DOORS 5:30PM | SHOW 6:30-7:30PM

Allen Dennard is a trumpeter, composer and bandleader who was born and raised in the city of Detroit. During his senior year of high school, he had the privilege of being mentored by the great Marcus Belgrave, one of Detroit’s own legendary trumpeters. From then on Allen’s involvement in jazz increased exponentially. Allen attended the University of Michigan where he received a full ride from the university’s jazz department and obtained other pivotal opportunities that would further his music career. In January 2019 Allen was chosen by the Detroit MetroTimes as one of ten artist they thought would become famous in that year. He has worked with several artist from the Detroit Music Factory label, such as Gayelynn Mckinney, De’Sean Jones and Sean Dobbins. He has also worked with Detroit saxophonist David McMurray from the Blue Note record label.

Allen has made five appearances as a sideman in the Detroit Jazz Festival: Wendell Harrison (2015), Detroit bassist Ali Bey (2017), the Detroit Jazz Festival All-Star Alumini Band (2019), David McMurray (2020), and the Keyon Harold Big Band (2021). In 2022 Dennard was chosen to be a headliner at the Detroit Jazz Festival, showcasing his group “The Allen Dennard Quintet”.