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Tyler Littman illuminates International Jazz Day Global Allstar Concert with Ayrton rig

The International Jazz Day Global Allstar Concert takes place every April 30, 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 theatre 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. “We 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 ten years”, notes Littman.

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 forty 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”, he explains. “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 colour 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”, shares Littman. “However, given Ayrton’s history of high-quality optics and balanced colour 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 beam capabilities. “Inside the arena there was almost no visible falloff in the beam, meaning we were able to create big beamy graphic looks”, says Littman. “As with the Domino, we were able to combine a gobo and prism, along with rich colour, 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 seventeen 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 colour temperature”, says Littman. “My team metered each instrument individually, balancing colour temperature and footcandles, ensuring that we had consistency across all of units.”

The follow spot offering came from seven Domino Profiles, modified by PRG for use with their Universal GroundControl follow spot 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.

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. “Having used the Domino Profile a few times I had a good idea of what I was in for”, he says. “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 eighteen Domino Wash fixtures in the rig on this basis. “The Domino Wash is by far my new favourite wash light and I look forward to seeing what Ayrton has in store next”, he adds.

Alongside Littman, the production team included Lighting Director/Programmer Zachariah Hendrix, Gaffer/Spot Caller Christopher Hetherington and Production Manager Bill Winn. The PRG Dubai team comprised James Speirs (Account Rep), Didrik Paulsen (Project Manager) and Viacheslav “Slava” Stemkobskii (PRG Lighting Lead).

(Photos: Tyler Littman - TV Tech Managers/Steve Mundinger/Hal Williams)

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