The Borderland Ensemble is a cross-border jazz collective based in the Windsor–Detroit region, led by trumpeter and composer Austin Di Pietro. For the 2026 Detroit Jazz Festival, the ensemble features Alex Colista on alto saxophone, Tom Bartelmay on guitar, Aya Sekine on piano, Trevor Lamb on bass, and Zachary McKinney on drums. The group draws on its unique geography — two cities, two countries, sharing one river — as both subject matter and creative fuel. The ensemble plays original music rooted in the jazz tradition and shaped by the sounds of this particular corner of the world: hard bop and post-bop at the foundation, with more contemporary influences woven throughout. The music explores what it means to make art across a border at a moment when that border feels more fraught than ever — treating division not as an obstacle, but as a source of creative possibility. The group’s Detroit Jazz Festival debut arrives in support of its first album, Live at Mackenzie Hall Jazz, which was released July 3, 2026. Performing at the world-renowned jazz festival — situated just steps from the Detroit River and international boundary — is a natural extension of the cross-border conversation the ensemble was built around.