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.

Latin Music & Dance CELEBRATION! Benefiting the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), a leading provider of free legal services for immigrants in the state. Featuring Paul Vornhagen’s Afro-Cuban jazz band Tumbao Bravo. Music for listening & dancing. Doors open at 6:00 with dinner by Pilar’s Tamales and a cash bar. Salsa lesson with Mambo Marci from YA Salsa at 6:30. Live music from 7:15 – 9:00.

For more information contact LatinMusicAndDanceCelebration@gmail.com

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.

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.

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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3/30/2025
A2 JAZZ FEST Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Two-Day Local Music Showcase

ANN ARBOR, MI — The A2 JAZZ FEST is proud to announce its 10th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, Sept. 26, and Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. This milestone event honors a decade of "lifting up A2 Jazz" by featuring two days of diverse, Michigan-centric music. All events are free and open to the public.
Event Schedule and Locations:
Saturday, Sept. 26 (4 PM – 10 PM): The festival kicks off at The Rabbit Hole (210 S. 1st St.), Ann Arbor’s premier indoor-outdoor arts venue. The evening begins with a Student Showcase and continues with alternating indoor and outdoor sets.
Sunday, Sept. 27 (6 PM – 10 PM): The celebration moves to The Raven’s Club (207 S. Main St.) for three featured jazz sets.
A Decade of Supporting Local Talent Founded in 2016 by local musician and teacher Dave Sharp, the A2 JAZZ FEST was designed to showcase emerging artists and provide professional opportunities for Washtenaw County musicians. Since its inception, and despite a brief hiatus during the pandemic, the festival has steadily grown its talent base and reached increasingly wider audiences.
"10 years is a major milestone," organizers noted, emphasizing the festival's role in maintaining a vibrant arts scene amidst broader funding cuts to the sector. This year’s festival will feature the Outreach Education Stage with Sean Dobbins, a highly regarded bandleader and Professor of Jazz Studies at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.
Mission and Community Impact The mission of the A2 JAZZ FEST extends beyond performance to include:
Employment: Creating sustainable work for local musicians.
Education: Providing accessibly priced entertainment and utilizing improvisational music as a "brain-building" tool for developing musicians.
Mentorship: Co-creating STEAM activities that facilitate intergenerational mentorship and bring diverse communities together.
For the full performance schedule and more information, please visit a2jazzfest.com

Experience the vibrant energy of Endea Owens and the Cookout, a dynamic ensemble led by star bassist Endea Owens. Their performances are a joyful fusion of jazz, soul, and global influences, creating a feel-good atmosphere that captivates audiences. The Cookout’s performances are more than just a concert; they are an experience that leaves audiences feeling inspired and connected.

Endea Owens’ exceptional talent and impact have garnered significant recognition. She is a recipient of an Emmy, a Grammy Award, and a George Foster Peabody Award. In 2019, she was hailed as an Emerging Artist by Jazz at Lincoln Center. Owens has also been commissioned to compose for prestigious ensembles such as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, where she served as the 2023 MAC Music Innovator. Her debut album, Feel Good Music, released in 2023, has further solidified her position as a rising star in the jazz world.

Brittany Davis is a critically acclaimed Seattle-based musician, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist signed to Loosegrove Records, the label co-founded by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard. Blind since birth, Davis is a key member of Gossard’s band Pointed Shield and has been lauded for their soulful, genre-bending solo work.

Igniting souls and spirits.

Club 750 performances feature an intimate, club–style escape. Enjoy handcrafted cocktails, delicious food served tableside, and catch today’s brightest rising stars up close.

In the history of jazz music, only one bandleader has the distinction of having his orchestra still performing sold-out concerts around the world, with members personally chosen by him, for nearly 40 years after his passing. Pianist and bandleader William James “Count” Basie was, and still is, an American institution who personifies the grandeur and excellence of jazz. The Count Basie Orchestra, today directed by Scotty Barnhart, has won every respected jazz poll in the world at least once, received 18 Grammy Awards, appeared in movies, television shows, and at every major jazz festival and concert hall in the world.

The Orchestra is joined by MSU’s own Carmen Bradford, 2019 Grammy Award winner and faculty member with MSU Jazz Studies. Ms. Bradford was discovered and hired by Count Basie himself and was the featured vocalist for many years. An audience favorite, she joins the ensemble in this special performance for a night of electrifying rhythms and unstoppable swing.

Berlin Philharmonic Brass, founded in the 1950s, is one of the longest-standing ensembles to have emerged from arguably the greatest orchestra in the world, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Its twelve virtuoso brass players bring this ensemble’s distinctive sound and tradition to dynamic chamber music performances in Germany and throughout the world.

The Berlin Philharmonic Brass Ensemble’s concerts are a celebration of the diversity of brass music, ranging from Baroque and Classical repertoire to newly commissioned works by leading contemporary composers and entertaining arrangements of jazz and popular pieces.

The rapport between the twelve musicians, undoubtedly enhanced by their experience in playing together as Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra members, is communicated to their audiences in performances of spontaneity and passion.