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Detroit International Jazz Festival Announces '08 Local Artist Lineup & Pre-Festival Concert Series E Dog Benefit for Detroit Sax Man Grammy Award-winning Robin Eubanks brings commanding flavor, style to Idlewild The 3rd Annual Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music 29th Annual Detroit International Jazz Festival Announces 2008 Lineup

Gig Details

Gig Date:	Sat, June 7th 08
Gig Time:	9:00 pm
Cover Charge:
Online Ticket Sales Link:	http://$10.00
Gig Info/Notes:	Ben Jansson Quartet
Map Link:	Click here for map and directions.

Band Name:	Ben Jansson
Band Website:	http://www.benjansson.com
Band Contact Name:
Band Contact Email:	benjansson@yahoo.com
Band Contact Phone:
Band City:	Ann Arbor
Band State:	MI
Band Info/Notes:	Ben Jansson is quickly becoming a highly sought after tenor saxophonist on the national and international jazz scene. As well as having played in numerous jazz festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague, Netherlands and the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival Mr. Jansson has played gigs opening up for the Count Basie Orchestra, Eartha Kitt, Dave Brubeck and the late Ray Charles. At the 2006 Detroit International Jazz Festival Ben played the first tenor book with jazz great Diane Schuur and was featured as a soloist throughout the performance. As a leader, Ben fronts his own Quintet featuring stellar New York guitarist and longtime band mate Randy Napoleon. Other members of the Quintet include the great pianist Rick Roe, bassist Paul Keller and Drummer Pete Siers. The Ben Jansson Quintet recently recorded "live" at the Firefly Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan and will be releasing its first CD in the spring of 2007 on the PKO record label. Ben’s playing is Straight-ahead, a mix of fiery bebop and lyrical west coast cool. Originality and the spirit of jazz are at the heart of Ben’s playing. He has recorded and composed several of his original compositions and arrangements. Beginning on the Alto saxophone Ben switched over to tenor sax at the age of sixteen while attending Community High School in Ann Arbor, MI and studying with multi-instrumentalist and jazz educator Mike Grace. At this time Ben also began to study with Detroit’s legendary saxophonist George Benson and while still in high school Mr. Benson invited Ben to sit in with his quartet at the Botsford Inn Jazz festival in Detroit. In 1996 Ben moved to Toronto, Canada to begin studying exclusively with renowned jazz saxophonist Pat Labarbera at Humber College. While in Toronto Ben played with many of Canada’s finest jazz musicians including: Pat Labarbera, Don Thompson, Phil Dwyer, Jake Wilkinson, Josh Brown, Mike Murley, Kevin Turcotte, Alex Dean and Bernie Senensky. In 2003 Ben moved back to the Detroit area and has been steadily moving up in popularity and demand among musicians and audiences who like uncompromising, soulful, swinging music. Besides playing jazz Ben is also in demand in other genres, playing R & B gigs, blues, rock and bringing to it all the skills of a highly proficient musician. Most recently Ben played saxophone and backed up Aretha Franklin the "Queen of Soul" and extraordinary vocalist Patti Labelle on stage at Joe Louis arena for a sold out show. Some of the other great musicians in the Detroit area Ben is currently playing with are: Johnny Trudell, Rob Smith, Vincent Chandler, James Dapogny, Chris Smith, Rick Roe, Rodney Whitaker and Scott Gwinnell. Ben continues to impress audiences and musicians alike wherever he plays, bringing a warm, boisterous sound, lyrical flowing ideas and fluent technique to the forefront.

Venue Name:	Firefly Club
Venue Website:	http://www.fireflyclub.com
Venue Contact Name:
Venue Contact Email:
Venue Contact Phone:	(734) 665-9090
Venue Fax:
Venue Address1:	637 S. Main St.
Venue Address2:
Venue City:	Ann Arbor
Venue State:	MI
Venue Zip:	48104
Venue Country:	USA
Venue Info/Notes:	Opened in 2000, the Firefly Club is an award-winning, intimate jewel-box of a jazz and blues room. It has received such honors as 2003 "Best Jazz Club" by HOUR Detroit magazine, 2004 "Best Jazz Club in Metro Detroit" by The Detroit Free Press, 2004 "Best Blues Venue" by the Detroit News Reader's Poll, "Best Jazz Club to See a Grammy Winner" by the Detroit METROTIMES, and was voted both "Best Jazz Club" and "Best Blues Club" by Ann Arbor's CURRENT Magazine annually from 2004 to 2007. Additionally the club has received AOL's "City's Best" Award for three years running and was included in Downbeat Magazine's presti-gious list of the "100 Great Jazz Clubs of the World" for 2007! The Firefly Club features live music seven nights a week, offering the full spectrum of jazz from Dixieland to avant garde, Latin jazz to swinging big band sounds, as well as authentic electric and roots blues. It has hosted such luminaries as Arturo Sandoval, Maynard Ferguson, Wynton Marsalis, Larry Coryell, Brian Auger, Mulgrew Miller, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Big Bill Morganfield, Buster Williams, Karrin Allyson, Janis Siegel, Hank Jones, Mose Allison, Patricia Barber, David Liebman, Maria Muldaur, Cyrus Chestnut, Cedar Walton, and many more. Stellar local and regional performers such as Paul Keller, Ellen Rowe, Marcus Belgrave, Rick Roe, Rodney Whitaker, Johnnie Basset, Tom Saunders, Claudia Schmidt, Sunny Wilkinson, Alberta Adams, Mr B (Mark Braun), and James Dapogny regulary grace our stage. Seating 195 people, the Firefly Club offers a cozy, "deep purple" listening-room setting for the enjoyment of jazz, blues and cocktails. Our spacious dance floor provides ballroom and Latin style dancers a marvelous platform to showcase their skills. The bistro-style kitchen offers a delightful menu of appetizers, homemade soups and salads, sandwiches and desserts, and can also provide buffets - from simple or elegant appetizers to full dinners. The full-service bar provides an extensive array of specialty martinis, domestic and imported beers, and a wide selection of single malt scotches, top-shelf tequilas, whiskeys, cognacs and vodkas. The club is available for private event rentals and regularly hosts birthday and anniversary parties, intimate wedding receptions, as well as corporate parties, film locations and business seminars.

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