Doors open at 7 - Music at 7:30 - $30 advance tickets - $35 at the door
Fully seated, listening room style show
General admission - All ages
In celebration of his new album "City Life" The Alluvion Jazz Series proudly presents the extraordinary Michael Dease with an incredible band featuring illustrious, heavy-hitters Geoffrey Keezer and Billy Kilson.
City Life: Music Of Gregg Hill recently released on Origin Records, received a vibrant review from DownBeat saying "Dease proves yet again that straight-ahead post-bop can prove to be fertile ground for musical ingenuity and emotional heft as he tips, grandly, to composer Gregg Hill."
In honor of the new album, Dease has put together a brilliant band that features both living jazz legends, and rising new forces on the scene.
FEATURING:
Michael Dease - Trombone, Leader
Geoffrey Keezer - Piano
Billy Kilson - Drums
Paloma Ximena - Sax
Langston Kitchen - Bass
MICHAEL DEASE
Michael Dease is one of the world’s eminent trombonists, lending his versatile sound and signature improvisations to over 200 recordings and groups as diverse as Grammy-winning artists David Sanborn, Christian McBride, Kanye West, Michel Camilo, and Alicia Keys. Born in Augusta, Georgia, he played the saxophone and trumpet before choosing the trombone at age 17. In 2001, Dease moved to New York City to become part of the historic first class of jazz students at The Juilliard School, earning both Bachelors and Masters degrees, and quickly established a reputation as a brilliant soloist, side-person, and bandleader.
Always an informed but forward-thinking musician, Dease has taken many lessons from master musicians while primarily studying with trombone legends Wycliffe Gordon and Joseph Alessi. His associations have run the entire spectrum of musical experience: Alicia Keys, Paul Simon, Paul Schaffer and the CBS Orchestra, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Illinois Jacquet, Slide Hampton & The World Of Trombones, Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, WDR Big Band, George Gruntz, Billy Harper, and numerous others.
GEOFFERY KEEZER
Geoffrey Keezer is a GRAMMY-winning pianist, composer, arranger and producer based in New York City. A native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he began playing piano and composing at an early age. After briefly attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Keezer moved to New York in 1989, becoming the last pianist with the legendary Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Keezer has toured and recorded with Ray Brown, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman, Diana Krall, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Barbara Hendricks, Wayne Shorter, Dianne Reeves, David Sanborn, Chris Botti, Sting, Joe Locke and Christian McBride.
Geoffrey’s compositions have been commissioned by the Mainly Mozart Festival, Art of Elán ensemble, Saint Joseph Ballet, Zeltsman Marimba Festival, Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra and Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. His music can be heard in the films What Happens in Vegas, The Wedding Year, and Inhale, and in numerous TV shows including The Young and the Restless, Parks and Recreation, Casual, House of Lies, Call Me Kat, American Crime Story, Clarice, and The Originals.
BILLY KILSON
Billy Kilson is known as a drummer of the highest caliber; known as such for his revelational improvisation and timing, and an undeniable stage presence reminiscent of the great jazz drummers before him. With diverse backgrounds, his projects are a summation of his collective life and musical experiences.
Although he has achieved notable success as a sideman in concert and on recordings, Billy's first love is creating and performing his own music. Influenced by the funk and fusion music of his youth, Billy began to write his own music and made his first recording, “While Ur Sleepin’”. Later he assembled some of his peers, Kenny Davis, Mike Sim and George Colligan to form BK Groove. They came together as seasoned musicians, reading each other like a favorite book, anticipating the next move perfectly, stepping out to solo at the perfect moment and keeping the groove going at all times. Their music is diverse, original and inspired.
The drummer, educator and now author is sharing his experiences with his fans around the world. However he always says nothing is greater than sharing each and every moment of his history as well as knowledge with his students at Berklee. Billy says “no doubt besides my family my students are my greatest inspiration.”
PALOMA XIMENA
Paloma Ximena is a jazz artist originally from Carmichael, California, now based in Lansing, Michigan. Self-taught, Paloma's career began after performing at the 2022 Essentially Ellington Competition and Festival in New York City. She quickly garnered the attention of musicians in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, which led to Paloma studying with Wynton Marsalis and other members of the orchestra. Since then, Paloma has furthered her jazz studies with many artists across the country including Jon Faddis, Rodney Whitaker, Ingrid Jensen, and Melissa Aldana.
In 2024, Paloma was selected for Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra, where she toured South Africa. Paloma has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and at National YoungArts Week in Miami, Florida. Today she is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Jazz Studies from Michigan State University.
Paloma has big dreams of sharing her music with the world while also carrying on the tradition her mentors have taught her; paying it forward. She hopes to bring joy and unity to as many people in the world as possible with her music.
LANGSTON KITCHEN
Langston Kitchen, born in Detroit, possessing familial roots in Harlem, and known for his big sound on the bass, Langston Marcelles Kitchen is the winner of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award, Essentially Ellington Regional Best Musicianship Award, and the Detroit Jazz Festival Collegiate Combo Competition. He is a Geri Allen Fellow and jazz major at Michigan State University, under the tutelage of University Distinguished Professor of Jazz Bass and Director of Jazz Studies, Rodney Whitaker.
Within a short period of time, he has begun to master his instrument and has studied under some of the most respected jazz musicians, including Robert Hurst, Xavier Davis, Sean Dobbins, and Marcus Printup and has performed with Michael Dease, Dan Wilson, Xavier Davis, Walter Blanding, and Randy Napoleon. In the words of Louis Armstrong, “To jazz, or not to jazz, there is no question!”
Kitchen loves jazz and is driven by his pursuit to play with conviction, purpose, and feeling. He has performed at Smalls Jazz Club, the Detroit Jazz Festival, Jazz Festival at Caramoor, East Lansing Summer Solstice, the Roxy Bar, City Opera House, the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, Cliff Bell’s, and Blue Llama Jazz Club. With the goals of becoming a touring musician and a distinguished professor, Kitchen continues to pursue his dreams and hopes to one-day help young musicians with the same spirit of reciprocity that his mentors share with him.
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