terry said.
A ghost town brought to life
The Old Town neighborhood now is a popular destination for Lansing residents and beyond. However, Terry said before the JazzFest, the area was a “ghost town.”
“Now it’s really hopping in Old Town,” Terry said. “Just this week, we’ve had 10 ribbon cuttings from new shops in Old Town. There’s quite a bit of activity going on here.”
When the JazzFest first began, it was a small festival with only one stage, a small collection of art and a few local musicians. Since then, Terry said the Lansing JazzFest has greatly evolved into a nationally recognized event, attracting talent and festivalgoers from across the nation.
“Now, 19 years later, we have three stages, all kinds of activities, thousands of people,” Terry said. “Another thing that we have new about JazzFest is, last year, BackStage Pass started recording, so now we’re being shown in 83 markets across the country. And that’s growing, so that will bring some notoriety to the festival, and hopefully we’ll get some additional talent and sponsorship to the festival that will help us grow and attract other known talent.”
Embracing all sides of jazz
When picking the talent for the Lansing JazzFest, Terry said they aimed to showcase a wide variety of bands both new and old to JazzFest — a task that he said was not easy.
“We like to change it up — some old, so me new. We try to have a mix of different styes of jazz and blues,” Terry said.
“It’s a free festival, so we’re challenged with budget on this. So we try to find the right mix of jazz-style performers and quality. And we don’t bring everyone back year after year; we try to mix it up so you’re always seeing unique acts from around the country.”
Returning this year was Lansing-based band Those Delta Rhythm Kings. Lead vocalist Ray Aleshire said the 25-year-old band has not graced the Lansing JazzFest stage since its birth in 1985 and aimed to get festivalgoers out of their seat and onto the dance floor.
“We generally play jump blues,” Aleshire said. “It’s music that has one foot in jazz and one foot in big band and (a) third foot in straight-up blues music. We’re going to start out with an old jazz instrumental called ‘Work Song.’ It gives every one a chance to play a little bit, and we’ve got a dance contest right at the start of the set.
“There’s going to be some dancers here, and they’re going to try to get the crowd to get up and dance to see who the winner is.”
Other musicians performing at the JazzFest included Elden Kelly and the Global Roots Jazz Collective, Director of Jazz Studies at MSU Rodney Whitaker, Terell Stafford, Sam Copperman Trio, Dave Rosin’s Grand Rapids Quartet, Jeff Shoup, Randy Marsh, Freddie Cunningham, Mardra Thomas, Montez Coleman and professor of jazz piano Reggie Thomas — all of whom Terry said were carefully selected by a special committee.
“We have a small committee that gets together each year and looks at submissions by different bands and goes out and listens to bands,” Terry said.
“So many people are coming out to see the talented artists we have playing this year.”
First-time attendee Ronald George of Lansing said he always wanted to attend the popular music festival and came out to finally see what he’d been missing.
“I came out today because I’ve never been to a jazz festival before as long as I’ve been living here,” George said. “I’ve always had friends ask me to come, but I’ve always had work. Now I’m off, so I just decided I’m going down to the JazzFest to check it out.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
George said although he had never attended the festival, he knew who he came to see.
“Rodney Whitaker, he’s ?pretty good,” George said. “That’s who I came down to see. I figured I’d come down and check him out and make the most of an event that’s been a big part of Lansing for so long.”
