The International Jazz Day, Global Allstar Concert, takes place every April 30th bringing together some of the biggest names in the jazz world. The 2025 edition was led by Herbie Hancock and hosted by Jeremy Irons. Usually taking place in a theater or concert hall, 2025 saw the concert moved to an arena setting for the first time ever, broadcast from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Lighting and Production Designer, Tyler Littman, who has designed the IJD production since 2014, was directed by the producers to ‘go big’ with his design, which he did by leaning into Abu Dhabi’s forward-looking, futuristic culture. “We also wanted to maintain a feeling of intimacy yet simultaneously making the show truly fill the enormous space,” he says.
To achieve this, Littman put together a rig that was ‘nearly all Ayrton’, supplied by PRG’s hub in Dubai. There were 170 Ayrton fixtures including Argo 6 Wash FX, Cobra, Domino Profile (both regular and PRG GroundControl versions in standard and LT models), Domino Wash S, and Eurus Profile. “PRG has been my production partner for IJD for nearly 10 years, as their global reach helps me to maintain a certain level of quality,” says Littman. “I have always been a fan of Ayrton and the optics and feature set of their fixtures continues to impress me.”
The concept statement behind the arena design was that of a huge digital tree springing up out of the desert, with the trunk and branches made of truss that fanned out overhead, and the lights becoming the ‘leaves’. Fixtures were placed linearly down each truss in a repeating profile, beam and wash light configuration.
Littman’s profile fixture of choice was 40 Ayrton Domino Profiles which he used as the primary spot/profile fixtures throughout the entire rig to create texture and dimension. “Jazz requires a much softer touch than rock ‘n’ roll, but this means we must be able to paint big, beautiful scenes that can hold the audience’s attention with a limited amount of dynamics,” explains Littman. “To achieve this, we needed spot/profile fixtures with a large variable zoom ratio, even field, high CRI, and stackable effects. The Domino Profile ticked all those boxes and more. Being able to combine mixed color with gobos and prisms meant we were able to create a large variety of looks without feeling repetitive.”
Thirty six Argo 6 Wash FX fixtures served as the primary back/overhead wash light. “I was not familiar with Argo 6 Wash FX, and felt pixel-based wash fixtures are generally a bit lackluster when it comes to beam quality. However, given Ayrton’s history of high-quality optics and balanced color mixing, I felt confident that the Argo would work well in this instance, and I was right as it provided both a quality back wash for the stage and the option for some occasional eye candy.”
Fifty two laser-sourced Ayrton Cobra were spread out throughout the rig and used for their intense beam capabilities. “I was incredibly excited when I discovered Cobra was PRG Dubai’s go-to beam fixture!” says Littman. “There’s so much about this instrument that impresses me, and the phosphor laser source is nothing short of impressive. Inside the arena there was almost no visible falloff in the beam, meaning we were able to create big beamy graphic looks. The almost overwhelming amount of gobo and stackable effects meant we had nearly limitless options for beam shaping and effects. As with the Domino, we were able to combine a gobo and prism, along with rich color, and still get strong dramatic beams that looked amazing both in-room and on camera.”
To ensure each band member was properly lit for television, Littman chose 17 Eurus Profile to serve as both key and back light. “Given how high the rig was trimmed we needed an instrument with strong optics and output, a high CRI, and wide zoom ratio as we rely on zoom rather than dimmer for setting the base intensity level which ensures there is little to no shift in color temperature,” says Littman. “The field quality and color-render of the Eurus ensured we were able to accurately render skin-tones and wardrobe on camera. My team metered each instrument individually, balancing color temperature and footcandles, ensuring that we had consistency across all of units. I was personally impressed as we were able to work rather quickly through this process given the build quality of not just the Eurus but the entire compliment of Ayrton fixtures.”
The followspot offering came from seven Domino Profiles, modified by PRG for use with their Universal GroundControl™ followspot system. Three standard Domino Profiles served as remotely operated rear follow spots, while four Domino Profile LT units functioned as the front follow spots. “Given that we were using Dominos as the primary spot fixture, we wanted to ensure that the beams of the follow spots blended in well with the rest of the rig,” says Littman. “As with the Eurus, the Domino’s fantastic optics meant performers looked picture-perfect all the time.”
For audience wash lights, Littman was very specific in his requirements for a wash light that offered the same level of optics found in spot and profiles units – a factor he feels missing in many wash lights with a closed optical system. “When I did the photometric calculations on the Domino Wash, I knew right away that this was not the average wash light. Having used the Domino Profile a few times I had a good idea of what I was in for, but it wasn’t until we started focusing the audience light that I realized quite how amazing these fixtures are: the field on these lights is simply gorgeous, providing a very consistent falloff across the entire zoom range. This meant that as we were focusing the audience light, there were few times we needed to go back and shift an instrument to make up for dark areas. When it came to beam shaping to avoid architecture and camera positions, the internal barndoors were game changing.”
Littman installed 18 Domino Wash fixtures in the rig on this basis. “There is nothing new or innovative about the technology – plenty of other manufactures make lights with internal, motorized barndoors, but few, if any, work as well as Domino Wash. This was by far the fastest my team has ever knocked out an audience wash and it was near perfect. I think it goes without saying that the Domino Wash is by far my new favorite wash light and I look forward to seeing what Ayrton has in store next.”
Production Team
Production & Lighting Designer: Tyler Littman
Lighting Director/Programmer: Zachariah Hendrix
Gaffer/Spot Caller: Christopher Hetherington
Production Manager: Bill Winn
Production Vendor: PRG, Dubai
PRG Account Rep: James Speirs
PRG Project Manager: Didrik Paulsen
PRG Lighting Lead: Viacheslav “Slava” Stemkobskii
Photo Credit: ©Steve Mundinger and ©Tyler Littman
Further information about Ayrton: www.ayrton.eu
