EAST LANSING, Mich. — Despite the cancellation of the in-person 2020 Summer Solstice Jazz Festival (SSJF) due to the COVID-19 crisis, the City of East Lansing and SSJF Advisory Board have planned a virtual, livestream event, which will take place on Friday, June 19 and Saturday, June 20 at 6 p.m. via the SSJF’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
The virtual event will include a compilation of some of the SSJF Advisory Board’s favorite performances from the 2013-2017 festivals, which will be livestreamed. More than an hour of video recordings will be featured each day.
“The SSJF Advisory Board is excited to share some of its favorite festival performances with the community during this special, livestreamed event,” said Community Events Specialist Justin Drwencke. “We hope the community enjoys taking a look back at some of our previous festivals, and we are looking forward to an in-person festival again in June 2021.”
On Friday, festival patrons will enjoy performances by the Rodney Whitaker Quintet, Ramona Collins, Sunny Wilkinson, Ben Williams & Sound Effect, Cyrille Aimee, Chicago Jazz Orchestra, Orquesta Ritmo, Airmen of Note and Guitar Summit featuring Randy Napoleon, Dave Stryker and Peter Bernstein,
On Saturday, festival patrons will enjoy performances by Guitar Summit, Orquesta Ritmo, Bria Skonberg, Rodney Whitaker & Soul R Energy, Airmen of Note, Carl Cafagna & North Star Jazz, Cyrille Aimee, Diego Rivera, Michael Dease Quintet and Chicago Jazz Orchestra.