This is the fourth season of 2 Stones Events’ monthly concerts in the lower level of Ciao Amici’s restaurant in downtown Brighton (217 W. Main). Previously named Kittens & Crooners, the series has expanded its focus on The Great American Songbook to now also include other styles (gypsy, Latin, New Orleans, etc.) of the jazz genre. Special thanks to our media sponsor — The Marketeer. This is a 21+ event.
Showtimes: 6 and 8:30 p.m.; doors open 30 minutes prior
‘Cash-only’ (literally) bar: Please, only call the restaurant (810-227-9000) for dinner reservations upstairs before or after your show!
$27 tickets: Limited to just 100 per show. Ticket links to Eventbrite are listed below in each show’s description.
4/19/2025: Dave Bennett
Dave Bennett doesn’t fit the mold.
For starters, you don’t find many jazz clarinet players who name Alice Cooper, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Chris Isaak among their influences. You won’t find many musicians who are equally conversant with the music of Benny Goodman (the “King of Swing”) and Roy Orbison (“The Soul of Rock and Roll”). In fact, you may not find even one other clarinet virtuoso who breaks from his Swing Era repertoire to sing rockabilly hits while accompanying himself at the piano or electric guitar.
In the early days of jazz, the clarinet joined with trumpet and trombone to create the music’s signature sound, and it ruled the roost in the Swing Era when jazz was America’s popular music and dance-party soundtrack. If anyone can return the clarinet to its heyday, it’s Dave Bennett, who fuses serious jazz improvisation with a host of modern pop influences.
Dave has been a featured soloist at Carnegie Hall with The New York Pops (2013) and has been featured with 35 other US and Canadian orchestras including Nashville, Detroit, Rochester, Omaha, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Orlando, San Antonio, Jacksonville, Portland, OR and Portland, ME. Some of his annual appearances include The Elkhart Jazz Festival, The Suncoast Classic Jazz Festival, The Arizona Classic Jazz Festival, The Sacramento Hot Jazz Jubilee, The Clambake Music Festival, and The Redwood Coast Music Festival.
TICKETS
6 p.m. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1272725439049?aff=oddtdtcreator
8:30 p.m. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1250113245369?aff=oddtdtcreator
PREVIOUS SHOWS IN THE 2024-25 SERIES
11/30/2024: Paxton/Spangler Band Supporting Show Partner — Cooper & Binkley Jewelers
Lifelong buddy's RJ Spangler & Tbone Paxton started working together in 1980 in the popular Detroit band the Sun Messengers. They toured the East Coast, Midwest and deep south for a number of years. Back then, Tbone was awarded a Motor City Music Award for best trombonist. Since that time, he has also become quite an engaging vocalist. Spangler can be heard on more than 70 nationaly-available CDs. The two are cornerstone members of the Planet D Nonet and as such have toured 11 states, released as many CDs and garnered nine Detroit Music Awards.
Now they offer this stripped-down project – just five musicians, which has released two CDs. On any given night the Paxton/Spangler Band performs great song by Fats Waller, Hoagie Carmichael, Leonard Cohen, Hank Williams, Earl King, Danny Barker, Duke Ellington, The Stylistics, Roy Ayers, Leon Russell, Jimmy Cliff, Nat King Cole and, of course, Louis Jordan.
1/25/2025: Aguanko Supporting Show Partner — Mannor Law Group
Conga player, bandleader, and composer Alberto Nacif and the superlative musicians who make up the sizzling Latin jazz septet Aguanko have a new, all original Latin jazz recording, the self-produced Unidad, their fifth release as a band. Comprised of 11 creatively fresh Cuban jazz inspired pieces, this recording features the core group of Aguanko musicians from the incredibly rich Detroit area jazz scene.
These tasteful musicians’ interpretation of original music is evocative and sensuous and true to its Cuban roots. Aguanko has received local, national, and international attention, and their live concerts have dazzled capacity crowds at the multiple venues where they have performed.
2/22/2025: The Funkalleros
Organ trios were a popular (and still are!) type of jazz ensemble for club and bar settings in the 1950s and 1960s, performing a blues-based style of jazz that incorporated elements of R&B, blues, and gospel — “soul jazz”. The format, characterized by improvised solos and an exploration of different musical moods, traditionally features organ (also handling the bass chores), drums, and guitar or sax. This quartet includes all four — and they are Detroit’s first-call musicians: Dale Grisa, organ; Jesse Kramer, drums; Brett Lucas, guitar; and Bobby Streng, saxophone. All four of these musicians have played our Kittens & Crooners serious with various headliners, and this ‘all-star’ quartet will be a rare treat for live music fans.
3/22/2025: Heather Black Project Supporting Show Partner — DA Building
The Heather Black Project is a collective of musicians who honor vintage jazz and blues and frequently incorporate modern soul and R&B grooves. The Project is led by vocalist Heather Schwartz and features a unique and rotating cast of highly-skilled artists from Southeast Michigan.
Black has a versatile performance career spanning over 20 years. She attended Interlochen Fine Arts Camp in Northern Michigan and continued her studies as a vocal performance major at the University of Michigan, School of Music. During her college years, she really started to expand outside of the classical realm and developed concepts for her own productions inspired by vintage jazz culture. She lists Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Erykah Badu as her chief influences.
Whether crooning of love, or belting the blues, Black soulfully sings, always conveying a deeper message and securing her audiences’ rapt attention. This performance will feature Kenji Lee, sax; Andy Peck, bass; Chuck Newsome, guitar; and Jesse Kramer, drums.
