Jazz is local — across the globe

Though its main mission is to proselytize for the bubbling New York scene, Winter Jazzfest has lately made solidarity with other cities a part of its identity. In 2020, that feels inevitable: To the extent that jazz is experiencing a cultural comeback, it’s largely owed to the work of local musicians and organizers, who often present their own shows and give hometown audiences something to connect with in the flesh.

That’s an old tradition in jazz, as the Jan. 12 concert at Le Poisson Rouge, “From Detroit to the World: Honoring Marcus Belgrave,” showed. More than perhaps any other city beside New York, Detroit incubated the hard-bop sound that became jazz’s trademark in the mid-20th century. Belgrave, a trumpeter who died in 2015, mentored scores of younger musicians there, and performed across the world. His wife, the vocalist Joan Belgrave, organized a hero’s celebration that spanned generations, with Detroit elders like Johnny O’Neal and Sheila Jordan sharing the bill with a band of Mr. Belgrave’s protégés, including the drummer Karriem Riggins and the trumpeter Theo Croker.

A few nights earlier, the same stage had played host to a showcase of young, London-based talent, all of whom are starting to gain a following abroad. Sets from the pianist Ashley Henry and the drummer Moses Boyd were highlights, and the commonalities between them (the influence of drum-and-bass’s skittering rhythms; the proposal of a different kind of dance-driven jazz, not directly influenced by American hip-hop but instead directly tied to the British rave scene) suggested that jazz moves in collective steps, made by musicians operating in proximity.

There’s no age limit on new directions

Two of the most arresting sets of the festival came from musicians who, decades into their careers, appear to have found new trailheads. Susan Alcorn, a pedal-steel guitarist, began her career in blues and country settings before linking up with some of the New York experimental music world’s luminaries. In recent years, she has started to become one of them. But most of her work in this vein has come in the form of droning solo performances or side-musician work in other people’s bands.