Mr. B’s Blues & Boogie Piano Celebration

Each year, students and professors in the University of Michigan jazz program move in and tear up the Ark stage in our Jazz Showcase, always welcoming a nationally known special guest. This year, that guest is a legendary talent—trumpeter Randy Brecker, who has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B, and rock for more than four decades. You’ve probably heard Randy Brecker even if you don’t know it—his trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a huge range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and Parliament/Funkadelic to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, Jaco Pastorius, and Frank Zappa. Here’s your chance to hear a jazz legend passing on his secrets to the next generation!

Bill Frisell can be a hard musician to classify. You’ll find him in the jazz bins (or at the jazz link), and he’s been called the most brilliant jazz guitarist since Wes Montgomery. But he’s the kind of jazz musician who looks outward to other music, and his guitar can do just about anything, from any genre. It can approximate the sound of a country steel guitar, can wail the blues, can break new ground in music like Jimi Hendrix did. And he plays his own compositions, each one intricately woven into the capabilities of his instrument. As a collaborator, Bill Frisell is one of the most sought-after voices in contemporary guitar. His Ark shows have an intimacy that’s hard to find at his dates in larger cities.

Djangophonique is a virtuosic, instrumentally driven quartet led by guitar player Andrew Brown. A true disciple of the style, Andrew has spent countless hours immersing himself in the language of Django Reinhardt’s jazz manouche, and he’s joined on stage by bandmates that match his skill and passion for the material. With respect for the tradition and a fearless creativity that bends the conventions of the style, Djangophonique is keeping the Hot Club of France revival alive and well.

The members of Harmonious Wail, from Madison, Wisconsin, are purveyors of Americana-infused gypsy jazz who continue to take their listeners on a ride via the music of the Hot Club sounds of Parisian cafes, to the deepest blues of the Memphis Delta, to the heartfelt folk scenes across every-town-America

Kat Edmonson is an award-winning songwriter and singer “with an equal foothold in jazz, cabaret and vintage cosmopolitanism pop” (The New York Times). She has been featured on Austin City Limits, Tiny Desk Concerts, A Prairie Home Companion, and The Late Show with David Letterman. The New York Times describes her music as “fresh as a spring bouquet” while NPR says, “Hearing Edmonson makes it virtually impossible to do anything but stop and listen.” Kat Edmonson will perform swingin’ Yule-tide favorites such as “Jingle Bell Rock”, “O Christmas Tree”, and “Let It Snow” as part of her festive show, Holiday Swingin’! A Kat Edmonson Christmas.