Charles Boles’s jazz career spanned over six decades, combining elements of gospel, blues, and bebop on the piano. Born in Detroit in 1932, he was a regular performer at bars along Detroit’s famed Hastings Street. He was once the music director for a young Aretha Franklin and has toured with the likes of B.B. King, Etta James, Marvin Gaye, and many more. He continued to perform into his eighties with the Charles Boles Quartet, which had a regular gig at Grosse Pointe’s Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe for several years in the mid-2010s.Boles released his first album at 81 years old, the Charles Boles Quartet’s Blue Continuum in 2014. Charles made his transition on January 19, 2024. He was 91 years old.
Charles Boles
Vincent Chandler, is a native Detroiter and protégé of one of the strongest era’s of the Detroit jazz scene, having studied and/or performed with local heroes such as Donald Walden, Kenn Cox, Harold McKinney, Teddy Harris, Marcus Belgrave, Matt Michaels, Francisco Mora, Eddie Nuccilli, Wendall Harrison, Spencer Barefield, Ronald Kischuk, James Carter, Marion Hayden, Regina Carter, and Rodney Whitaker. He has also performed internationally with jazz legends such as Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, JALC feat. Wynton Marsalis, Oliver Lake, Bobby Watson, Geri Allen, Roy Hargrove, Ravi Coltrane, JD Allen, Marcus Strickland, Wycliff Gordon, Walter Smith III, Robert Hurst, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Russell Malone, Randy Brecker and Ambrose Akinmusire.
Mr. Chandler has a reputation for being a uniquely expressive trombone soloist, a versatile sideman, innovative composer and arranger, a crowd pleasing scat singer, an experienced bandleader of various group sizes and a natural teacher of beginner to advanced students.
Vincent Chandler
Jazz guitarist Ron English has enjoyed a long and varied music career, with roots wide and deep in blues, Broadway, bebop, avant-garde, funk, Motown and gospel. Ron began playing standards for dances and receptions around his native Lansing, where his father was a well-known guitar teacher. He then graduated to a roadhouse jazz and blues mix, playing with drummer Bud Spangler and Jackson tenor man Benny Poole and various organ trios. At this time, he also met and worked with Lyman Woodard, his long time employer and collaborator. Along the way, Ron contributed the guitar solo on a classic blues rock “nugget,” the Woolies’ 1967 cover of Bo Diddley’s Who Do You Love?
Ron English currently teaches guitar, jazz theory and ensemble classes in the Continuing Education program at Marygrove College. He previously taught in Jazz Studies programs at Oakland University and Michigan State University.
Ron English
Brad Felt was committed to extending the Detroit jazz tradition and developing his own artistry within that environment. Much of this commitment was born of an appreciation for the support he received from the Detroit jazz community. Brad’s suburban background and unusual choice of instrument were never questioned. Instead, he was accepted as an artistic peer and community member.
He continued to develop his skills through countless hours of practice along with frequent performances. Sometimes, Brad led his own bands (often featuring saxophonist Steve Wood, a close musical associate and peer for 35+ years). At other times he performed under the leadership of Nasir Hafiz, Frank Isola, Sam Sanders, Roy Brooks, Teddy Harris, Donald Townes, Taslimah Bey, Ed Nuccilli, Kenn Cox (including the 1990 Moers Jazz Festival in Germany), Phil Lasley, Wendell Harrison, Pamela Wise, A. Spencer Barefield and others. In addition to frequent work in Detroit-area nightclubs, Brad’s performances were regularly featured at the annual Detroit Jazz Festival.
Brad’s work as a jazz songwriter coincided with and developed alongside his work as a performer. He began writing jazz tunes soon after he began playing the music, generating over 60 compositions. He often featured his writing in live performances as well as on his recordings.
Brad added euphonium and baritone horn to his instrumental arsenal during the 1990s. He began to put more focus on euphonium in succeeding years, to the point where many performances featured that instrument exclusively.
In the 1990s Brad was introduced to Howard Johnson, leader of the tuba-focused band Gravity. This led to Brad’s participation in two European tours with Gravity (in 1998 and 1999) as a featured performer.
Over the last 15 years of his life, Brad worked frequently with pianist/composer/arranger/bandleader Scott Gwinnell. Brad performed on three CDs released by Mr. Gwinnell during that period and served as executive producer on the last of these – Cass Corridor Story.
Brad Felt
Scott Gwinnell is a professional jazz pianist residing in Detroit, MI. Scott, has been performing since the age of 16 in venues and on concert stages, local to international. Scott has recorded and performed as a bandleader and sideman on over 50 professionally released recordings. As a recording artist for Detroit Music Factory, Scott has released two award-winning albums, Cass Corridor Story and Mulgrew-ology, the latter winning three Detroit Music Awards for outstanding recording, artist, and composer.
As a BMI composer, Scott Gwinnell has written over 400 works from symphony orchestra to big band to small ensemble. His compositions and arrangements have been played around the world by small and large ensembles. Gwinnell has scored two films, the most recent being “Vincent van Gogh--70 Days in Laois”. Gwinnell wrote the musical, “Bebop” in 2012, performed by members of the Detroit Institute of Arts, and wrote for, “Paul King with Strings”, a string quartet and rhythm section featuring Detroit crooner, Paul King.
Scott Gwinnell
Jazz saxophonist and clarinetist Wendell Harrison has long been known for taking his music into his own hands. Co-founder of the legendary Tribe record label and collective in the 1970's, Harrison went on to establish Rebirth Inc., a non profit jazz performance and education organization in the 80's. Recently, Wendell has collaborated with pianist and vocalist Amp Fiddler in performing concerts and special recording projects. Also, numerous well-known jazz artists, including pianist Geri Allen, saxophonist James Carter, saxophonist Eddie Harris, vocalist Leon Thomas and trumpeter Woody Shaw, just to name a few, have performed with Wendell and participated in Rebirth's programs. He also created the WenHa, record label and publishing company which released many of his recordings, as well as that of his wife, pianist Pamela Wise. Through his solo work and his Mama's Licking Stick Clarinet Ensemble, Harrison has gained more widespread respect for the clarinet, this often neglected, yet versatile instrument.
Wendell Harrison
Mark Lipson has proved himself an integral member of the Detroit jazz community, performing with three generations of musicians over five decades. An accomplished drummer, composer, arranger, and producer, his early teachers have included Marcus Belgrave, Harold McKinney, Marv “Doc” Holiday, and Rob Pipho. He later studied music theory, arranging, and composition with Chris Collins, Matthew Schoendorff, and Jon Anderson at Wayne State University.
Initially a self-taught drummer, Mark began working professionally at the age of 14, performing with R and B, and cover groups, extensively in and around Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan. A partial list of these venues includes the Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival, Ann Arbor Jazz and Blues Festival, Cliff Bell’s, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, The Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, and innumerable neighborhood clubs. In 1973, Mark received a grant from National Endowment for the Arts, which enabled him to study percussion with Warren Smith and Barry Altschul in NYC. In his musical travels, Mark has been privileged to share the bandstand with Dizzy Gillespie, Dwight Adams, Robert Hurst, and Wendell Harrison, among many others. Mark views music as a healing art, whose purpose is to cross boundaries and bring people together in peace and harmony. He currently lives with his wife, Susan, in West Bloomfield, MIchigan where he continues to study, compose, and produce music in his home studio.
Mark Lipson
Michael Malis is a composer, pianist, and music educator based in Detroit, Michigan. A multi-faceted musical artist, he works across genres in improvisational, concert music, and interdisciplinary settings. As a recording artist, he has 11 releases as a leader or co-leader. 2022’s From Darkness We Awaken, featuring chamber-improvising ensemble Virago (who commissioned the piece) was released on Brisbane Australia-based MADE NOW MUSIC, and was called “transfixing” with a “disarming intensity” (All About Jazz). His duo project with saxophonist Marcus Elliot, Balance, has been praised as “contemporary jazz of the highest order, a benchmark for where the genre can go” (Detroit Metro Times.)
As a composer, Malis has been commissioned by Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Chamber Music Society of Detroit, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Detroit Composers’ Project, Virago, Hole in the Floor, and others. As a pianist, he has shared the stage with such luminaries as Marcus Belgrave, Gerald Cleaver, Jaribu Shahid, John Lindberg, William Hooker, A. Spencer Barefield, Tyshawn Sorey, Brandee Younger, J.D. Allen, and Marion Hayden.
Malis studied with legendary pianist Geri Allen at the University of Michigan. He currently serves as Visiting Instructor of Jazz Piano at Interlochen Arts Academy.
Michael Malis
Harold McKinney (1928-2001) was a composer, pianist, band leader and jazz educator in the Detroit area. He combined a deep knowledge of classical music, with an early love of hard Bop. McKinney toured and played with many giants such as Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Yusef Lateef and Kenny Burrell. Along with Wendell Harrison, McKinney began the Tribe collective, a label, magazine and a creative outlook on urban self-determination. McKinney was a gifted synesthete who saw colors as sound and sound as colors. His finest accomplishment was the training and musical education he gave to generations of local students. “We have always had an open-door policy for our youth,” McKinney (said). “It’s this desire to pass it on, and after a while the self-fulfilling prophecy takes over, you know what I mean; the very idea that you have a reputation for something makes you want to live up to it.”
Harold McKinney
Saxophonist, flautist, composer and arranger Russ Miller is currently an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, where his duties include teaching jazz improvisation, jazz lab bands and jazz arranging and orchestration classes. His 30-year professional music career includes performances with Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy DeFranco, J.C. Heard, Rob McConnell, Jon Faddis, Joe Williams, Milt Hinton, Rosemary Clooney and Sammy Davis Jr. among others. In addition Russ has performed with his own group and with others at the Detroit International Jazz Festival, the Michigan Jazz Festival, Music on the Plaza in Grosse Pointe and at various local venues. Recorded performances include: J.C. Heard Orchestra - Some of This, Some of That (Hiroko Records), Bill Heid - Wet Streets (Savant Records), John Cooper Orchestra - Baecker Jazz Worship Service (Baecker Music Productions) and on Jeannine Miller’s recently released recording Two For The Road (PKO Records) which in addition to featuring Russ on sax and flute, features his arrangements of classic jazz standards for big band, woodwinds, brass, strings and jazz quartet.
Russell Miller
In 2016 Pamela Wise was awarded the prestigious Kresge Creative Artist Fellowship Award that came with a $25,000 prize for her work as a pianist, teacher, composer and cultural warrior. Pamela was awarded another award from the Kresge Foundation in 2019 for her production, Matrix X Detroit-The Gentrification Nation. Matrix X Detroit was a multidisciplinary art production that included original compositions, dance, poetry and skits written by world known writer Bill Harris. Matrix X Detroit reflected the process that residents experience during the gentrification of their neighborhoods. Following the production was a town hall discussion with housing officials and city residents .
Another award in 2021 from New Music USA for a new composition coming from Pamela Wise along with her jazz guru husband Wendell Harrison. Harrison will composing a piece with Pamela entitled AMBIGUOUS REALITIES reflecting the worldwide effects of COVID19.
Pamela Wise
Composers Coming Soon...
Gayelynn McKinney is one of America’s great drummers. She has performed at the 1996 Olympic Games and at The Kennedy Center. She has received a Grammy Nomination, a Kresge Arts Fellowship, a Motor City Music Award, and a Detroit Black Music Award. And there’s much more. Gayelynn has performed on the CBS, CNN, PBS, and BET television networks. She has also been featured in magazines like Billboard and Elle. Gayelynn has played for Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Martha Reeves, Freda Payne, Roy Ayers, Marcus Belgrave, Sonny Fortune, Stanley Turrentine, Barbara Morrison, and Benny Golson. And her band has opened for music legends like Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Nina Simone, and Nancy Wilson. Whether she’s performing at a Jazz festival in Switzerland, playing at a local nightclub or recording in the studio, Gayelynn McKinney is a drummer extraordinaire. Gayelynn hails from a music
Gayelynn McKinney
Lisa Sung is a talented and versatile pianist, studied in both classical and jazz music. Ms. Sung holds a Bachelor of Jazz piano performance from Temple University , Philadelphia, performed in the top band under trumpeter Terrell Stafford.
She also holds a Master of Jazz Performance from New York University. She studied composition with Ron McClure, Dave Schroeder and studied jazz piano with Thomas Lawton, Don Friedman and Don Glanden.
She has performed with bassist Ron McClure, drummer Jeff Brillanger, and saxophonist Patrick Wolf. She has also performed a weekly duo with bassist/vocalist Gerald Benson in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and in New York. Coming to Grand Rapids, Ms. Sung has been serving as the music director for the Calvin University Gospel Choir and teaches jazz piano at Hope College and Calvin University. Ms. Sung also has been a regular member at the Central Michigan University jazz faculty concert series.
