Hot Club of Cowtown

Sun
7
April 7, 2024 @ 7:30 pm

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

The Austin-based Hot Club of Cowtown explores the space where early jazz met Texas swing, where Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang met Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Guitarist Whit Smith and fiddler Elana James have become a world-class country-jazz duo, challenging each other and reading each other’s minds at every turn. This is virtuoso small-group western swing that’s beyond infectious.

$30
Wed
13
December 13 @ 6:00 pm

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Ann Arbor’s Community High Jazz is one of the best programs of its kind anywhere. The Ark is proud to host this year’s students on stage for two shows: one at 6:00 and another at 8:00.

$5
Sat
25
November 25 @ 8:00 pm

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Born in Flint and a true Michigan institution, Mr. B (Mark Braun) is a rare living link to the early days of boogie woogie, having learned directly from legends like Little Brother Montgomery and Blind John Davis. He plays in concert halls, he plays outdoors, he’s even played on a piano he towed by swimming out to Mackinac Island, but wherever you heard him, it’s an exciting show. Each year Mr. B stops in at The Ark for a Thanksgiving weekend concert, and it always brings something new—this year, Mr. B is bringing a 10 piece little-big band. He is bringing in musicians from around southeast Michigan and beyond for a boogie and jazz blowout to kick off the holiday season with a big dose of boogie woogie joy. You may think every town has a Mr. B, but you would be very, very wrong.

$25
Fri
19
January 19, 2024 @ 8:00 pm

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Join Djangophonique and special TBA guests in celebration of Django Reinhardt’s legacy of music that is still alive and evolving 114 years after he was born. Lead by guitar player Andre Brown, Djangophonique’s core group includes Tyler Rindo on clarinet, Nick Martin on rhythm guitar, and Jorian Olk-Szost on upright bass. In 2023, Djangophonique began collaborating with vocalist Katie Smith, whose playful charm and soulful delivery channel the mystery and appeal of an unplaceable era of aching and entrancing nostalgia. With respect for the tradition and a fearless creativity that bends the conventions of the style, Djangophonique is keeping the Hot Club revival alive and well.

$20
Sun
21
January 21, 2024 @ 7:30 pm

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Ann Arbor’s vital Hot Club swing scene is matched by the one in Madison, where Wisconsin’s Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest is held twice a year. Now these Madison sounds are coming to Michigan! That festival was founded by Harmonious Wail, which takes audiences on a ride from Parisian cafes to the deepest blues of the Memphis Delta, to the heartfelt folk scenes across every-town-America. Harmonious Wail is joined by guitarist and singer Leila Duclos, direct from France! The daughter of famed French jazz guitarist Cyril Duclos, Leila comes to Michigan with a new album, “Fille de feu” (Daughter of Fire). There’s going to be plenty of hot stuff on this Django-style jazz bill.

$20
Thu
5
October 5 @ 8:00 pm

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

John Raymond and S. Carey have been playing music together for close to twenty years since their time studying music at the University of –Eau Claire. While they both received training in jazz and classical music, their careers would soon head in very different directions. S. Carey would become the right-hand man to Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver); collaborate as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer with the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Low, and Bruce Hornsby among others; and release four albums of his own to critical acclaim from Pitchfork, NPR, and more. John Raymond, on the other hand, would become a Grammy-nominated trumpeter and composer “steering jazz in the right direction” (Downbeat); release eight albums garnering praise from the New York Times, Stereogum, and others; and teach on faculty at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, one of the most prestigious music conservatories in the world.
In 2019, the two reunited and began experimenting on what their artistic voices would sound like together. Raymond brought in a host of musical ideas, while Carey contributed lyrics and helped shape the ideas into songs. Producer Sun Chung (formerly with ECM Records) came on board shortly after, and together they enlisted a cast of A-list musicians to help flesh out the music including pianist Aaron Parks (Terri Lyne Carrington, Terence Blanchard), bassist Chris Morrissey (Norah Jones, Mark Guiliana), and guitarist Dave Devine (Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band).
The result is their new album, “Shadowlands” (out September 29), a stunning, genre-bending collection of songs that combines the warmth and beauty of Carey’s aesthetic with the improvisational, spontaneous nature of Raymond’s. The music ranges from intimate and meditative to soaring and anthemic, with electric moments of musical interplay throughout. It’s the kind of collaboration that feels as if it were years in the making.

$25
Sun
27
August 27 @ 7:30 pm

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

The Lunar Octet (a.k.a. The Lunar Glee Club) plays highly original and eclectic music drawing on jazz, Cuban and Puerto Rican salsa, rock, African highlife music, and Brazilian sambas, forging a vital new sound enriched by these traditions. Almost all of the band’s music consists of original compositions involving rich arrangements and strong focus on solo improvisations, and all of the band members contribute to the compositional process. Since its debut in February 1984, the band has carried its high-energy message to dancers and listeners, jazz, R&B, and rock fans alike. The Lunar Octet has performed at the Detroit Jazz Festival (five times), the Flint Jazz Festival, the Columbus Arts Festival, the Lancaster Festival, the Ann Arbor Art Fair, the WEMU/Depot Town Winter Jazz Series, Rusty’s Jazz Cafe, Ann Arbor’s Top of the Park, the Bird of Paradise, the Del Rio, Mr. Flood’s Party, the Blind Pig, the Detroit Festival of the Arts, Detroit’s New Center Park, Toledo’s CityFest, Toledo’s Rib-Off, and more. The band has released five albums.

$20
Mon
6
Sold Out
November 6 @ 8:00 pm

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Hailed as the most influential bassist since Jaco Pastorius, Victor Wooten is known for his solo recordings and tours, and as a founding member of the Grammy-winning supergroup Bela Fleck & The Flecktones. He is an innovator on the bass guitar, as well as a talented composer, arranger, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Continuing the tradition of virtuosity forged by James Brown, Funkadelic, and Prince, Victor will make you wonder how he could possibly be creating his incredible bass effects in real time. His show is a high-wire act on low-pitched strings that owes some of its inspiration to another Wooten mentor, the inimitable Bootsy Collins. A multiple-time winner of Bass Player magazine’s Bass Player of the Year award and a five-time Grammy winner, Victor Wooten is a musical experience not to be missed! Tonight Victor appears with brothers Joseph, Roy, and Regi Wooten.

$45
Fri
8
September 8 @ 8:00 pm

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

A former child prodigy, Julian Lage is now, in his early 30s, a veteran. He’s collaborated with Gary Burton, Jim Hall, David Grisman, Béla Fleck, and Charles Lloyd, as well as releasing albums as a soloist and leader. He comes to Michigan with a new release, “Squint,” that takes his music to a new level. Recording now for Blue Note Records, the virtuoso guitarist reflected on the label’s storied history and the way his own music connected with it. The new album weds incisive, expressive songwriting with the profound interplay Julian has honed over the past few years with his deft trio featuring bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King.

$25
Sat
22
April 22 @ 8:00 pm

The Ark 316 S. Main Ann Arbor, MI 48104 United States

Once a year, Mark “Mr. B” Braun, Ann Arbor’s own wizard of blues and boogie piano music, comes together with other top piano players from around southeastern Michigan and beyond. Call it a piano summit, or perhaps a meeting of the minds! Audiences in southeastern Michigan tend to think of Mr. B as a local hero, but in fact he’s well known among fans and practitioners of blues and jazz piano music all over the country and around the world. In the past, Mr. B’s Piano Celebration concerts have brought great sets by otherwise hard-to-find performers from New Orleans, New York, and Europe, and they’re by no means confined to boogie and blues.

$30