Cliff Bell's

DeSean Jones
2023-02-13 19:30 - 2023-02-14 09:30, 2023-02-14 19:30 - 2023-02-15 09:30, 2023-02-15 19:30 - 2023-02-16 09:30, 2023-02-16 19:30 - 2023-02-17 09:30, 2023-02-17 19:30 - 2023-02-18 09:30, 2023-02-18 19:30 - 2023-02-19 09:30, 2023-02-19 19:30 - 2023-02-20 09:30, 2023-02-20 19:30 - 2023-02-21 09:30 (America/Detroit) and 10 more dates
De’Sean Jones is a Detroit based saxophonist, billboard charting recording artist and grammy nominated arranger. Over the past 20 years De’Sean has toured the world recording or performing with music Icons like Stevie Wonder, Faith Evans, along with a host of Detroit Legends; Marcus Belgrave, The Clark Sisters, Kierra Sheard and techno pioneer Mad Mike Banks of Underground Resistance.
As a bandleader & producer Jones has curated an eclectic approach that is widely viewed as progressive and undeniably rooted in the rich history of black culture. De’Sean actively pushes the boundaries of social consciousness through music in ways that are authentic, emotionally dynamic and intellectually stimulating.

All musical projects from De’Sean Jones can be accessed through his record label KNMDK Records.

Noah Jackson & Full Circle: Residency & Session
2023-02-15 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-02-22 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-03-01 19:30 - 21:30
Showtimes are at 7:30pm & 9:30pm for this performance.
Doors open at 5pm for dinner. Seating begins at 6pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 9pm.
Musicians pay no cover when they bring their instrument.
A Detroit original, Noah Jackson is a bassist, cellist, and composer specializing in black american music and classical music. Aimed with a curiosity to where sound could touch audiences from within, he has both written and performed music for large international audiences since 2010. A graduate of Michigan State University (B.M.), and Manhattan School of Music (M.M.), Noah has performed with world renowned artists such as NEA Jazz Master Abdullah Ibrahim, Branford Marsails, Jason Marsalis, The Marsalis Family, Hugh Masekela, Nnenna Freelon, Kenny Garrett, Wizard Harper, George Burton, Jazzmeia Horn, and Christian Sands. Additionally, he’s performed in many prominent venues and jazz festivals including Radio City Music Hall, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Jazz @ Lincoln Center, Blue Note Jazz Club (New York City and Milan), Royal Albert Hall, Victoria Hall (Geneva), Jazz in Marciac (Marciac, France), The Library of Congress, The Kennedy Center, SFJAZZ, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, London Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, and North Sea Jazz Festival. Noah Jackson also performed as part of the ceremony for the NEA Jazz Masters Award in 2019. He also recorded bass and cello on The Balance with Abdullah Ibrahim which reached #3 on the Billboard Jazz Charts (June 2019).
As a band leader, Noah had put on performances of original creative work with his band Full Circle. In 2011, he made his self-produced debut album, Contemplations- A Suite to critical acclaim and led Full Circle in the Detroit Jazz Festival in 2012. Since then, Noah has collaborated with a wide variety of artists across the jazz spectrum. In 2017, he has worked in collaboration with the American Ballet Theater with his string quartet Asè at Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT. Noah, along with vocalist and co-producer Candice Hoyes, were named recipients of grants for a double jazz and string quartet project: Ellington to the World: Generational Power in Black Culture and Spaces from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the New York Council of the Arts. The work premiered at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in September 2019 and was performed to a sold out audience in The CUBE @ DSO in February 2020. As of March 2021, Noah has joined Cliff Bell’s in Detroit as Curator and Artist-in-Residence where he will perform with his group Full Circle and host sessions as well as bring in world-class talent to perform on it’s stage.
Noah is endorsed by Aguilar Amps, David Gage REAList LifeLine pickups, and NOAH Guitars of Italy. Noah currently resides in Detroit, Michigan.
Find out more about Noah here!

KNG ALXNDR
2023-02-16 19:30 - 23:00
Showtimes are at 7:30p & 9:30p for this performance.
(Doors open at 5pm for dinner. Seating begins at 6pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 9pm.)
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King Alexander is an Artist, Musician, and Song Writer who hails from Detroit, Michigan. From the tutelage of Detroit Jazz legends such as Marcus Belgrave and Rodney Whitaker, Alexander developed his love for Jazz and his ear for good music. Attending DSA (Detroit School Of Arts) his passion for music production and song writing began.
In 2019 King Alexander released his first project titled Portrait! and in 2020 followed up with Welcome To CakeTown. His music carries the deep tradition of R&B, Soulful Singing, Colorful Lyricism, a heavy dash of Jazz, an intimate yet charismatic style of performance. King Alexander’s next project is expected to release late winter of 2023.

George Burton Quartet
2023-02-17 19:30 - 23:30, 2023-02-18 19:30 - 23:30
Showtimes are at 7:30p & 9:30p for this performance.
Doors open at 5pm for dinner. Seating begins at 6pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 9pm.
“This critic has rarely, in 11 years and hundreds of concerts, seen a musician who fed off the energy of the room as voraciously as Burton. On Tuesday night at Blues Alley, he brought his band members in on the feast. … The quintet made magic.”
— Mike West, THE WASHINGTON POST

“Burton’s jazz is multidimensional. It incorporates influences from hip-hop and R&B, electronic music and indie rock into a surprisingly cohesive sound shaped by his mastery of vibe — a soulfulness that underlies all of his tunes, whether the surface feels more like hard bop, avant-garde explosiveness, or blissed-out atmospherics.”
— Shaun Brady, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
For more than a decade, George Burton has been on the radar of everyone who keeps up with innovations in jazz. His dazzling virtuosity and breathtakingly eclectic approach to music reflect his experience in every aspect of the jazz spectrum: beginning with rigorous classical training, branching into his equally rigorous experience in the heady nightlife of the Philadelphia jazz scene, and earning him a place on the world stage with some of the most significant practitioners of bop, post-bop and beyond—from James Carter to Meshell Ndegeocello to the Sun Ra Arkestra—and has landed him on some of the most prestigious of stages with his own groups as a leader, including the Newport Jazz Festival in 2017.
Burton’s own work is in a category by itself: he brings not only stunning technique, but music that is complex, uniting all the dimensions of his experience, filtered through the sensibility of a Romantic composer. His compositions are incomparably beautiful—make that scary-beautiful—and powerful—as in mesmerizingly powerful—and haunting—as in “where has this been all my life” haunting.
There is a dynamic quality to hearing Burton play in that just when you think you’ve spotted an influence or are ready to compare him to one of the greats, he takes a turn, blending modern and classical in a way that is both playful and transcendent. The vitality in Burton’s music is apparent in his effortless switch in tempo, each note carefully thought out, lingering, distinct and alive. He finds balance where others would waver, bringing the fullest expression of himself to the music he creates.

Rockelle Whitaker
2023-02-19 19:30 - 23:00
Showtimes are at 7:30p & 9:30p for this performance. Doors open at 5pm for dinner. Seating begins at 6pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 9pm.
Visionary vocalist, Rockelle Whitaker, immersed since infancy in the music mecca known as Motown and the daughter of world renowned bassist, Rodney Whitaker, has Jazz deeply entrenched in her lineage, heart, and soul. At the age of 3, she embraced fell in love and became enchanted with the luminous idea that one day she would become a soul singing sister. Rockelle attended Michigan State University Jazz Studies program and performed with world renowned Jazz Orchestra I. To broaden her musical artistic expressions and develop vocal facility, Ms. Whitaker became a lead member of a church choir song and praise team. She will set the mood with a lush ballad or rock the house with a bebop or blues tune; her versatility, power and soulfulness showcases her passion for the craft, vocal range and ability to transcend through any genre.

Closed This Evening
2023-02-19 19:30 - 23:00
We’re sorry to announce that Cliff Bell’s will be closed this evening. We look forward to seeing you next time

Paul Francis Quartet
2023-02-23 19:30 - 23:00
Showtimes are at 7:30p & 9:30p for this performance.
Doors open at 5pm for dinner. Seating begins at 6pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 9pm.
Grammy Award-winning drummer and educator Paul Francis has extensive experience working with some of the world’s greatest musicians. He is featured on the Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett album and subsequent PBS special “Cheek to Cheek”, and toured extensively with the duo to support that recording. He continues to perform with Lady Gaga on a regular basis. Paul has also recorded and/or performed with Stevie Wonder, Jose Feliciano, Jon Faddis, David Hazeltine, Jim Belushi, Molly Ringwald, Megan Hilty, The Rockettes, Ralph Lalama, Brian Newman, Rich Little, The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and The Albany Symphony Orchestra, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra conducted by Buddy Morrow. Paul has also appeared on shows for HBO, ABC and MTV, and is on the soundtrack for the movie “Friends with Kids”. Paul endorses Yamaha drums, Sabian cymbals, Remo drumheads and Vic Firth drumsticks.
As an educator, Paul has taught all ages and playing levels. He is currently on faculty at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and has taught private lessons and master classes at SUNY Purchase, University of Cincinnati and The Ohio State University, as well as continuing to teach at his own private studio. He has also been published in Modern Drummer and Drumhead magazines.

Marques Carroll Quintet
2023-02-25 19:30 - 23:00, 2023-02-25 19:30 - 23:30, 2023-02-26 19:30 - 23:00
Showtimes are at 7:30p & 9:30p for this performance.
(Doors open at 5pm for dinner. Seating begins at 6pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 9pm.)
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Chicago based artist Marques Carroll is keeping the tradition of jazz alive while pushing the
genre forward into exciting new territory. A seasoned and charismatic performer, Marques is no
stranger to performing in the finest venues and festivals around the world as a past member of
the world renowned Count Basie Orchestra and as an independent band leader and artist. The
Carroll Quintet has most recently performed at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in 2021 and most
recently at the Chicago Jazz Festival this past September.
Most recently Marques Carroll self released his debut album, The Ancestors’ Call, through his
own co-founded record label JMarq Records. Carroll’s latest original singles, “Larry Sings” and
“Brother Payton” are now featured on the FX series The Bear. His second album, Foundations,
was released September 16 of this year and has been climbing the Jazz Charts. Carroll also
co-leads and performs regularly with the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective who’s most recent album,
Chicago Soul Jazz Collective Meets Dee Alexander On The Way To Be Free, is currently
topping JazzWeek’s Top 10 Charts.
The Carroll Quintet features Brent Griffin (Alto Sax), Greg Artry (Drums), Christian Dillingham
(Bass) and Julius Tucker (Piano).
