DeSean Jones
2023-11-21 19:30 - 2023-11-22 09:30, 2023-11-20 19:30 - 2023-11-21 09:30, 2023-11-19 19:30 - 2023-11-20 09:30, 2023-11-18 19:30 - 2023-11-19 09:30, 2023-11-17 19:30 - 2023-11-18 09:30, 2023-11-16 19:30 - 2023-11-17 09:30, 2023-11-15 19:30 - 2023-11-16 09:30, 2023-11-14 19:30 - 2023-11-15 09:30 (America/Detroit) and 11 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.

the Planet D Nonet
2023-11-19 17:30 - 19:30
Showtimes are at 5:30p & 7:30p for this performance. Doors open at 4pm for dinner. Seating begins at 5pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 7pm.
The PD9 performs Harlem Jive by Fats Waller, swing era tunes by Duke Ellington, Benny Moten, Count Basie and Fletcher Henderson as well as the jumpin’ jive of Louis Jordan. Cofounded by RJ Spangler & James O’Donnell, the band has brought swing music to SE Michigan listeners and swing dancers since 2007. In that time the band has also performed in 10 states including some memorable gigs in New Orleans. In addition to the vocals of trumpeter James O’Donnell, the band also features the vocals of trombonist John “Tbone” Paxton and often featured artist Camille Price. The band has won NINE Motor City Music Awards. Saxes: Alex Colista, Christopher Tabacynski & Goode Wyche III, brass: James O’Donnell, Charlie Miller & Tbone Paxon, rhythm: Michael Zaporski, Trevor Lamb, Sean Perlmutter & RJ Spangler

the Planet D Nonet
2023-11-18 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-11-17 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-11-16 19:30 - 21:30
Showtimes are at 7:30p & 9:30p for this performance.
Doors open at 5pm for dinner/Seating begins at 6:15p for the first show & 9:00p for the second show
The PD9 performs Harlem Jive by Fats Waller, swing era tunes by Duke Ellington, Benny Moten, Count Basie and Fletcher Henderson as well as the jumpin’ jive of Louis Jordan. Cofounded by RJ Spangler & James O’Donnell, the band has brought swing music to SE Michigan listeners and swing dancers since 2007. In that time the band has also performed in 10 states including some memorable gigs in New Orleans. In addition to the vocals of trumpeter James O’Donnell, the band also features the vocals of trombonist John “Tbone” Paxton and often featured artist Camille Price. The band has won NINE Motor City Music Awards. Saxes: Alex Colista, Christopher Tabacynski & Goode Wyche III, brass: James O’Donnell, Charlie Miller & Tbone Paxon, rhythm: Michael Zaporski, Trevor Lamb, Sean Perlmutter & RJ Spangler

Noah Jackson & Full Circle: Residency & Session
2023-11-15 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-11-08 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!

Leafar Village
2023-11-12 17:30 - 19:30
Doors open at 4pm for dinner. Showtimes are at 5:30p & 7:30p for this performance. Seating for the shows begins at 5pm for the first show & 7pm for the second show.
Rafael Leafar is a rare multi-instrumentalist who can combine great passion, intellectual discipline, and a spiritual fire that is evocative of great artistic creativity.
He has established himself as a remarkable composer and musician not defined by any one particular genre or style.
Hailing from Detroit, Rafael’s connection to music was Jazz; fostered from a musical family at an early age.
His parents invested life changing moves to make certain to access of opportunity to quality schools back and forth from suburban education and playing opportunities in Detroit that would eventually prove fruitful graduating from Sterling Heights High School, DSA, Detroit Civic Jazz Orchestra, & The New School for Jazz.
Over the years since 2009 major recording & performances with; Reggie Workman, Robert Hurst, Marcus Belgrave, Luis Resto, Vincent Chandler, Jeff Tain Watts, Marion Hayden, Sterling Toles, Detroit Jazz Festival Band, Kamau Kenyatta, Video7.

Leafar Village
2023-11-11 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-11-10 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-11-09 19:30 - 21:30
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.
Rafael Leafar is a rare multi-instrumentalist who can combine great passion, intellectual discipline, and a spiritual fire that is evocative of great artistic creativity.
He has established himself as a remarkable composer and musician not defined by any one particular genre or style.
Hailing from Detroit, Rafael’s connection to music was Jazz; fostered from a musical family at an early age.
His parents invested life changing moves to make certain to access of opportunity to quality schools back and forth from suburban education and playing opportunities in Detroit that would eventually prove fruitful graduating from Sterling Heights High School, DSA, Detroit Civic Jazz Orchestra, & The New School for Jazz.
Over the years since 2009 major recording & performances with; Reggie Workman, Robert Hurst, Marcus Belgrave, Luis Resto, Vincent Chandler, Jeff Tain Watts, Marion Hayden, Sterling Toles, Detroit Jazz Festival Band, Kamau Kenyatta, Video7.

Alex Harding & Organ Nation
2023-11-05 17:30 - 19:30
Doors open at 4pm for dinner. Showtimes are at 5:30p & 7:30p for this performance. Seating for the shows begins at 5pm for the first show & 7pm for the second show.
Detroit-born baritone saxophonist Alex Harding first became active in jazz circles in his youth. Early on he studied with established jazz figures Yusef Lateef and Beans Bowles and was playing gigs with Donald Byrd and Wynton Marsalis before he was out of high school. Throughout the ’90s, 2000s, and 2010s, Harding toured, performed, and recorded without pause, collaborating with countless names in both jazz and pop circles that included everyone from the Marshall Allen-led Sun Ra Arkestra to work with David Lee Roth.
Harding was born in 1967 in Detroit, Michigan. After hearing Grover Washington, Jr. as a kid, he took up tenor saxophone, eventually switching over to baritone in high school. Though sax was his primary instrument, he would occasionally double on bass clarinet. He was already performing regularly around Detroit in his teenage years while studying with local jazz greats. By his early twenties he was performing internationally. He left Detroit for New York in the early ’90s, joining Julius Hemphill’s Saxophone Sextet and performing around town with Lester Bowie, Frank Lacy, Hamiet Bluiett’s Baritone Group, the Mingus Big Band, and many others. He also took part in shows and festival appearances with the Sun Ra Arkestra and the Roy Hargrove Big Band. He recorded multiple albums with longtime friend pianist Lucian Ban, including 2002’s Somethin’ Holy and a 2008 collaboration between the two friends and Romanian electronic musician Silent Strike entitled 3am. In the late 2000s he joined the Broadway production of FELA!!! both in New York and on tour. He eventually returned to Detroit, but stayed incredibly active in the studio and on the road. Harding and Ban reunited in 2019 for another collaborative album, Dark Blue.
