the Planet D Nonet
2025-04-13 17:30 - 19:30 (America/Detroit)
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.
Echoes of Harlem: A Salute to Duke Ellington Vol 2. CD Release Events at Cliff Bell’s Jazz Club July 18, 19, 20, sets at 7:30pm & 9:30pm 2030 Park Ave Detroit, MI 48226 Echoes of Harlem: A Salute to Duke Ellington Vol 2. is a heartfelt tribute to the legendary Duke Ellington and follows the tremendous success of Planet D Nonet’s previous album, Blues to Be There: A Salute to Duke Ellington. Blues to Be There: A Salute to Duke Ellington (2023) performed exceptionally well, reaching #16 on the JazzWeek chart and surpassing PD9’s previous record with their Strayhorn CD, which peaked at #17 in 2016. The album also topped the Roots Music Report Jazz and Big Band Jazz Chart for twenty-three consecutive weeks peaking at #1 on both charts. The album also enjoyed 15 weeks on the NACC Top 30 Jazz Chart, peaking at #1 overall. Garnering significant airplay, the recording appeared on national “Best of” lists, including LA-based writer Scott Yanow’s “THE TOP JAZZ RECORDINGS OF 2023,” the Michigan Roots Music Report’s Top 200 of 2023 (#4), and Eric Hines’s WNMC Radio list (#1). JazzWeek ranked it #55 in their top 100 of the year, while the NACC chart placed it at #11 for the year end chart. Most recently, it was listed in the top 30 of 2023 on CJAM-FM’s “The Freedom Principle.” Mike Stratton of WKAR in Lansing, MI included it in his top ten for 2023, and Paul Donovan at KUVO in Denver ranked it #7 in his top ten for 2023. An organic evolution of Volume 2. While touring for the previous CD, Planet D Nonet continued adding new charts to their repertoire, realizing by last summer they had enough material for Volume 2. The project evolved organically, with some songs drawn from the movie “Anatomy of a Murder,” performed during a special tour of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where Duke himself once played. James O’Donnell’s performances with the East Side Rhythm Rascals inspired the inclusion of “Echoes of Harlem” and “Azalea,” arranged by Jeff Cuny. Collaborations with Andrew Homzy and Jeff Cuny brought “Rocks in my Bed” from the Ellington collection at the Smithsonian, featuring the vocals of Camille Price. Tbone Paxton delivers a spirited rendition of “Caravan” using a head arrangement from their live gigs. Rick Steiger suggested “La Plus Belle Africaine,” showcasing Duke’s modern compositions toward the end of his career. Trevor Lamb arranged this track, highlighted by a special photo of him with Ellington bassist John Lamb. This project has been a profound experience, blending historical reverence with personal connections and contemporary interpretations. Artist: Planet D Nonet Album Name: Echoes of Harlem: A Salute to Duke Ellington Vol 2 Label: Eastlawn Records, ELD-42
https://rjspangler.com/pd9.php
https://www.eastlawnrecords.com/index.php

Ben Green's Harmolodics and Session
2025-04-16 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-04-23 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-04-30 19:30 - 21:30
Doors open at 5pm for dinner. Seating begins at 6pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 9pm.
The Harmolodics band was formed in 2018 by Benjamin Green as a tribute to the great improviser Ornette Coleman and has since grown into a redefinition and continuation of the idea and concept of harmolodics music.
Utilizing electronics and and electro acoustic manipulation, the Harmolodics strives to push the boundaries of “the trio”.
From meandering improvisational textures to soaring melodies, hard hitting grooves to tender explorations of emotion, the Harmolodics seek to convey real feeling, passion, and unabashed sonic freedom.

La Tosca
2025-04-17 19:30 - 21:30
There will be two separate seatings 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.
La Tosca is a little orchestra, the kind you could find in a Parisian Café Chantant in 1928. It is a unique historical and geographical fusion as the musicians have different musical backgrounds such as Italian, French, Polish, and American. La Tosca wants to tell the story of the places, the people, their imagination, expectations, dreams and disillusions through songs that belong to a collective memory and represent an irreplaceable testimony of a passionate past of great European music combined with the rhythms of the Americas.
The band takes you on a journey through the Italian musical heritage of 100 years of repertoire corresponding to the biggest wave of the European Migration to the Americas (1820-1920). The traditional music of Naples and Sicily meets the Swing rhythm of Django in Paris, and brings you to the roaring atmosphere of the early American jazz. Polkas and Mazurkas will take you south to Argentina where the fusion of Sicilian music and Native Argentinian Rhythms gave birth to sensual Tangoes and Milongas.
Voice, accordion, violin, mandolin, bass and serenading guitars will create a passionate romance under the light of the candles of timeless melodies.
The band was awarded “best cocktail band” in 2017 by the Best of Chicago Magazine and has released a live album called “Prima Vera” in 2019. La Tosca has been collaborating with most of the Italian institutions of the city ; The Green Mill, Navy Pier, Thalia Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, Candlelight Concert Series, Harris Theatre, Hungry Brain, the Honky Tonk, different festivals and several events promoted by the city of Chicago.

the Jonathan Barahal Taylor Quartet
2025-04-18 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-04-19 19:30 - 21:30
Doors open at 5pm for dinner. Showtimes are at 7:30p & 9:30p for this performance. Seating for the shows begins at 6pm for the first show & 9pm for the second show.
Featuring: Jaribu Shahid; bass, Ian Finkelstein; piano and Tim Haldeman; Tenor Sax
“[Taylor’s] compositions struck a balance between form and freedom … This was music both for head and heart, always with a bluesy sensibility even during the more adventurous moments” — All About Jazz
Taylor has played with some of the most revered names in Jazz and Creative Music, Including Wadada Leo Smith, John Lindberg, Tomeka Reid, Angelica Sanchez, Dave Liebman, Michael Formanek, Karl Berger, and Jaribu Shahid, and has performed at the DC Jazz Festival, EdgeFest, The Jazz Gallery In New York, the Detroit Jazz Festival, The Toronto Jazz Festival, The International Association of Schools of Jazz Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, and in 2019 toured Japan with the art-rock band Throwaway. He attended the Banff Centre’s International Workshop for Jazz and Creative music under the direction of Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey in 2013 and 2018, and maintains studies in Tabla and Hindustani Music with Sri Souma Kanti Mukerjee, disciple of the late master of the Benares Gharana, Pt. Chhote Lal Mishra. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he earned a BFA in Jazz and Contemplative Studies, studying with Geri Allen, Andrew Bishop, Ellen Rowe, Evan Chambers, Mark Kirschenmann, Michael Gould, Stephen Rush, and Sean Dobbins.

Bloomfield Hills High School Jazz Band
2025-04-22 19:00 - 22:00
Join us for a evening featuring the next generation of Jazz musicians! Under the direction of Alan Posner all of the Bloomfield Hills Jazz ensembles will be featured on the Cliff Bell’s stage.

***Students with instrument cases do not pay cover.

Randal Wilson
2025-04-24 19:30 - 21:30
There will be two separate seatings at 7:30pm & 9:30pm for this performance.
Doors open at 6:30pm for dinner. Seating begins at 6pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 9pm.
Out of Detroit’s wealth of musicians emerges Randal “Velvet” Wilson, Guitarist/ Producer and Voice Actor. Randal divides his time performing, recording, touring, and serving as Musical Director for many local and national recording artists. He also has collaborated, recorded & performed with Michon Young, Michael Powell, Partners in Praise, Guy Ensley, Al Turner, Gayelynn McKinney, Inohs Sivad, David Ivey, Straight Gate Church, LaShell Griffin, L Renee, Phoenix, Zanye’, Word of Faith, The Street Jazz Cartel and many others.
It’s been a blessing to share the stage and perform with Earth, Wind & Fire, George Clinton Parliment Funkadelic, Musiq Soulchild, George Benson, Layla Hathaway, Ledisi, Joe Sample, CeCe Winans, Will Downing, Amp Fiddler, Natalie Cole, Jeffrey Osborne, Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, Richard Elliot, Mindi Abair, The Dramatics, Brian Simpson, Bobby Rush, The Commodores, Michael Franks, Kem, Fred Hammond, Impromp2, T.D. Jakes, Lenny White, Thornetta Davis, Dave McMurray, Karen Clark-Sheard, Marion Meadows, Donnie McKlurkin, Vickie Winans, Dettrick Haddon, Dorinda Clark-Cole, and Twinkie Clark to name a few.
Having studied briefly with some of his Guitar Heroes like Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Larry Coryell and Ron English has helped him to develop personally and professionally as a master guitarist.

Rodney Whitaker Quartet
2025-04-25 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-04-26 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.
Internationally renowned bassist and Mack Avenue recording artist, Rodney Whitaker, currently holds the titles of Professor of Jazz Bass and Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University where he has built one of the leading jazz degree programs and performing faculty in the United States of America. He is considered one of the leading performers and teachers of the jazz double bass in the United States. Whitaker has performed and toured with over 100+ legendary performing jazz artists over the past 25+ years. Featured on more than 100+ recordings – from film to compact discs – Whitaker’s film scores, China, directed by Jeff Wray, was released on PBS Fall 2002 and Malaria and Malawi, released on PBS Fall 2010. Also, Whitaker has a DVD release featuring Michigan State University’s Jazz Department entitled, “Inside Jazz” and three new compact discs entitled, “Get Ready” & “Work To Do”—both on Mack Avenue Records and “Better Than Alright” by Michigan State University College of Music.

Cecil and Ari Alexander
2025-04-27 17:30 - 19:30
Showtimes are at 5:30p & 7:30p for this performance. Doors open at 4:00pm for dinner. Seating begins at 5pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 7pm.
…Ideas and chops and sensitivity. Everything we want to hear and everything we want to play. I was an instant fan! -Kurt Rosenwinkel
…He has a command of jazz language and speaks it in a natural, unforced way- like he’s saying things as he hears them in the moment, rather than reciting what he think’s he’s supposed to say… -Bobby Broom
Cecil Alexander is a guitarist, composer, and arranger from Muskegon, MI. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2016 with a B.M. in Jazz Composition. He is a recent graduate (2019) of the Jazz Performance M.M. program at William Paterson University. In 2016, he co-founded the folk-rock group Visen, which released its first EP, Shoulder Deep, in 2017. Cecil was the 1st place winner of the 2017 Wilson Center Jazz Guitar Competition and the 2018 Lee Ritenour Six String Theory Competition. In 2019, Cecil was one of 3 finalists in the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Guitar Competition. Cecil has recorded/performed with Bill Charlap, Antonio Hart, Lee Pearson, Luis Perdomo, Nathan East, and Steve LaSpina. Some of his greatest influences include Charlie Parker, Thurston Moore, Grant Green, John Coltrane, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, and Frank Zappa. As of Fall 2021, Cecil started a teaching position at Berklee College of Music as Assistant Professor of Guitar. Cecil recently was recently signed to Heartcore Records, a Berlin-based label founded by legendary guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. Cecil’s debut album with Heartcore , Introducing Cecil Alexander, was released September 23rd, 2022. Most recently, Cecil has begun playing in the touring band of Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott). Cecil is currently planning the release of a duo album with his wife, vocalist Ari Alexander, as well as a new solo project that explores his interests in Math Rock and Progressive music.
Cecil and Ari Alexander perform a selection of originals, classics and Great American songbook compositions from their album “duos” and upcoming album “duos 2” all arranged specifically for duo and reimagined for an intimate yet swinging night of music.
Holding a Scandinavian sensitivity to an American tradition, Danish-American Ari Alexander is as equally a jazz musician as she is a singer-songwriter. She was inspired to pursue jazz after learning of her vibrant musical family, including her grandmother and great-aunt, jazz vocalist Teddi King. She has led ensembles in settings like the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and the more intimate settings of the Django in NYC. She was also a part of the Niels Lan Doky Collective where she has performed for the Danish royal family.

Tim Haldeman Quartet
2025-05-01 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.
Saxophonist, composer and educator Tim Haldeman lives in Ann Arbor where he leads several groups of his own as well as performing and recording with a wide variety of local bands and musicians. He’s also a member of Mike Reed‘s People Places and Things, and other Chicago projects. On Thursday May 1st he’s joined by Justin Walter on trumpet, Jonathan Taylor on drums, and Kurt Krahnke on bass.

Noah Jackson & Full Circle
2025-05-02 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-05-03 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.
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.

Joshua Watkins and Ascension Album Release
2025-05-04 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.
Join Joshua Watkins for a special show celebrating the release of his debut album, REDEMPTION. More than just a collection of songs, REDEMPTION is a powerful soundtrack to life—one that speaks to healing, growth, and the pursuit of purpose through every note. It is an honest reflection of struggle, faith, and triumph. Don’t miss your blessing.
Joshua Watkins is a masterful drummer and brilliant artist who hails from the great city of Detroit, Michigan. Being born into a vast family of musicians, it was only natural for him to become musically inclined as well. At a young age, his musical roots started in the church and since then he has grown to be extremely versatile, not only as a drummer but as a composer, producer, and bandleader. His upbringing has allowed him to be very successful in many different musical capacities. He gives thanks to his family, and all the glory to God for helping him along his journey.
The term “Ascension” embodies the journey of elevating oneself to a realm of greater significance, status, or achievement. Joshua Watkins and Ascension takes listeners on an evocative exploration of life’s peaks and troughs, navigating through trials and tribulations, experiencing the highs and lows. Throughout this captivating journey, the only trajectory is upwards.
Featuring:

Joshua Watkins – Drums
Rufus Ferguson – Organ/Synth
Brendon Davis – Piano/Rhodes/Synth
Christian Sykes- Bass
Luke Sittard – Guitar
Kevin Brewster – Alto Sax
Sam Corey – Tenor Sax

Kasan Belgrave Quartet and Session
2025-05-07 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-05-21 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
Saxophonist Kasan Belgrave is a ascending talent newly emerging in the role of a compositional leader. His energetic playing style and improvisational finesse derives from influences of early bebop and jazz, as well flares of fusion and gospel. His musical prowess has more recently been shown through new innovative compositions.
The record “Dual Citizen” is an introductory reflection of Kasan’s own consciousness through experience of musical nurturing & professional practice from the Detroit jazz mentorship empire, led by his father, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. It provides a glimpse of Kasan’s endless curiousness of sonic ingenuity.
In the formative years of his career, that same mentorship was present in the musical institutions, as he studied with Andrew Bishop, Benny Green, and Robert Hurst at the University of Michigan then held an assistantship under the direction of Diego Rivera and Rodney Whitaker at Michigan State University.
Kasan has toured as a multi-woodwind instrumentalist with Jazz @ Lincoln Center w/ Wynton Marsalis, performed in multiple residencies curated by Terri Lynn Carrington, performed with Karriem Riggins, and Etienne Charles. The 27-year-old multi-woodwind instrumentalist has also made rounds performing in every corner of the Detroit music scene, immersing himself in Latin, R&B, and techno.
Belgrave is just one of many who was nurtured in the realm. The lineup for “Dual Citizen” might be the most outright product of that very circle of mentorship. Bassist Jonathan Muir-Cotton, finishing his degree at MSU, is currently rotating in Christian Sands Trio; Louis Jones aka “WavyLou”, a gun-slinging drummer who has the likes of the Haynes’ and Roach’s, recently hit with ELEW and Johnny O’Neal in Detroit; Brendon Davis, a virtuosic voice on piano shortly studying with the great Chick Corea, is established in composition and arranging of the gospel scene ; the enigmatic Allen Dennard has a trailblazing trumpet sound, recently sharing stages with Dwele and Mike Phillips; and Michael Abbo, the genial menace on both trombone and bass, recently played with Johnny Oneal and Dafnis Prieto. The close fellowship of this group is a sentiment to the power of their sound as the Kasan Belgrave Sextet.

Closed for a Private Event.
2025-05-08
Contact us to inquire about yours!

Johnny O'Neal Quartet
2025-05-09 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-05-10 19:30 - 21:30
There will be two separate seatings 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.
Legendary Detroit Pianist returns home bringing his new Quartet from NYC!
After forty-plus years as a professional pianist, vocalist and entertainer, Johnny O’Neal has earned the title of “master” with fellow musicians and audiences around the world. Highlights of his awe-inspiring career include stints with Ray Brown, Milt Jackson and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut in 1985 on solo piano opening for Oscar Peterson and induction into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998. There is little wonder he was tapped to play virtuoso pianist Art Tatum in the Academy Award-winning Ray Charles biopic Ray.

While playing with Blakey, he accompanied some of the great jazz divas, including Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. Johnny has also been tapped for appearances by Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Pass, Nancy Wilson, Anita O’Day, Lionel Hampton, Kenny Burrell, Sonny Stitt, Benny Golson, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Clark Terry, among others. Performances on the festival circuits in Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, Israel and South Africa have gained him an international following.
The Detroit native considers himself a piano player first, but was encouraged to sing in his sets more by Joe Williams. Johnny recalls Williams advising him, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it!” Astonishingly, he is largely self-taught. His playing evokes the influences imbued in him by his idols Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum, and he has reshaped these elements into his own very swinging and melodic approach. In live performances, he is apt to catch his audience off-guard with his blues shouting or soulfully rendered yet unpretentious vocalizations.

Mothers Day Dinner and a Show with Gwenyth Hayes
2025-05-11 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.
Gwenyth Hayes, a bassist, song stylist, vocalist, and recording artist hailing from Ann Arbor, captivates audiences throughout the Metro Detroit area with her distinctive performances. Gwenyth’s unique reinterpretations showcase a fusion of classic tunes and soulful covers & originals across various genres, and are centered by her sultry vocals, groove-infused bass lines, and tight instrumental arrangements.
Since 2012, Gwenyth’s ensembles have graced numerous festivals and venues across Southeastern Michigan, Chicago, and Honolulu, including: Arts, Beats, and Eats, Dally In The Alley, Harvest Festival, Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Ann Arbor Jazz Festival, University of Michigan’s Gift of Arts, and the North Atlantic Blues Festival.
In 2023, Gwenyth was inducted as a fellow with the Amplify Fellowship based in Washtenaw, a recognition that granted her valuable resources to begin finalizing her forthcoming recording project set for release in 2024. Alongside this, Gwenyth is an active member of Detroit Bass Players and has been prominently featured in various publications, including Buddy Guy’s Legends Magazine, University of Michigan’s Newsletter, Ann Arbor News, and Big City Rhythm and Blues Magazine.

Throughout her musical journey, she has served as a professional bassist, lending support to fellow artists in the realms of blues, pop, and soul. Notable milestones in her career include opening for B.B. King alongside Murali Coryell, the son of the late Larry Coryell, and subsequently embarking on a tour with Murali. Additionally, she graced the stage at The Chicago Blues Festival in both 2010 and 2013 with Quintus McCormick and Khalif “Wailin'” Walter. Her participation in the 2009 Detroit Blues Festival at Chene Park Amphitheater, now recognized as the Aretha Franklin Park, further underscores her impactful contributions.
During her residency in Chicago from 2010 to 2013, Gwenyth performed regularly as a blues bassists at renowned venues such as Buddy Guy’s Legends, Kingston Mines, and B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted, with Alligator and Delmark Records recording artists Maurice John Vaughn, Quintus McCormick, & Toronzo Cannon. Later, her musical pursuits extended to touring with Detroit Music Awarding winning recording artist Laura Rain and the Caesars and performing with other notable metro detroit artists.
Gwenyth’s musical roots trace back to her upbringing in a family deeply connected to music, exposing her to a diverse range of genres, from classical and jazz to rock and R&B. With her mother and grandmother as pianists and her father, William Hayes, a renowned conductor, composer, educator, and performer, along with her brother, Matt Hayes, a celebrated drummer, music is woven into the fabric of her life.
Her modern approach to music serves as a conduit for reinventing popular soul, jazz, soft rock, and blues standards, infusing them with a sensual and contemporary vibe. Gwenyth’s sound resonates with diverse audiences, aiming to evoke nostalgia for many generations to come.

U of D - Just Jazz!
2025-05-13 18:00
There will be only one performance at 8:00pm. Dinner is available for this show. The kitchen is open until 9pm.

Zach Brock
2025-05-14 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.
Grammy Award-winning Violinist Zach Brock of Snarky Puppy returns to Cliff Bell’s for one night only, May 14th. Don’t miss your chance to revisit the legendary performances he and Snarky Puppy brought to our stage!
Presale Tickets Available Here
“I called the great French violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and I said ‘So, who’s the new cat? Who’s got the stuff? And he said Zach Brock.” — Stanley Clarke, virtuoso bassist & jazz legend
“…not only is he my favorite violinist in the world but he’s also one of my favorite musicians, period.” — Michael League, founder/bassist of Snarky Puppy
Violinist Zach Brock is a sought-after soloist, sideman, and educator, as well as a multi Grammy Award-winning member of the contemporary jazz band Snarky Puppy. Born to a musical family in Lexington, KY, Zach began studying violin at the age of four and was performing publicly by the age of six. Zach’s improvisational skills were honed in the rich Chicago jazz scene while studying classical violin at Northwestern University. He released his debut album, Zach Brock & The Coffee Achievers, in 2003. Two years and two records later he was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall by trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas. Zach joined the band of legendary bassist Stanley Clarke in 2007 and that same year he relocated to Brooklyn. From 2010 to 2012 Zach led a chord-less trio of violin, bass and drums called The Magic Number and since 2012 he has released three albums on Criss Cross Jazz, as well as two co-led projects with renowned pianist Phil Markowitz. In 2017 Zach formed a new “chord-less” trio with Matt Ulery and Jon Deitemyer. Their collective 2019 album Wonderment garnered rave reviews and inclusion in the “Best of 2019” lists by Downbeat and Jazziz Magazines.
Zach is most widely recognized through his sixteen years of touring and recording with the genre-bending supergroup Snarky Puppy. Since his first appearance on Snarky’s 2008 on Bring Us The Bright, Zach has appeared on seven subsequent recordings including the 2017 Grammy Award-winning album Culcha Vulcha, 2019’s Immigrance, the 2021 Grammy Award-winning Live At The Royal Albert Hall, and the 2023 Grammy-award winning album Empire Central (to which he contributed his song “Honiara”). In February 2023 Zach performed with legendary guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel at the GroundUP Festival in Miami as part of Kurt’s Caipi Band. In November ‘23 GroundUP Records released Drawing Songs, the debut recording by “Brock, Lanzetti, Ogawa,” a new co-led trio with fellow Snarky Puppy members Bob Lanzetti and Keita Ogawa.
A passionate educator, Zach has coached hundreds of musicians through workshops for The 92nd Street Y and Carnegie Hall in NYC, masterclasses at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland and the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, and as a five-year “Artist In Residence” at Temple University in Philadelphia.
His eleventh solo album, the Grammy-nominated Dirty Mindz featuring Eric Harland, Mark Lettieri, Justin Stanton, and Jonathan Maron, was released in 2022 on GroundUP Records. Zach’s latest collaborative album with fellow Snarky Puppy bandmates Bob Lanzetti and Keita Ogawa, the Grammy-nominated album Drawing Songs, was released in November 2023.

Leafar Village
2025-05-15 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-05-16 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-05-17 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.
Featuring:
Thursday:
Rafael Leafar, sax
Eric Wurzelbacher, sax
Keigo Hirakawa, piano
Sam Corey, bass
Alex White, drums

Friday:
Ashley Dean, vocals
Rafael Leafar, sax
Wyatt Forhan. Keys and Trombone
Sam Corey, Bass
Alex White, Drums

Saturday:
Ashley Dean, vocals
Rafael Leafar, sax
Wyatt Forhan. Keys and Trombone
Noah Jackson, Bass
Alex White, Drums

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.

The Bill Heid Organ Trio
2025-05-18 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.
Keyboardist/vocalist Bill Heid was born August 11, 1948, in Pittsburgh, PA. A natural and virtuosic musician who was inspired to play jazz and blues by listening to the radio, he played in both piano and organ groups. His brother is the well-respected drummer and producer George Heid. Originally influenced by Jimmy Smith and Don Patterson, Heid heard the chitlin’ circuit greats at the Hurricane Bar, including Smith and Patterson, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Down the street at the Crawford Grill were the jazz bands led by Freddie Hubbard, Max Roach, Gene Harris, Bobby Timmons, and Wynton Kelly.
On occasion he would sit in with some of these groups and pester them for information. Spending time in Chicago and later in New York, he met and hung out with his mentor, Larry Young, often visiting the family-owned Newark Club in Young’s hometown of Newark, NJ. He was also privy to playing with the best organ drummers like Joe Dukes and Billy James. And he heard the local contingent of jazz greats like Ahmad Jamal, Art Blakey, Erroll Garner, George Benson, Eddie Jefferson, Mary Lou Williams, and Stanley Turrentine.
His quest for musical knowledge found him on the road when in 1963, in search of rare 78-rpm rhythm & blues records, he began a journey/career of hitchhiking. He did this in the contiguous 48 states of the U.S.; through Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, and China; and to the Thailand/Cambodia border. His over 400,000 documented miles of thumbing a ride gained Heid a spot in The Guinness Book of World Records. Some of his journeys led him to the so-called chicken houses and organ rooms of major cities, where he interned with Jimmy Witherspoon, Jimmy Ponder, Sonny Stitt, Grant Green, David “Fathead” Newman, Ira Sullivan, and Mickey Roker, and was a pianist with Don Patterson.
A move to Chicago brought him closer to the urban blues as he worked or recorded with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and especially Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Fenton Robinson, and Roy Buchanan. He also did two LPs and played in the bands of contemporary jazz guitarist Henry Johnson. Moving to Detroit, he spent two decades there playing in his own groups; helping to revive the career of a local legend of blues guitar and vocals, Johnnie Bassett, as the music director of his Blues Insurgents; and backing the veteran singer Alberta Adams. During and since his time in Detroit, Heid could be found making music soundtracks for adult films in Los Angeles, then touring worldwide for the U.S. State Department as a jazz ambassador, particularly on tours of Japan and Vietnam. In August 2003, Heid played more of the Pacific Rim in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Upon moving back to the Eastern United States, he could be heard on organ and piano engagements at various venues in the Washington, D.C., area. Of his mindset, Heid was quoted as saying “I can’t live a day without playing 1-4-5s,” incorporating those standard blues changes with cool McCoy Tyner minor riffs, vicious funk songs in Japanese, and what he calls Talifunk. “I approach this thing like total war and have been lucky to have avoided a day job.” His hip vernacular, unique vocal language, and risqué sense of humor, melded with his passion for baseball, have made him an entertainer nonpareil.
Artist Biography by Michael G. Nastos for AllMusic.com

Urban Art Orchestra Featuring: Asaka the Renegade
2025-05-22 19:30
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.
Make reservations here!
Featuring: Asaka the Renegade

Raw. Unfiltered. Real. That’s the energy that flows through the veins of Asaka The Renegade, a rising force in the hip hop scene. Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, Asaka The Renegade has quickly made a name for themselves with their razor-sharp lyricism, genre-bending production, and relentless grind. Combining gritty street narratives with introspective storytelling, they paint pictures that feel both personal and universal, blending vulnerability with swagger.
Born into a world of struggle and resilience, Asaka The Renegade’s music is a reflection of their journey. From early battles in the local rap scene to breaking through with “The Space Tape”, they’ve become a voice for the underdog, speaking on themes of hustle, survival, and self-empowerment. Their sound fuses the golden age of hip hop with modern trap and experimental beats, offering a fresh take on a genre that’s constantly evolving.
Asaka The Renegade’s breakthrough track, The Bag, caught the attention of fans and industry insiders alike, racking up streams and accolades. With features on *”On The Radar” and even ” Sway in The Morning”, they’ve earned respect as both a solo artist and a sought-after collaborator. Whether performing to packed crowds or speaking truth to power, they stay grounded in their mission: to inspire, uplift, and keep it real.
With a growing fanbase and a fire that won’t burn out anytime soon, Asaka The Renegade is poised to be one of the next big names in hip hop. And after recently winning 1st place in T-Pain’s March Madness and becoming and newly signed artist, the journey has just begun, and the world is watching.
Urban Art Orchestra is a 20+ member celebration of music from the colorful mind of composer De’Sean Jones, a world renowned Billboard Charting recording artist, 2x Grammy nominated and 3x Stellar Award winning arranger. Over the course of Jones’ 20+ year career, he has been afforded opportunities to write, produce, and tour the world extensively, collaborating with numerous music icons across a wide variety of genres. A protégé of techno pioneer, “Mad” Mike Banks (Underground Resistance), and the late great trumpet legend, Marcus Belgrave, De’Sean Jones aspires to continue to uphold the legacy of progressing music forward while being an ambassador for the rich musical history of Detroit. The UAO’s debut release “Live in Detroit Vol. 1” was recorded at Cliff Bell’s and features live strings, harp, horns, a full rhythm section, percussion, vocals, DJ’s and De’Sean himself on Tenor Saxophone.

Urban Art Orchestra featuring: De'Sean Jones
2025-05-23 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.
Featuring: De’Sean Jones on Tenor Saxophone, with a special tribute and celebration of Amp Fiddler featuring a close out set from Detroit’s rising artist 3DXT
Make reservations here!

Urban Art Orchestra is a 20+ member celebration of music from the colorful mind of composer De’Sean Jones, a world renowned Billboard Charting recording artist, 2x Grammy nominated and 3x Stellar Award winning arranger. Over the course of Jones’ 20+ year career, he has been afforded opportunities to write, produce, and tour the world extensively, collaborating with numerous music icons across a wide variety of genres. A protégé of techno pioneer, “Mad” Mike Banks (Underground Resistance), and the late great trumpet legend, Marcus Belgrave, De’Sean Jones aspires to continue to uphold the legacy of progressing music forward while being an ambassador for the rich musical history of Detroit. The UAO’s debut release “Live in Detroit Vol. 1” was recorded at Cliff Bell’s and features live strings, harp, horns, a full rhythm section, percussion, vocals, DJ’s and De’Sean himself on Tenor Saxophone.
