KENNY BANKS JR.

Pianist Kenny Banks Jr., a resident of Atlanta, GA has earned a reputation as one of the most dynamic jazz artists in the Southeast. Kenny was a finalist in the 2019 American Pianists Awards jazz competition and performed to great acclaim in solo and trio formats.

He has traveled abroad performing and recording around the world with a wide variety of artists in the jazz, gospel, Afro-Cuban and hip-hop scenes. These artists include Kurt Elling, Keyon Harrold, Jazzmeia Horn, Theo Croker, Jeff Tain Watts, Stefan Harris, Russell Malone, Gerald Albright, Charlie Hunter, Jennifer Holliday, David Sanchez, Kim Burrell, Dottie Peoples, Phiife from “A Tribe Called Quest”, Eight Ball & MJG and Queen Latifah.

Banks is noted for his blended technique in mixing jazz and gospel styles. Downbeat Magazine describes his playing as “gospel and blues-infused” and calls his arrangements “thrilling, modern and surprising.” Jazziz Magazine notes his “deeply embodied gospel and soul roots” with “supple phrasing and effortless command of late 20th century harmony.”

Kenny Banks Jr expresses himself compositionally from a broad range of music. KJO’s Live at Lucille’s states, “His music is at once sophisticated, spirited, spontaneous and brilliantly executed.” “Embrace the sound” says Kenny. “This way of thinking aids me in my approach, helping me to view situations from a state of optimism, on and off the bandstand.”

Cover: $32.26

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HIDDEN NOMINATION

Hidden Nomination is a genre-defying ensemble that emerged from the lustrous Blue Llama Jazz Club after a particularly electrifying set. The band has quickly become a force to be reckoned with in the Midwest music scene and brings together four exceptionally talented musicians with a shared passion for exploration and innovation.

Their sound is a thrilling fusion of jazz, funk, R&B, gospel, and neo-soul, creating a sonic tapestry that is as soulful as it is dynamic. With high-energy performances and delicate, melodic interplay, Hidden Nomination captivates audiences, taking them on a journey that transcends traditional genre boundaries. The band’s philosophy is rooted in the pursuit of the unseen and the unheard—always searching for what lies hidden beneath the surface of music and emotion.

Recently completing a celebrated residency at Cliff Bell’s, one of Detroit’s most iconic jazz clubs, Hidden Nomination has solidified its reputation as a must-see live act. Their ability to blend technical mastery with raw, heartfelt expression has earned them a dedicated following and critical acclaim. As they prepare to record their debut album in summer of 2025, the band is poised to share their unique sound with an even wider audience.

The Band:

Houston Patton ~ saxophone

Andre Crawford ~ piano

Dylan Sherman ~ bass

Brian Allen ~ drums

Cover: $25.00

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CYRUS CHESTNUT

Chestnut’s playing, deeply rooted in gospel and blues, infuses each performance with profound emotional depth. As The New York Times notes, his “crisp articulation and blues-inflected harmony evoke another era… multifaceted and dynamic,” seamlessly blending tradition with fresh innovation to captivate audiences. Chestnut’s artistry has earned him widespread acclaim as one of the most distinctive and compelling jazz pianists of his generation. As The New York Daily News aptly describes him, he is “the rightful heir to Bud Powell, Art Tatum, and Erroll Garner.”

At age nine Chestnut was enrolled in the prep program at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. He later headed to Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he received the Eubie Blake fellowship, the Oscar Peterson scholarship, and the Quincy Jones scholarship.

After graduating from Berklee in 1985, Chestnut went on to work with vocalist Jon Hendricks and trumpeter Terrence Blanchard before joining jazz legend Wynton Marsalis. He toured for two years as the pianist for the Betty Carter Trio and has often said that playing with Carter was a form of graduate school.

By 1994, Chestnut had graduated from being an accompanist and band member by forming and leading his own trio, then releasing his major label debut album Revelations. The album, voted Best Jazz Album by the Village Voice, soared on the charts.

Chestnut has worked with such leading artists as saxophonists Donald Harrison and Joe Lovano; trumpeters Roy Hargrove and Freddie Hubbard; pianist Chick Corea, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and opera singer Kathleen Battle, as well as vocalists Vanessa Williams, Anita Baker, Bette Midler and Isaac Hayes.

Today he tours continually, playing at jazz festivals, clubs and concert halls around the world. He is a first call for the piano chair in such groups as the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band. The NY Daily News has hailed Cyrus Chestnut as the rightful heir to Bud Powell, Art Tatum and Erroll Garner.

Cover: $35.00 ~ $50.00 +$7.00 fee | $15 food/beverage minimum per person not included in ticket price

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CHRISTIAN SANDS

The Steinway Artist and Grammy Nominee is an emerging jazz force. His abundant piano technique perfectly matches his conception, accomplishing a much deeper musical goal: a fresh look at the entire language of jazz.  Christian says, “My music is about teaching the way of jazz and keeping it alive.”  Whether it’s stride, swing, bebop, progressive, fusion, Brazilian or Afro-Cuban, Sands develops the past while providing unusual and stimulating vehicles for the present… and for the future.  He expresses himself through an extensive vocabulary of patterns, textures and structures, all the while maintaining a strong sense of understatement, sensitivity, taste and swing — hallmarks for as long as he has been playing.

From a very early age, Christian possessed an insatiable appetite for music.  He was enrolled in music classes at age 4 and wrote his first composition at age 5.  He started playing professionally at the age of 10, and studied at the Neighborhood Music School and the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, CT.  He received his Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Arts degrees from the Manhattan School of Music.  For his participation on the MSM “Kenya Revisited” album, Sands received a Grammy Nomination for Best Latin Piano Solo.

Since arriving on the scene, Sands has shared the stage with many jazz luminaries as Wynton Marsalis, Diane Reeves, Shelia E, Warren Wolf, Tia Fuller, Gary Burton, Stefan Harris, Teri Lynne Carrington, Jason Moran, Geri Allen, James Moody, Bill Evans (sax), Russell Malone, Terrance Blanchard, Louis Hayes, Patti Austin, Kurt Elling and Dee Dee Bridgewater.  He served as the Creative Ambassador for the Erroll Garner foundation, Artist in Residence for Jazz in July Education program at University of Massachusetts, Artist in Residence for Monterey Jazz Festival for 2020-2022 – he was the Creative Director for the ‘Monterey Festival Band on Tour’ 2022-2023.

Christian provides a soulful melodic touch on S. Epatha Merkerson’s documentary, “Contradictions of Fairhope,” a soundtrack recorded with McBride and a melodic piano introduction to Netflix’s Biopic documentary “Rustin” of which he recorded with Branford Marsalis.  He was named one of the future rising stars by Wynton Marsalis in Jet Magazine.  Vanity Fair’s “Jazz Youth-Quake” also named him as a future jazz star.  He was finalist for the 2015 Cole Porter Jazz Fellowship Award sponsored by the America Pianist Association.

Just embarking on his 30s, Sands has already enjoyed a remarkable career trajectory including a 2013 Grammy nomination with renowned Bassist Christian McBride and 2021 Grammy Nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Composition and 52nd Annual NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Jazz Album Instrumental for his third album “Be Water” recording for Mack Avenue Records.

His music has taken him to many international stages.  In 2023 he received Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, rank of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, from France Minister of Culture.

The Band:

Christian Sands – bandleader, pianist

Ryan Sands – Drummer

Gilad Hekelsman – Guitar

Scott Colley – Bass

Cover: $40.61 ~ $50.91 | Including Fees

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Adrian Francis Rollini was born June 28, 1903 in New York City, New York of French and Swiss extraction. Growing up in Larchmont, New York, he showed musical ability early on and began to take piano lessons at the age of two. Considered a child prodigy, he played a fifteen-minute recital at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel at the age of four. By age 14 he was leading his group composed of neighborhood boys, in which he doubled on piano and xylophone.

Leaving high school in his third year he cut piano rolls for the Aeolian company on their Mel-O-Dee label and the Republic brand in Philadelphia, Pennsyolvania. At 16 he joined Arthur Hand’s California Ramblers and being equally skilled at piano, drums, xylophone, and bass saxophone, gained him Hand’s respect. Hand transferred the band to Rollini when he retired from the music field.

During the 1920s not only was he a member of the California Ramblers with Red Nichols, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, he also held membership in The Little Ramblers, The Goofus Five, and The Golden Gate Orchestra. During this time, he managed to lay down hundreds of sessions with Annette Hanshaw, Cliff Edwards, Joe Venuti, Miff Mole, Red Nichols, Bix Beiderbecke, Roger Wolfe Kahn, and Frank Trumbauer.

The 1930s saw him forming the Adrian Rollini Orchestra which recorded on Perfect, Vocalion, Melotone, Banner, and Romeo labels, where he played both bass saxophone and vibraphone. During the early swing era, starting in 1935, he managed Adrian’s Tap Room, owned the Whitby Grill, and opened White Way Musical Products, a store for the sale and repair of musical instruments.

Gradually shifting from the bass saxophone to the vibraphone after popularity of the hot jazz era of the 1920s waned. He went on to play hotels, arranging and writing songs behind the scenes. After an exhaustive career, he made his last recording with his trio in the early 1950s. He relocated to Florida, opened the Eden Roc Hotel in 1955, ran the Driftwood Inn at Tavernier Key and his Driftwood offered deep-sea fishing charters.

Bass saxophonist, pianist, and vibraphonist Adrian Rollini, died under unsolved circumstances on May 15, 1956 at the age of 52 in Homestead, Florida.

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