JJ Roth Design

Noah Jackson & Full Circle: Residency & Session
2023-05-24 19:30 - 23:00, 2023-05-17 19:30 - 23:00, 2023-05-10 19:30 - 23:00, 2023-05-03 19:30 - 23:00, 2023-04-26 19:30 - 23:00, 2023-04-19 19:30 - 23:00, 2023-04-12 19:30 - 23:00, 2023-04-05 19:30 - 23:00 (America/Detroit) and 7 more dates
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)
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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!

Sean Dobbins Quartet
2023-03-11 19:30 - 23:30
There will be two separate seatings at 7:30pm & 9:30pm for this performance.
(Seatings to begin at 5pm & 8:45pm respectively)
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Jazz drummer Sean Dobbins got his start as sought-after Detroit area jazz sideman at a young age, when he would regularly play with Blue Note artist Louis Smith. As Sean’s Career progressed, he found himself the recipient of many awards and accolades including the “Woody Herman Jazz Award”, an award for outstanding musicianship, as well as the Louis Armstrong Scholarship. Due to Sean’s great talent both as a player and an educator, he has been the focus of countless news articles and jazz radio programs.
Though still young by jazz standards, Dobbins has amassed an impressive list of playing companions. He has performed/toured/recorded with Johnny Basset, Benny Golson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Frank Morgan, Joey DeFrancesco, George Cables, James “Blood” Ulmer, Marcus Belgrave, Larry Willis, Rodney Whittaker, Claude Black, Johnny O’Neal, Paul Keller, Tad Weed, Kurt Krahnke, Jon Hendricks, David “Fathead” Newman, Donald Walden, Cyrus Chesnut, Barry Harris, David Baker, Randy Johnston, Marion Hayden, Mose Allison, and a host of other great musicians.
Sean’s sound can best be described as hard-driving, solid rhythm with refreshing melodic sensibility. Some of Sean’s influences include Art Blakey, Jeff Hamilton, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Ed Thigpen, Sonny Payne, and also Detroit area greats Gerald Cleaver and the one and only Elvin Jones. A product of the Ann Arbor Public Schools, Sean has stayed devoted to education throughout his life. Early mentor Louis Smith, an Ann Arbor Public Schools band teacher, impressed the importance of a good education upon Sean at an early age. Sean is known in his community as a band director, drum teacher and positive influence for many.
In 1999 Sean was asked to become the director of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Summer Jazz Program. This program was designed to help educate and inspire young artist as they began their quest of learning jazz. In 1998, a year before Sean’s arrival, the program was in jeopardy of being cancelled due to low enrollment. In 2000, a year after Sean took over the reigns, the enrollment more than tripled and a year later, the group was featured on WEMU, a national jazz radio program.
As a father of three, Sean knows, understands, and accepts the challenge of continuing the art from through clinics, master classes, and concerts for up and coming musicians. Sean makes it a point of incorporating educational opportunities into all of his road trips.
Sean is no stranger to local or national headlines; he frequently plays at venues such as the Firefly Club (Ann Arbor), Baker’s Keyboard Lounge (Detroit), the Music Hall Jazz Cafe (Detroit), Murphy’s Place (Toledo) and Buddy Guy’s (Chicago). His recent recordings include “Odyssey” (PKO Records), “Revealing” (Reparation Records), and “Christmas Songs for Jazz Lovers” (PKO Records), and Blue Horizons featuring Sean and his quintet, the Modern Jazz Messengers.
Find out more here!

Michael J. Reed & Friends
2023-03-05 19:30 - 23:00, 2023-03-04 19:30 - 23:30
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 & 9:15p for the second show)
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Michael J. Reed is a jazz drummer, and Toledo native, currently based in East Lansing, Mi. Michael maintains an active performing career throughout the Midwest, performing throughout Northwest Ohio, Detroit and New York with artists such as Rodney Whitaker, Patrice Rushen, Wycliffe Gordon, Dwight Adams, Diego Rivera, Michael Dease , Tim Ries’ Rolling Stones Project, Trunino Lowe, Nicole New, Tanya Darby, Walter White, Rick Margitza, Steve Davis, Mark Whitfield, Melissa Aldana, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Sachal Vasandani, Damion Sneed, Karen Clark Sheard, Michelle Lordi, the MSU Bebop Spartans all over Michigan and Japan, Ramona Collins, The Dr. Phillips Center Jazz Orchestra in Orlando, Fl and many others. Michael leads his own groups, which has performed at Cliff Bell’s, the Ohio Theatre, the Toledo Museum of Art, the former Degage Jazz Café, UrbanBeat, and Blue LLama Jazz Club.
Michael recently released his second album entitled, Remove All Fear, as well as his first album as bandleader and composer, entitled A Walk of Perspective, in 2018. Michael had the opportunity to record with Rodney Whitaker, and other artists such as Chloe and the Steel Strings, and the Gazebo.
After finishing his Master’s Degree at Michigan State University, Michael continues to expand his career as a performer and educator, teaching at the Michigan State University Community Music School-Detroit in their Spartan Youth Jazz Program.

Marques Carroll Quintet
2023-02-26 19:30 - 23:00, 2023-02-25 19:30 - 23:30
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)
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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).

George Burton Quartet
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 6:15p for the first show & 9:00p for the second show)
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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.

Michael Malis Trio
2023-02-11 19:30 - 23:30
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)
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Michael Malis is a composer, pianist, and music educator based in Detroit MI. A multi-faceted musical artist, he performs as a jazz musician, composes for the concert stage, and contributes to multidisciplinary collaborations.
2020 saw a proliferation of Malis’ work as a solo artist. In July of 2020, Malis released Dualisms, a multimedia project containing recordings, videos, and an accompanying 16 page zine of writings, artwork, and ephemera. Consisting of brand new original compositions, Dualisms features performances by Malis in duet with saxophonist Kaleigh Wilder, percussionist Thom Monks, and vocalist Denzel Donald, and features artwork by Zara Teicher. Each of the works presented in Dualisms were premiered at New Music Detroit’s 12th annual Strange Beautiful Music Festival in September 2019. All About Jazz praised Dualisms as “an extraordinary multimedia project which illustrates some of the remarkable ways artists in the age of COVID-19 found new approaches to displaying their craft and connecting with their audience.”
His March 2020 release, Three Pieces for Piano, was praised by the Southeast Michigan Jazz Association as “thrilling music, with shifting harmonic and rhythmic qualities that require prodigious precise technique and the kind of generic versatility that few pianists achieve.”
As a composer, Malis has been commissioned by Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Chamber Music Society of Detroit, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Detroit Composers’ Project, Virago, Hole in the Floor, and others. His piece Five Stations, premiered in May 2019, featured Malis and saxophonist Marcus Elliot alongside a string quartet of musicians from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. His string quartet, Emerge, was premiered at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 2018. His piece for piano and cello, Coda, was premiered by Detroit Symphony Orchestra principle cellist Wei Yu in 2018.
In April 2019, Malis and Elliot, who join forces under the duo known as “Balance,” undertook a collaborative performance piece with former Detroit poet laureate Bill Harris. The piece, which featured drummer Gerald Cleaver, set Harris’ collection of short stories I Got to Keep Moving. According to AllAboutJazz.com, “what was most striking about the synergy between Harris and the band was the sheer beauty of the music: the stark contrast between the grim realities of Harris’s story and the band’s melodic core, located in Elliot’s exultant phrases and Malis’s evocative runs, was stirring. And much of the music’s strength was found in the spirit of resilience and defiance that permeates Harris’s text.” The duo’s 2017 eponymous album was praised by the Detroit Metro Times as “contemporary jazz of the highest order, a benchmark for where the genre can go.”
In July of 2015, Malis’ self-released debut album as a leader, Lifted from the No of All Nothing, was called by The Detroit Free Press “an uncommonly mature and distinctive debut.” It was described by Hot House Jazz Guide (NYC) as “cover[ing] a broad range of free expression. [Malis] bridges the gap between original composed, complex material and the spontaneity of improvisation.” In September 2016, his trio made their debut at the Detroit International Jazz Festival.
As a pianist, he has shared the stage with a diverse array of musicians, including notables such as Marcus Belgrave, Gerald Cleaver, Jaribu Shahid, John Lindberg, William Hooker, A. Spencer Barefield, Tyshawn Sorey, Ken Filiano, J.D. Allen, Andrew Bishop, Dennis Coffey, and Marion Hayden. He has performed at the Yokohama Jazz Promenade (Yokohama, Japan), the Kennedy Center, Birdland (NYC), and The Stone (NYC).
