Jonathon Muir-Cotton
Cliff Bell’s
Thursday, Jan. 22
“We’re small but mighty tonight.”
That was Jonathon Muir-Cotton’s credo to the small audience circled around the stage at Cliff Bell’s. Temps are diving in Detroit. It’s expected to be 1 degree by the time we wake up tomorrow. A snowstorm is set for this weekend. Why were any of us submitting ourselves to this blistering cold?
Because it’s worth braving the weather to see the next generation of Detroit jazz talent.
I was sitting in the best seat in the house; a massive-yet-cozy wraparound that’s affectionately called “the Scarface booth” by the staff here. We were onstage with the band, just feet away, but we were doing very different things. While I was sucking down Miller Lites and oysters, Muir-Cotton commanded his bass and led his band through takes on tunes like “Wayne’s Theme” by Detroit’s own Kenny Garrett and “Evidence” by Thelonious Monk.
The band was incredibly talented and young; the next one’s up in Detroit’s red hot jazz scene. (Cliff Bell’s a bonafide hub week in, week out to get to know the names, the songs, the talent right here in your own backyard.).Brendon Davis was a wonder on the keys. Wyatt Forhan ripped on the trombone. (I was sitting so close that I could see the spit flying off the end of his instrument). Zach Sommerfeld was the standout, which is saying a lot considering the stage he was sharing with Muir-Cotton and the rest of the band. Zach has braces.
Special guests dropped in and added a lot to the night. The poet mynameKaylen unleashed a melody-rich poem about police brutality, about life, about everything. He warned the crowd before he started that “it’s about to get heavy.” I felt a little guilty listening to something of this weight and magnitude while eating crab-stuffed mushrooms covered in crispy bread crumbs.
The tune of the night was Muir-Cotton’s arrangement of “It’s A Wonderful World,” giving it a New Orleans jazz feel in the first half before it melted into a jazz house-influenced take by the end. Isis Damil was the featured vocalist. Her voice soared over the band. It was without a doubt the best thing the band played during the night, a perfect showcase of their sense of transition with the new school of thought, in which jazz is a genreless mash-up of a lot of different sounds, especially house music.
After the set, Muir-Cotton joined us in the Scarface booth to tell me he’s starting to record his album in March.If you can’t wait to hear for yourself, he’ll be at Cliff Bell’s all weekend.
