New Standards Jazz Crawl spotlights women

Weekends in October will be filled with jazz across Detroit’s various cultural centers thanks to the New Standards Jazz Crawl by Detroit’s Cultural Center.

The 13-part inaugural performance series is free to the public and will feature 75-minute sets by a wide range of female composers, such as jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell, who’ll perform Friday at the Detroit Historical Museum; jazz singer and Grammy nominee Carmen Lundy and her band, who’ll hit the stage at the Carr Performance Studio inside the Park Shelton on Saturday; and jazz saxophonist Tia Fuller and her band, who’ll perform at the Detroit Institute of Arts on Sunday.

Many of the jazz artists hail from Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Detroit.

Each performance is within walking distance of the other. Performances are Friday-Saturday, Oct. 20-21 and Oct. 28 at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Public Library, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, MOCAD, the Scarab Club and at the brand-new Carr Center Performance Studio.

The Carr Center, which is dedicated to showcasing Black arts and artists, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

“We are presenting, promoting and developing the work and role of women creating and supporting jazz. We look for our programs to inspire, entertain, challenge and educate,” said Oliver Ragsdale Jr., president and CEO of the Carr Center. “Each concert and the installation offer opportunities to experience some or all of these values and goals. This is very in line with what we have worked to achieve over our 30 years.”

The New Standards Jazz Crawl is a special music series linked to, “New Standards: Part 1 of Shifting the Narrative: Jazz and Gender Justice,” a world premiere multimedia installation, curated and conceived by Carr Center Artistic Director Terri Lyne Carrington.

Carrington said the Jazz Crawl will bring to life the books and artists featured in the installation.

“Things that are theoretical and academic, make more sense with sound and art. It brings the theoretical into practice. Talking about it almost means nothing until you hear it,” Carrington said. “All the bands will be featuring music from the book and/or from other women composers. So, it is putting into action the pursuit of Jazz Without Patriarchy.”

The Jazz Crawl was curated by Carrington and the Carr Center with support from the DIA, Midtown Detroit and the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation.