Cliff Bell's

The James Russell Project
2018-10-28 20:00 - 22:30 (America/Detroit)
The James Russell Project was created by jazz flutist James Russell, born and raised in Detroit. The group focuses on jazz, contemporary and soul while adding a modern feel to each style. Because of the versatility of genres, the group brings not only an older crowd who loves the classics, but a new younger crowd who wants to learn and enjoy the experience of jazz.
Soundcloud link:
soundcloud.com/jam313

Sean Dobbins & Southeastern Music Academy
2018-10-28 17:00 - 19:00
The Southeastern Music Academy has an outstanding music faculty – successful performers with strong academic credentials that perform regularly with professional groups. This is a student jam session. http://southeasternmusicacademy.org/sma-performance-opportunities-cliff-bells/

Closed for private event
2018-10-27 00:00 - 23:59, 2018-10-25 00:00 - 23:59

Jeff Cuny Trio
2018-10-26 17:30 - 20:30, 2018-10-19 17:30 - 20:30, 2018-10-12 17:30 - 20:30
Jeff recently completed work on his Graduate degree in jazz studies at WSU and is a fine young string bassist. He is also the chief arranger for the band Midtown Sounds and appears around the city with Tbone Paxton, the Rhythm Society Orchestra and the newly formed Buffalo Kidd trio.

Alexis Lombre Trio
2018-10-23 20:00, 2018-10-18 20:00, 2018-10-09 20:00, 2018-10-02 20:00
Alexis Lombre Quartet: Alexis is a young jazz pianist who discovered early that the true essence of music is not just about what you hear but how music makes you feel. Her musical mission is to keep the ‘Soul’ in music alive. Her debut album, Southside Sounds, does just that, as it is a soulful reflection of her upbringing on Chicago’s Southside.

Matt LoRusso Trio
2018-10-21 19:30 - 22:30
Matt LoRusso has been playing guitar since 1995 when he received his first guitar for Christmas. He started taking lessons shortly after studying music theory and classical guitar repertoire. Matt placed first place during the Hyatt Regency Classical Guitar competition in 1997 and 1998 before retiring from competitive music to achieve an intrinsic journey through his instrument.
Matt has played with Rodney Whitaker, Wessell Anderson, Diego Rivera, Derrick Gardner, Bill Heid, Greg Williams, and Anthony Stanco; as well as Organissimo & Marcus Elliot. In addition to leading his own group, he is a regular in the band led by RJ Spangler & Tbone Paxton and is one their upcoming CD.

WSU Student Jam Session
2018-10-21 16:00 - 18:30
Students from the Wayne State University have a jam session, which is open to all.

Brian Charette wsg Randy Napolean
2018-10-20 21:30
New York City organist/pianist, Brian Charette, has established himself as a leading voice in modern Jazz. Charette is a Grammy-nominated, Hammond-endorsed artist who was the winner of the 2014 Downbeat Critics’ Poll Rising Star: Organ award and has climbed to 4th place in The Critic’s Poll main organ category. In 2015 Brian also won The Hot House Magazine’s Fan’s Decision Jazz Award for Best Organist in New York. His last Positone recording, Once and Future, reached #17 on the Jazz Week chart and was also on the Itunes new music Top 20. This Fall, Brian released his new Circuit Bent Organ trio recording, Kürrent, featuring Ben Monder and has a brand new traditional Jazz organ trio release on Steeplechase Records featuring NEA Master, George Coleman called Groovin with Big G.
Charette was born in Meriden, Connecticut in 1972, and was introduced to music by his mother, Catherine. By the age of 17, he was playing with jazz luminaries Lou Donaldson and Houston Person. Since graduating on the Dean’s List from UConn in 1994 with a BA in Music, Charette has been performing extensively in Europe and the USA with his home base being the East Village, NYC. Brian is a staple of the downtown NYC scene working with virtually everyone who plays with an organist.
Besides being a critically acclaimed composer and bandleader, Brian has performed with many notable artists such as Joni Mitchell, Chaka Khan, Paul Simon, Cyndi Lauper, and many more.
Charette is also an active author and educator, writing for Keyboard magazine, New York City Jazz Record, DownBeat, and the Czech magazine, Muzikus. Brian teaches masterclasses all over the world and is on the faculty of the Czech Summer Jazz Workshop at Jesek Conservatory in Prague. His first book, 101 Hammond B3 Tips, released through publisher Hal Leonard, has become very popular, as well as his videos on the website, mymusicmasterclass.com.
Randy Napolean on guitar & Jordan Young on drums!

Ron English
2018-10-17 20:00
Guitarist and composer Ron English brings an all-star crew to further develop material they played on Ron’s new CD, “Dance/Cry/Dance” (Detroit Music Factory), as well as other new and old tunes and grooves.
New Detroit Music Factory Release by Guitarist, Composer Ron English One day, speaking to a woman at his church, Detroit-based guitarist and composer Ron English talked about the CD he was working on for Detroit Music Factory (DMF). The record, he told her, would be called Dance/Cry/Dance. Without missing a beat, the woman answered, “Isn’t that the truth.” Indeed, it is truth. The record’s name perfectly reflects the character and progression of the music. Opening with “Dancers’ Serenade,” Dance/Cry/Dance establishes right out of the gate that this work is first and last about groove. Even so, along the way, English takes us on a curated ride that leads us through the emotional and spiritual side of groove, and then pulls us out the other side, still dancing. “I don’t know that we always expect records to do that,” says English, who compares the record’s progression to the deliberate way a DJ programs music to achieve a malleable vibe, or the artful way many of the top entertainers with whom he’s played, such as the Four Tops, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, or Mary Wilson, add contrast and surprise to their live performances, but always within the context of the overall progression of the show. “One thing leads to another, it’s not the same thing all the way through.” Veteran fans of English know that his decades-long career spans a spectrum of musical styles, from the wide-open music of the expanded CJQ in the ’60s and the “asymmetrical” freedom of Synchron in the ’80s, to his organ trio work, and to his years playing in pit orchestras for the Fisher Theatre and others, backing Broadway musicals and pop acts. So where does Dance/Cry/Dance land between the poles of creative freedom and fixed structure? “You have to sort of triangulate,” laughs English. “It’s in between. It’s a jazz record. It has a relationship to dance rhythms, out in groove territory, and it uses song forms, with what I like to think are fresh and appealing melodies. But the record also emphasizes the emotional development and storytelling and dialogue in the improvised solos, within the strength of the various grooves.” Most of the compositions on Dance/Cry/Dance were written by English, including the previously recorded “Help Me Get Away,” which appeared on the 1973 cult-classic LP Saturday Night Special, by the Lyman Woodard Organization. As on the ’70s release, English is joined by drummer Leonard King (“that’s Dr. Professor Leonard King”). Here English gives it new life with a different tempo and a full horn section. The record also features fellow DMF recording artist Glenn Tucker, who in addition to playing piano and organ on the CD also wrote “Donny-Rag,” a New Orleans-style dance tune that pays homage to the late Donny Hathaway. While the structure of “Donny-Rag” has multiple melodies, not unlike a ragtime song or
Sousa march, it’s a solid New Orleans groove that features some harmonic devices that were used by Hathaway long ago. The only cover on Dance/Cry/Dance is Jill Scott’s “Hear My Call.” Although English was drawn to the song in part for his admiration of Scott as a lyricist, the tune here is approached instrumentally, with English’s guitar replacing her voice. A very light percussion by Miguel Gutierrez beautifully shades the instrumental combination, and the surprising and haunting English horn adds a deeper, richer sound than the original’s string section. English and his musicians are masterful in creating layers, and nowhere is this more beautifully orchestrated than “War in the Heavenlies.” The tune features Zen Zadravec on piano, Jaribu Shahid on bass, drummer Renell Gonsalves, Mark Kieme on flute, and Dwight Adams and John Douglas on trumpets. On this cut, it’s the composition’s melody, and the richness of the bass line, which is doubled in the bass register of the piano and also on the guitar. Over the top of that, in the right hand of the piano, is a harmony that transforms the whole atmosphere with a chord that changes just one note at a time. Above this is a whole other melody that floats over the top. The mood and emotion produces an intense effect; it suggests, according to English, that down here in the mud and the blood and the beer, there’s a lot of activity in our daily lives, but up above there’s something else going on, it happens in the spirit, in an unseen world. Perhaps one of the most surprising elements of Dance/Cry/Dance is that English goes to a lot of different places, which is not surprising given that in some ways the record has two different bands, at times featuring Tucker on piano or organ, and at times featuring Zadravec. The rhythmic emphasis is strong throughout, but there’s a variety of grooves. All of them, however, have an emotional quality in common: they make you want to dance. Indeed, it is truth.

SCOTT GWINNELL Orchestra MULGREW-OLOGY
2018-10-16 19:00 - 22:00
SCOTT GWINNELL MULGREW-OLOGY The name of late jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller may not trip off the tongue of the casual jazz fan, but make no mistake, among the genre’s aficionados, he was and is considered a musician’s musician. Versatile and singular, he pushed jazz to the limit harmonically, but always with a swinging sensibility.
Miller could accompany anybody, whether it was a vocalist or a horn player, he fit in every kind of setting. He was the guy you wanted on your album. But what perhaps even fewer people are aware of is that Miller was more than just a remarkable piano player, he was also a prolific and talented composer and arranger.
Mulgrew-ology, the second Detroit Music Factory recording by Detroit-based jazz pianist, composer and arranger Scott Gwinnell, explores this lesser-spotlighted side of Miller.
Gwinnell intersperses Miller’s compositional ideas throughout a body of arrangements that include songs penned by Miller as well as other artists’ compositions for which he was famous for playing in his certain way—because even when Miller played someone else’s tune, it was a markedly Mulgrew Miller version.
“There are certain albums where the work is about you and you want to shine through your own work,” says Gwinnell. “But this record is more about Mulgrew than about me.”
Just as the inflections, the words, the idiosyncrasies that make up a person’s manner of speaking sum up into one’s personality, Miller’s compositions and playing have a definitive voice. Gwinnell mined for those nuances, the subtle licks and chord progressions, choices like the melodic sequence that Miller plays over a diminished harmony, the stuff that tells you you’re listening to Mulgrew Miller.
According to jazz musician and producer Tony Ruda, who wrote the album’s liner notes:
“In [Miller’s] recordings, you hear a pianist steeped in the hard bop tradition whose style could just as soon catch you off guard with the most wonderfully lyrical phrase. His style was never flashy, because a true professional doesn’t need to be – why go for the cheap trick on the keys when you can turn a beautiful melodic line that will leave a captive audience breathless?”
Although Mulgrew-ology is a deep-dive into the essence of Miller’s compositional skills, Gwinnell takes what Miller did in his compositions and uses that imprint in different ways throughout his arrangements. The 17-piece orchestral arrangements help provide Gwinnell a blank canvas with which to bring the album to life, and listeners who are not new to Miller will appreciate the uncharacteristic choice.
“[Mulgrew-ology’s] title track is exemplary of [Gwinnell’s] strong compositional style, giving us a tune that swings hard and sets the tone for the rest of the album,” writes Ruda. “Jazz veterans James Hughes on saxophone and Paul Finkbeiner on trumpet both treat us to some terrific soloing in turn, as the conversation between the rhythm and brass sections draws us into Gwinnell’s high-spirited arrangement.”
To jazz fans for whom Mulgrew-ology is an introduction to Mulgrew Miller, here’s the thing: when you hear Miller-esque tunes, they sound familiar, they make sense. It’s not a standard, not a Great American Songbook tune, but it goes beyond that. According to Gwinnell, it’s still rooted in “sensible listening.” The music is so catchy, so beautiful, it doesn’t matter that the name Mulgrew Miller is unfamiliar. What matters is how enjoyable you’re likely to find Mulgrew-ology.
Ruda on Miller and Gwinnell:
“…any commentary about Mulgrew’s quiet command of his instrument or the understated quality of his playing would not do him justice. For that, we simply have to turn to the music – only through hearing his compositions do we truly get close to Mulgrew Miller the man. Thankfully, with Scott Gwinnell’s album Mulgrew-ology, we are treated to sparkling arrangements of his work that add a new dimension to our understanding of what jazz meant to Mulgrew Miller, and perhaps more importantly, what Mulgrew Miller meant to jazz. It’s an absolutely beautiful homage.”
Student band at 7, Scott’s band at 8 pm

Ben Rosenblum Trio
2018-10-14 19:00 - 22:00
Award-winning jazz pianist, composer and accordionist Ben Rosenblum has been described as “mature beyond his years,” (Jon Neudorf, Sea of Tranquility), and as an “impressive talent” (C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz), who “caresses [the music] with the reverence it merits” (Bob Doerschuk, Downbeat Magazine). Ben is based primarily in New York City, and is a graduate of the Columbia-Juilliard program (in 2016). His original music combines his extensive knowledge of the history of jazz with a free-wheeling, modern melodic sensibility and powerful narrative approach to the piano. His profound passion for jazz, swing and world music genres finds expression in his unique fusion of harmonic and rhythmic elements from a wide array of sources, and gives rise to a signature compositional sound and style at once iconoclastic and deeply rooted in such figures as Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly. Ben’s first priority in his composition and in his playing is always narrative – to tell a compelling story with his music, while reaching the hearts of his audience, connecting on an emotional, an intellectual and a spiritual level.

Cliff Bell's Closed for a Private Event
2018-10-13 00:00 - 23:59

Disaster Relief
2018-10-10 20:00
New, local jazz-funk project, Disaster Relief, features many rising stars of the Ann Arbor and Detroit jazz scenes. They celebrate the release of their self-titled debut album, which is intended to provide relief from the tragedy and negativity of the world. Drawing on a wide range of funky sources, from James Brown to Fela Kuti, the band boasts a hard hitting four-piece horn section and balances tightly composed syncopation with plenty of improvisation.
Greasy…Open yet poignant funk jams…the band’s feel good ethos produces perfect party music.” – Paul Naser, Allaboutjazz.com
“Delicious soul-funk, innovative and brisk…played with fervent passion and oodles of sonic heat.” – Randall Radik, Blogcritics.com
Brennan Andes: Bass
Rob Avsharian: Drums
Dan Bennett: Bari Sax
Josef Deas: Keyboads
Tim Haldeman; Tenor Sax
Ross Huff: Trumpet
Darrin James: Guitar, Organ, Composer
Molly Jones: Tenor Sax
https://disasterrelief.bandcamp.com/releases

Speakeasy Sunday with Holly Hock
2018-10-07 20:30
General Admission Reserved $20 – $30
Doors 7:30pm / Show 8:30pm
Holly is the founder and headmistress of the Detroit School of Burlesque and also produces the only monthly recurring Detroit burlesque show in an original speakeasy called Speakeasy Sundays, featuring local and national burlesque performers, vaudeville and circus performers, as well as occasional live music.
Holly also is the troupe leader of the Detroit Grand Cabaret, Detroit’s premier burlesque troupe.
Miss Holly Hock sets herself apart as a burlesque dancer with over-the-top glamour and a unique perspective on classic burlesque. She is a multi award-winning performer, having received honors including Performer of the Year, Master of Tassels, among others, and has been featured along side the world’s other top Burlesque performers at internationally recognized events like the Dirty Show Erotic Art Exhibition, the Burlypicks and the Michigan Burlesque Festival, among others and with Detroit favorites such as the Theatre Bizarre Orchestra.
Homepage

Jeff Cuny Trio
2018-10-05 17:30 - 20:30, 2018-09-28 17:30 - 20:30
Jeff recently completed work on his Graduate degree in jazz studies at WSU and is a fine young string bassist. He is also the chief arranger for the band Midtown Sounds and appears around the city with Tbone Paxton and also the Rhythm Society Orchestra.

Cliff Bell's Closed for Private Event
2018-10-04 00:00 - 23:59

Bill Laurance of Snarky Puppy (solo)
2018-10-03 20:30 - 22:15
• 2017 Grammy win for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for the album Culcha Vulcha, as a member of Snarky Puppy
• 2016 Grammy win for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for the album Sylva, as a member of Snarky Puppy
• 2014 Grammy Award Winner for Best R&B Performance (Snarky Puppy with Lalah Hathaway)
• Currently has over 21,400 followers on Facebook and over 22,700 followers on Instagram.
Bill Laurance is a three time Grammy Award winning pianist, composer and performer. He has worked professionally for 22 years, performing all over the world. He is an original member of the internationally acclaimed Snarky Puppy.
His four albums (Flint, 2014; Swift, 2015; Aftersun, 2016; and Live at Union Chapel, 2016) all hit the top of the UK and US iTunes Jazz charts. He is currently developing his 5th album, a solo record exploring a fusion of acoustic piano, electronics with a focus on free improvisation.
Bill’s composition work extends across a wide range of genres: his first feature film Un Traductor, was nominated for best foreign film at 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Other collaborations include work with prestigious dance companies (Alvin Ailey, Mathew Bourne and Northern Ballet Theatre) and producing music for commercials (Apple Mac, Sky Broadband, Nokia, De Beers, Investec, Hewlett Packard, and Rigby & Peller). Recently Bill has been co-writing with David Crosby (Crosby, Stills & Nash) on original compositions for the forthcoming David Crosby album. Bill is currently composing three separate commissions for Big Band, Orchestra and Choir.
Bill is a passionate educator and continues to give clinics and masterclasses at institutions all over the world. He is the Artist in Residence at Morley College, London.
Collaborations include:
David Crosby, Morcheeba, Salif Keita, Jordan Rudess, Susana Baca, Lalah Hathaway, Laura Mvula, Jacob Collier, Musiq Soul Child, Chris Potter, Lionel Loueke, Carlos Malta, Miss Dynamite, The Metropole Orchestra
Bill is a champion of cutting edge keyboard developments, he is endorsed by Roli Seaboard, Dave Smith, Moog, Mellotron, Korg, Nord, MXR, Yamaha Pianos, Yamaha Reface, Arp Odyssey, Sound Brenner and Native Instruments.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bill-laurance-from-snarky-puppy-solo-performance-tickets-48347355241
www.billlaurance.com

Matt LoRusso Quartet "The Bridge"
2018-09-30 20:00 - 22:30
Matt will bring tenor sax man Ryan Freitas and they will perform songs from the classic Sonny Rollins album “The Bridge” which featured jazz guitar great Jim Hall.
Matt LoRusso has been playing guitar since 1995 when he received his first guitar for Christmas. He started taking lessons shortly after studying music theory and classical guitar repertoire. Matt placed first place during the Hyatt Regency Classical Guitar competition in 1997 and 1998 before retiring from competitive music to achieve an intrinsic journey through his instrument.
At the age of 12, Matt LoRusso started taking lessons at Wayne State University from revered instrumentalist and instructor, Professor Lee Dyament. Under Lee Dyament’s instruction, Matt played and learned with Classical Guitarists Andrew York, Scott Tennant, William Kanengiser, the LAGQ (as a whole), and Jason Vieaux.
When he was 10, Matt picked up the trumpet to play in band and to be in jazz band. Matt studied under Bob Cox, Jean Moorehead-Libs, and Derrick Gardner and toured with the Blue Lake International Jazz Band before prematurely ending his career in an accident in 2009.
After completing his first year at Michigan State University’s College of Music on trumpet, Matt turned to his experience with classical guitar to resume his college career. Matt has studied with Joe Gloss and Perry Hughes while at MSU and has played with international groups and artists as well as hosted a slew of weekly gigs in Michigan. A fw years ago Matt did a tour of the Middle East with trumpeter Anthony Stanco.
Matt has played with Rodney Whitaker, Wessell Anderson, Diego Rivera, Derrick Gardner, Bill Heid, Tbone Paxton as well as Organissimo, and the Peter Nelson Quartet. Matt LoRusso is now leading his own groups playing originals compositions and arrangements as well as pursuing his career as a jazz guitarist on stage and in the studio.

Oakland University Faculty Jazz Collective
2018-09-30 17:00 - 19:00
An ensemble consisting of professors from Oakland University: drummer Sean Dobbins, bassist Marion Hayden, trumpeter Anthony Stanco, pianist Scott Gwinnell, and percussionist Mark Stone.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1742218795898980/

Yvette Norwood-Tiger w/ Dr. Jesse McGuire
2018-09-29 21:30
Yvette Norwood-Tiger, international jazz vocalist and recording artist, songwriter, vocal coach, Recording Academy (Grammy) recording and voting member, and founder/director of Palm Beach International Jazz Festival (www.palmbeachinternationaljazzfestival.org), is a Detroit, Michigan native who hails from a family of musicians, including a father who played guitar and a mother who played drums. Her CDs, A’LA ELLA! and whY NoT… Love, Peace, Joy, Jazz feature music from great composers such as Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, and the Gershwins. Yvette performs with vocally clean and pure interpretations of the great American Songbook, while emphasizing intonation and storytelling. Her vocal styling and texture is often compared to that of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. In addition to traditional jazz, her repertoire includes traditional gospel, Latin jazz, classic songs from popular music, and arias of the great composers such as Puccini. She also performs songs in other languages which includes French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Her mission in music is to uplift, inspire, and heal the heart, mind and spirit of the listener.
Yvette will be backed by the Scott Gwinnell Trio, wsg trumpet player, Dr. Jesse McGuire, coming in from Arizona.

Buffalo Kid
2018-09-27 20:00 - 23:30
Buffalo Kid is a trio that features Stuart Lyons, drums, David Dunham, guitar, Jeffry Cuny, bass. The trio began playing together as the rhythm section in the WSU Big Band from 2016-2018, and served as their house rhythm section. Also under the name Jeffry Cuny trio the ensemble plays every Friday at Cliff Bell’s from 5:30pm-8:15pm. As Buffalo Kid the focus is on original music and free improvisation. Influences are rooted in the avant-garde and pull from artists like the Bad Plus, Ornette Coleman, Tim Berne, and Cecil Taylor.

Emma Lee Aboukasm
2018-09-26 20:30
Emma Lee Aboukasm is an award-winning, Detroit-based recording artist, vocalist, pianist, and composer. Educated in classical and jazz music at the University of Michigan, she is now performing everywhere in Detroit, including intimate venues like the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe to expansive ones like the Detroit Jazz Festival.
Recently, Emmalee co-produced her debut album Rise To It featuring Scott Gwinnell on piano, Marion Hayden on bass, Sean Dobbins on drums and Tristan Cappel on alto sax. The album contains jazz standards and original compositions by Emmalee.
Aboukasm won the Youth Vocal Jazz competition in Detroit, MI in 2014. In 2015, she made it to the top 5 finalists out of 2,000 applications worldwide in the International Sarah Vaughan Vocal Jazz Competition. She performed for a panel of 5 judges including Christian McBride and Cyrille Aimée and played music from her CD on WGB0 radio in Newark, NJ. She currently resides at the University of Michigan until she completes her undergraduate degree in jazz studies in 2018.

Tonotrope
2018-09-25 20:00
Tonotrope is a collaborative trio of Michael Malis (piano), Jaribu Shahid (bass), and Jonathan Taylor (drums). Together, they search for the inner logic of musical language by exploring the outer limits of the jazz repertoire.
Jaribu Shahid is a leading bassist of international stature. A native Detroit he has played with some of the defining artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. He has collaborated with such luminaries as Sun Ra, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Geri Allen, James Carter, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. He is a founding member of Griot Galaxy, Detroit’s defining avant jazz ensemble of the 1970’s and beyond.
Michael Malis is a pianist and composer based in Detroit, MI. In August 2017, he released an album of duets with saxophonist Marcus Elliot, entitled “Balance.” The album was praised by the Detroit Metro Times as “contemporary jazz of the highest order, a benchmark for where the genre can go.” He has performed at venues such as the Yokohama Jazz Promenade (Yokohama, Japan), the Kennedy Center, Birdland (NYC), the Detroit Jazz Festival, The Stone (NYC), and the Detroit Institute of Arts, and with notables such as Marcus Belgrave, Tyshawn Sorey, William Hooker, Jaribu Shahid, Ken Filiano, Andrew Bishop, Dennis Coffey, and Marion Hayden. He has been lauded for his scores for film and theater, which have garnered awards, critical acclaim, and have reached international audiences. He is a founding member of Polyfold Musical Arts Collective. He is currently as Master’s student at Wayne State University, studying composition.
Jonathan Taylor is a Detroit-based drummer, improviser, composer, and educator. A tireless collaborator, he co-leads a number of original projects including the electro acoustic duo Says Things, sound and movement ensemble Legs, art rock quartet saajtak, and his own quintet of original music, Mover. He has performed alongside such luminaries of creative music as Wadada Leo Smith, Dave Liebman, Michael Formanek, and Jaribu Shahid, and is a founding member of Polyfold, a musical arts collective. His compositions have been described as “A balance between form and freedom” and “Music for the head and heart” (All About Jazz). As a performer, he’s been featured at Edgefest, The DC Jazz Festival, The Jazz Gallery in New York, Detroit’s Strange Beautiful Music, and more.
www.michaelmalis.com
