“I tend to feel the vibration of a city through its music, and Detroit is very similar to Philly,” said the 35-year-old bassist. “Going to Detroit is like going to my sister city.”
McBride will have lots of time to reflect on the kinship between Detroit and Philadelphia at the 29th annual Detroit International Jazz Festival, where he will be the artist-in-residence. The festival, featuring musicians from both cities under the banner of “A Love Supreme: The Philly/Detroit Summit,” takes place Aug. 29-Sept. 1 in downtown Detroit. Held on six stages and featuring more than 100 national, local and student acts, the event is the largest free jazz festival in North America.
McBride, a leading musician of his generation, will perform three times — with his quartet, with a special trio including Philadelphia organist Joey DeFrancesco and Detroit drummer Karriem Riggins, and at the helm of an opening night tribute to Marvin Gaye featuring singers Lalah Hathaway, Rahsaan Patterson and Jose James.
The festival, which announced its national headliners today, has always celebrated Detroit’s jazz heritage, but it has widened its focus recently to other cities like New Orleans and Chicago. This year’s Philadelphia-Detroit match, however, ups the ante with more imaginative bookings and cross-fertilizations.
Under second year artistic director Terri Pontremoli, the festival has taken an increasingly thematic approach, introduced an annual resident artist and reemphasized the festival’s hardcore jazz roots.
The results have been manna to aficionados. Last year’s festival earned its best reviews in nearly a decade, and overflow crowds proved that an unapologetic jazz focus and popular appeal aren’t mutually exclusive. The festival is produced by the nonprofit Detroit International Jazz Festival Foundation.
“We felt strongly the time was right to do Philadelphia because many of the older musicians are still around,” said Pontremoli.
Philadelphia is Detroit’s almost identical jazz twin. Both cities reached the zenith of their influence in the hard bop era of the 1950s and early ’60s, when each graduated countless players to the national scene. Both cities boast royal families of jazz — the Pontiac-bred Jones brothers and the Heath Brothers of Philadelphia. Both cities produced R&B juggernauts, Motown and Philly soul.

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