Performances are at 5:30pm & 7:30pm. Doors open at 4pm for dinner. Seating begins at 5pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 7pm.
Lead by acclaimed saxophonist, composer, and arranger JOSHUA JAMES, the CBBB is the house big band for Detroit’s historic Cliff Bells jazz club. Compiled from a rotating roster of professionals and professors from across the state, this ensemble boasts some of the hottest musicians active on both the local and national jazz, hip-hop,
Latin, world, rock, electronic, and avant garde music scenes.
The Cliff Bells Big Band seeks to highlight the dynamic relationship between the improvisational performer (soloist) and the composer, presenting historic and contemporary compositions steeped in a rich tradition of thoughtfully crafted music for swingin’—and burnin’!— musicians. Past programs include the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s Nutcracker Suite, along with an in depth retrospective on the music of Sun Ra. For this program the CBBB will tackle the music of the Radiohead as viewed through the lens of the Radiohead Jazz Project, a series of arrangements commissioned and coordinated by noted arrangers BOB CURNOW and FRED STURM. Each arrangement draws from the rich breadth of Radiohead’s oeuvre, from OK Computer to Kid A to In Rainbows and beyond. Each arrangement stays true to the art-rock aesthetic of the band while expanding the sonic palette into the world of the jazz big band. Like the compositions and arrangements from such masters of large-ensemble writing like Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Charles Mingus, Oliver Nelson, Stan Kenton, these works will push the boundaries—and audience expectations—of how a jazz big band can sound.
