A city that needs a big break from the slow and painful legal drama surrounding its mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, Detroit is about to get one when its four-day heavy-hitting jazz festival starts off at 5:15 p.m., with the Duke Ellington School of Performance Arts Jazz Ensemble taking one of its six stages.

The Detroit Jazz Festival, almost into its fourth decade (this year witnesses the 29th annual edition), is filled to the brim with performers forming complete spectrums of both visibility in the local, regional and national jazz scenes as well as the various denominations of jazz.  Read more »