10/22/2025: Noah Jackson & Full Circle
Noah Jackson is a bassist, cellist, composer, and curator from Detroit, Michigan. As a member of NEA Jazz Master Abdullah Ibrahim's ensemble Ekaya, Mr. Jackson has performed internationally to critical acclaim and recorded the latest album, The Balance, released in 2019 which reached #3 on the Billboard Jazz Charts (July 2019). He has also recorded Nnenna Freelon’s latest release- Time Traveler which has reached #4 on Jazz Week (July 2021). Mr. Jackson has also performed with Nnenna Freelon, Branford Marsalis, The Marsalis Family, Kenny Garrett, Jason Marsalis, George Burton, Jazzmeia Horn, Christian Sands, and Winard Harper. Noah Jackson is also a member of the Recording Academy.
“Everything happens for a reason. One action does not occur in a vacuum. When you put in good energy you get a return, often not immediate. Eventually things in life come Full Circle. This band is created to reflect the philosophy that music is not just meant to stand alone, but to be experienced by all who hear. This is my band..and this is my story.”
A recipient of the Creative Engagement and UMEZ grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the State of New York, he produced a work based on the music of Duke Ellington- On A Turquoise Cloud at the Schomburg Center in September 2019 and performed at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra @ The Cube in February 2020. His group also recorded an album, "Contemplations: A Suite" in 2011, which has garnered critical praise.
As a leader of the Ase string quartet, Mr. Jackson was commissioned to compose and direct the quartet in a multidisciplinary collaborative art project- Practicing: Silence at Grace Farms under the direction of Kenyon Adams as part of their Practicing series alongside featured dancers from the American Ballet Theater. He has also led his Detroit-based Tangent String Quartet in a rare performance of Quartet No.2 by black composer Florence B. Price as part of a video series presented by the Detroit Institute of the Arts in February 2021.
A graduate of Michigan State University (B.M.) under the direction of Rodney Whitaker, and Manhattan School of Music (M.M.) with Dr. Larry Ridley, Noah currently resides in Detroit, MI.
10/29/2025: Jim Alfredson’s Dirty Fingers
Lansing’s Jim Alfredson comes from a musical family. His father earned a living as a professional musician for many years and encouraged Jim’s talents from a very young age. Some of Jim’s earliest memories include pulling on the drawbars of his father’s Hammond B3 at the age of four.
Jim began writing his own songs at the age of eight on a Yamaha organ. A score of synthesizers and multitrack machines followed until he came full circle at 16 and began lusting after the sound of the Hammond organ once again. Jim has immersed himself in the study of the mighty Hammond B3 ever since, dedicated to uncovering new directions within the deep tradition of the instrument.
For 10 years, Jim served as organist and musical director of the highly successful, award-winning rhythm & blues band Root Doctor (1999 – 2009) producing three CDs for the band. In 2000, he formed the jazz trio organissimo, which has released five critically acclaimed CDs and a DVD in the intervening years. In 2009 Jim released a very limited edition solo CD dedicated to the memory of his father called In Memorandom.
From 2010 to 2014, Jim served as the keyboardist and primary background vocalist in the touring band for blues singer Janiva Magness. He toured nationally and internationally with that band. He is featured on Ms. Magness’ Alligator Records release Stronger For It as well as her self-released album Original.
“… Jim Alfredson … is a remarkable organist who seamlessly synthesizes several generations of keyboard influences ” ~ Downbeat
In 2012, Jim successfully crowd-funded the organissimo CD “Dedicated“, released in January of 2013. In October 2013, Jim released his a solo project entitled Jim Alfredson’s Dirty Fingers. It is a tribute to jazz organ great Big John Patton.
Jim is a Hammond-Suzuki endorsed artist a by Hammond-Suzuki, Casio and Neo Instruments.
11/5/2025: Heather Black Project
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.
11/12/2025: Ben Sharkey
One of Detroit’s premiere live entertainers over the past ten years plus, Ben Sharkey infuses his live performances with a hip and sultry fire, bringing his artful swagger to the stage with a colorful fusion of old school cool, contemporary jazz, soul and pop.
Since the charismatic vocalist posted his first raw home videos of himself singing Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra classics to YouTube in 2007, he has amassed over 5 million views worldwide for over 70 clips. By increasingly popular demand, the Michigan native has amassed hundreds of performances at jazz hotspots like Cliff Bell’s and a five-year and counting residency at the Axis Lounge at the MGM Grand Detroit.
He’s been compared to everyone from Frank and Buble to Dean Martin, Mel Torme and Harry Connick, Jr. – yet he’s evolved from being a stellar vocal interpreter to master storyteller and songwriter. Collaborating with his pianist Chris Codish, Ben has written clever, crafty tunes expressing every aspect of love, deep heartfelt connections and the sheer joy of living life to the fullest in the sexiest, naughtiest, most sensual and playful way possible. Stylistically, he lets his muse lead the way to booming percussion driven landscapes infused with jazz, pop, swing, R&B, Latin and crisp, edgy house-dance beats that make him the ultimate contemporary hipster as well as a masterful throwback artist.
11/19/2025: Ian Finkelstein
Ian Finkelstein (AKA Ian Fink) is a pianist, producer, composer, and educator. A student of Detroit jazz luminaries such as Marcus Belgrave, Geri Allen, and Rodney Whitaker, he has been performing professionally since the age of 14 when he was a member of Detroit’s Civic Jazz Orchestra.
He has since performed with artists such as Benny Golson, Marcus Belgrave, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kassa Overall, Common, Earl Sweatshirt, and Karriem Riggins.
He is equally active in the city’s house and techno community, and releases his own solo work on Freak Press, a label he founded in 2017.
His body of work reflects a restlessness of genre: projects include solo jazz piano, house, techno, ambient music, and beyond. Ian is a 2024 Kresge Artist Fellow, as well as a recipient of a Spirit of Detroit Award from the City of Detroit in 2024.
12/3/2025: Paul Keller Trio
Guitarist Ralph Tope and keyboardist Adam Mosley will join Paul Keller, a jazz string bassist who wears many hats: He is a well-respected master of his instrument; he is a prolific composer and an outstanding arranger of music for small and large ensembles; he is an educator, an entertainer and impresario; he is a lover of, a student of, and a proponent of The Great American Songbook; he is a successful bandleader of several different groups and he is an in-demand sideman who has performed all over the world with a myriad of jazz luminaries.
Paul has earned the nick-name "The House Bass Player For The State Of Michigan" as each year, he logs so many miles traveling across the state to perform at various music venues. Since 1989, Paul has led his 15-piece Paul Keller Orchestra every Monday night in Ann Arbor - that over 1,300 Monday nights! The PKO plays original, obscure and classic big band material from the entire history of jazz . Under Paul's expert leadership, the PKO has garnered popular and critical acclaim including several Detroit Music Awards for excellence in performing arts.
12/10/2025: Paul VornHagen Trio
Paul VornHagen is an accomplished jazz saxophonist, flutist, and vocalist who has won Detroit Music Awards on six separate occasions and categories: Jazz Reeds, Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, Instrumentalist, World Music Recording (2) and Jazz Recording. Presently living in Ann Arbor, Michigan where Paul got his start on the flute in 1972 performing with the University of Michigan dance department as an accompanist. Mostly self-taught initially, he studied music at City College Of San Francisco in 1978-79 followed by classes at the Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor. He has since traveled far and wide from the shores of Hawaii and Mexico to the jazz clubs of San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Havana (Cuba), Paris (France), England and the US Virgin Islands.
12/17/2025: Sean Dobbins Organ Trio
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, jazz radio programs, and documentaries.
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, as well as Detroit area greats Gerald Cleaver and the one and only Elvin Jones.
12/31/2025 — New Year’s Eve: Ben Sharkey
One of Detroit’s premiere live entertainers over the past ten years plus, Ben Sharkey infuses his live performances with a hip and sultry fire, bringing his artful swagger to the stage with a colorful fusion of old school cool, contemporary jazz, soul and pop.
Since the charismatic vocalist posted his first raw home videos of himself singing Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra classics to YouTube in 2007, he has amassed over 5 million views worldwide for over 70 clips. By increasingly popular demand, the Michigan native has amassed hundreds of performances at jazz hotspots like Cliff Bell’s and a five-year and counting residency at the Axis Lounge at the MGM Grand Detroit.
He’s been compared to everyone from Frank and Buble to Dean Martin, Mel Torme and Harry Connick, Jr. – yet he’s evolved from being a stellar vocal interpreter to master storyteller and songwriter. Collaborating with his pianist Chris Codish, Ben has written clever, crafty tunes expressing every aspect of love, deep heartfelt connections and the sheer joy of living life to the fullest in the sexiest, naughtiest, most sensual and playful way possible. Stylistically, he lets his muse lead the way to booming percussion driven landscapes infused with jazz, pop, swing, R&B, Latin and crisp, edgy house-dance beats that make him the ultimate contemporary hipster as well as a masterful throwback artist.
