Community Calendar

10-piece big band led by Chris Smith, specializing in hot jazz of the 1920s and 30s. Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Duke Ellington and other jazz legends are prominent in their repertoire. Great for listening or dancing.

The Alaya Project is the essential bridge between the intricate Carnatic style of Indian classical music and contemporary jazz and funk. Born in the cultural bastion of Oakland, California, The Alaya Project explores new textures and perspectives built over two decades of friendship, dialogue, and musical immersion across genres and continents.

The driving hybrid kit grooves of Indian percussionist and drummer Rohan Krishnamurthy, the soulful Ragas and melodies of Prasant Radhakrishnan on saxophone, and the harmonic bedrock of Colin Hogan embodies the permanence of a changing soundscape.

LuFuki Ismaeel Dhul-Qarnayn is a composer, guitarist, organizer, historian and cultural curator in Detroit. He views music as a spiritual practice that brings about healing and unity, and his art practice centers around Black ancestral legacy. His ensemble Divine Providence is an Afro-Spirit jazz collective of musicians who fuse genres with the intention of connecting hearts in order to promote unity, freedom and social action.

LuFuki is currently working on several projects, including XRoads, a traveling exhibit being housed for the week by the Kalamazoo College Music Department. The exhibit explores the under-documented historical and contemporary intersections between “jazz,” Black Muslims, and social justice movements.

LuFuki will also be conducting a lecture at 4:15 PM on Wednesday, October 22.

This engagement is supported by a John Stites Jazz Event Award from the John Stites Jazz Artist Organization, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) honoring the memory of John Stites and his passion for jazz music.