The Hughes/Smith Quintet has performed at several notable jazz clubs like The Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, The Bop Stop, Cliff Bell’s, Jazz Cafe at Music Hall, Motor City Wine, Cadieux Cafe, Black Lotus Brewery, and sets at the Michigan Jazz Festival, Experience Art Live Royal Oak Festival, St Columban Concert Series, and the Opportunity Detroit Concert Series. They have two recordings, FROM HERE ON OUT (2013) and EVER UP & ONWARD (2015) which made AllMusic’s “Favorite Jazz Album” of 2015 list and has been played on over 100 radio stations throughout the U.S. Look for their new album MOTION due to be released in January 2018.

This is a first of the month residency for the band. each month they pick a jazz great and perform songs from that artist. The last set is a jam session.

“…inspired by the grand Motor City jazz scene of the 1950s and early ’60s, these players update and extend that tradition with excellent writing, arranging, and playing for the 21st century.”– Thom Jurek, allmusic.com

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Tony Ruda and sound engineer John McCarthy have started a jazz label that concentrates on the top jazz talent in the Detroit area. Like Rudy Van Gelder of Verve records, Ruda has converted his home in Plymouth into a studio to record these wonderful artists. This debut album features the new quintet sounds of musicians Scott Gwinnell, Anthony Stanco, Andrew Bishop, Jordan Otto, and Dan Kolton.

All the material is fresh, original and timeless. Composers, Gwinnell and Stanco have written all the material here, and the artistry of all five musicians on this album really shines on each of the songs. Come and listen to these extraordinary artists perform, and experience that distinctively Detroit sound.

Maxine Michaels from WRCJ will emcee that night

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