Straight Ahead

Sun | Apr 26 Sets 7pm & 9pm | $25 Cover RESERVE TABLE About the Artist Out of Detroit’s lively jazz scene, which has produced some of the best musicians in the world, comes the ground breaking all female jazz group, Straight Ahead. A group of strong, inventive instrumentalists and vocalists, they have shown themselves to be powerful and imaginative composers and arrangers. Widely recognized for their eclectic and soulful approach to creating music, the Straight Ahead sound ranges comfortably from mainstream jazz R&B ballads, avant-garde to Brazilian funk. Their live performances are a dynamic celebration of power and joy. The ladies delight in changing textures, moods, and tempos and love to throw in the occasional musical joke! Introduced in 1989 as a product of their hometown’s lively jazz scene, Straight Ahead was named the finalist in that year’s “Sony Innovators” competition. The new decade saw the ladies receive their first international exposure when they were invited to open for the legendary Nina Simone at the Montreaux-Switzerland Jazz Festival. In 1990, the group recorded the first album for Atlantic Jazz, “Look Straight Ahead”, with made the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart “Top 20”. They followed that up with “Body and Soul” and in 1995 with their third album “Dance Of the Forest Rain”, which received rave reviews that include Branford Marsalis, who called the group “a monster outfit that truly swings!” These Grammy-nominated Atlantic Jazz recording artists have traveled extensively in the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe, garnering rave reviews. Recent appearances include a concert at the prestigious Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., where Ms. Sorab Modi, a reviewer for “JazzIz” Magazine wrote that the band was”particularly impressive.” (JazzIz, August, 1997); and the Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival, where “This tight, dynamic, outfit stole the show with it’s high-energy tour-de-force of musical styles.” (Kansas…