Kasan Belgrave and Session

Showtimes are at 7:30p & 9:30p for this performance. Doors open at 5pm for dinner. Seating begins at 6pm for “Dinner & a Show”. The second show starts seating at 9pm Saxophonist Kasan Belgrave is a ascending talent newly emerging in the role of a compositional leader. His energetic playing style and improvisational finesse derives from influences of early bebop and jazz, as well flares of fusion and gospel. His musical prowess has more recently been shown through new innovative compositions. The record “Dual Citizen” is an introductory reflection of Kasan’s own consciousness through experience of musical nurturing & professional practice from the Detroit jazz mentorship empire, led by his father, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. It provides a glimpse of Kasan’s endless curiousness of sonic ingenuity. In the formative years of his career, that same mentorship was present in the musical institutions, as he studied with Andrew Bishop, Benny Green, and Robert Hurst at the University of Michigan then held an assistantship under the direction of Diego Rivera and Rodney Whitaker at Michigan State University. Kasan has toured as a multi-woodwind instrumentalist with Jazz @ Lincoln Center w/ Wynton Marsalis, performed in multiple residencies curated by Terri Lynn Carrington, performed with Karriem Riggins, and Etienne Charles. The 27-year-old multi-woodwind instrumentalist has also made rounds performing in every corner of the Detroit music scene, immersing himself in Latin, R&B, and techno. Belgrave is just one of many who was nurtured in the realm. The lineup for “Dual Citizen” might be the most outright product of that very circle of mentorship. Bassist Jonathan Muir-Cotton, finishing his degree at MSU, is currently rotating in Christian Sands Trio; Louis Jones aka “WavyLou”, a gun-slinging drummer who has the likes of the Haynes’ and Roach’s, recently hit with ELEW and Johnny O’Neal in Detroit; Brendon Davis, a virtuosic voice on piano shortly studying with the great Chick Corea, is established in composition and arranging of the gospel scene ; the enigmatic Allen Dennard has a trailblazing trumpet sound, recently sharing stages with Dwele and Mike Phillips; and Michael Abbo, the genial menace on both trombone and bass, recently played with Johnny Oneal and Dafnis Prieto. The close fellowship of this group is a sentiment to the power of their sound as the Kasan Belgrave Sextet.