Fri Jul 25
John Lee's Out of Body Quartet
7PM / $10 - $20 | $1.50 Fees In-person Attendance
John Lee's Out of Body Quartet
Showtime: 7 pm ET/6 pm CT/5 pm MT/4 pm PT/12 am GMT
In-person seats: $20 / $10 full-time students with valid ID
In -person attendees receive a link to the recording to view for one week. Advance ticket sales end 1 hr prior to show. Remaining tickets may be purchased at the door.
Streaming Cost is $15
The link will be revealed to live stream participants 15 minutes before the show
and will remain active thru Aug. 1
Donations welcome
John Lee, guitar & compositions
Derrick Michaels, saxophone
Mike Kuhl, drums
Alex Weber, bass
This group has been described as “a unique sonic foot print”, “a great collective interplay from the band, interesting use of dissonance and tonal landscapes”, and “A Spiritual Jazz Journey”. Their first album, “John Lee’s Out of Body Quartet Volume 1” was released in May 2025.
John Lee is a composer and guitarist who is active in the Washington D.C. music scene. He earned a BFA in Jazz and Contemporary Music Performance from The New School University. He has since performed with a host of major artists, including Cyro Baptista, Brian Marsella, Fatoumata Diawara, Hassan Hakmoun and Keller Williams. As one of D.C.’s most sought-after musicians and founder of the jam band Caveman, Lee can be heard on over thirty recorded albums as sideman and on seven albums as leader. His stylistic versatility has taken him to venues and festivals in Brazil, Canada, Israel, Ecuador, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, and all around the U.S. Lee teaches for MusiCorps, a music rehabilitation program for wounded veterans at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He also serves as lecturer of jazz and commercial guitar at Towson University.
Drummer, recording artist and educator Michael Kuhl hails from the musically diverse City of Baltimore. Kuhl studied and performed in numerous genres, making him a first call drummer for any situation. A graduate of Towson University, Kuhl has performed locally and throughout the globe alongside jazz greats Dave Liebman, Tony Malaby, Michael Formanek, Dave Ballou, Ellery Eskelin and Claudio Roditi. Outside of jazz, Kuhl has shared the stage with many international acts such as Beach House, Arboretum, Cigarettes After Sex, Tom Tom Club, and The Ravonnettes. As a leader, Kuhl performed weekly with his trio at Bertha’s in Fells Point before the pandemic. Along with his musical career, Mike is an accomplished martial artist of Bagua Kung Fu; he says the two arts go hand in hand.
Baltimore-native Derrick Michaels is a tenor saxophonist and improviser with a deep sound and a bold, imaginative presence in the creative music community. With roots in both the lyrical and exploratory branches of the creative saxophone tradition, his wide expressive palette brings a soulful, melodic sincerity to a wide range of musical environments. He has been described by Jazz Weekly as a “thick-toned tenorist”, and by Downbeat magazine as wielding a “large sound and free flowing style”. The Baltimore Jazz Alliance says: “Derrick Michaels' saxophone playing comes right out of his soul; the instrument sounds like a human voice.”
Alex Weber is a Baltimore-based bassist and composer. He graduated in 2011 with a BA in Jazz Performance from Towson University, where he studied bass under Jeff Reed, improvisation with Jim McFalls and Dave Ballou, and with visiting artists such as Drew Gress, Ellery Eskelin and Mark Dresser. Alex joined the progressive metal band Exist in 2008 and recorded two albums with them. He plays in the local jazz/metal fusion group Talking Points who recently recorded their debut album. In 2013, he joined Phil Cunneff's New Trio that plays many of the various forms of jazz.
7PM / $10 - $20 | $1.50 Fees In-person Attendance