The Grand Rapids super-group led by Michael Doyle plays SpeakEZ Lounge on Sunday with a new album on the way. Plus, listen to this week’s radio show podcast featuring fresh tracks by Michigan artists.
At Blue Lake: Evidence Jazz recorded their new album live as part of Lazaro Vega’s radio show. (Photo/Dan Terpstra)
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Michael Doyle’s fascination with jazz was cemented as a boy after hearing legendary trumpeter Miles Davis’ album, “’Round About Midnight.”
“The great thing about jazz that I thought was interesting to me was you could not predict what the music is going to be,” Doyle said. “It was something that was going to be unexpected and a musical surprise.”
Turning to saxophone after hearing John Coltrane – and later embracing the virtuosity of icons Dexter Gordon, Wilton Felder, Wayne Shorter and Moble – Doyle has continued to relish the unexpected musically as leader of the Grand Rapids super-group Evidence Jazz, which revels in performing original, modern mainstream jazz compositions.
“Why do something that’s already been done? It’s just repeating something over and over again,” Doyle insisted. “We want to definitely show what we’re able to do and show what our voices are about musically. … We figured, ‘Hey, why don’t we play our own music and get our sound out there.’ ”
Returning to SpeakEZ Lounge on Sunday Night: Evidence Jazz (Photo/Chelsea Whitaker)
Indeed, the band – tenor and soprano saxophonist Doyle, pianist Steve Talaga, bassist Tom Lockwood, drummer Fred Knapp and trumpet and flugelhorn player Matt Sumner – is getting its sound out there with a new album of fresh compositions, “Live in Session at Blue Lake,” that gets released later this fall.
And after performing at the 2025 Michigan Jazz Festival and a gig in Chicago, the band will unfurl its “all original” material at SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids at 6 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 19) for a special evening of Evidence Jazz charm.
The band’s first album since 2008 was recorded live in April at Blue Lake Public Radio Studios as part of Lazaro Vega’s radio show on Earth Day 2025. It was engineered and mixed by Steve Albert at Blue Lake, with tracks featured on this week’s Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase mastered by Dan Terpstra.
“Our mission was to showcase new music from the group,” said Doyle, noting that the band’s previous recordings have earned national attention and airplay.
A MUSICAL JOURNEY THAT STARTED IN THE BRONX
Doyle’s musical journey began in the Bronx in New York City where he grew up.
“My father was basically into jazz, classical music, also music of the Caribbean – Latin music such as salsa, merengue, calypso music and reggae. My mother, who was from the rural South, her musical roots were mainly of R&B, gospel and blues,” he recalled.
As a student at Talent Unlimited High School for the Performing Arts, he participated in jazz workshops in New York City and later studied at the Armed Forces School of Music after entering the U.S. Army. He later received a bachelor’s degree in music from Western Michigan University and a master’s in jazz studies from Michigan State University.
Connecting With Audiences: Evidence Jazz (Photo/Dan Terpstra)
He’s since performed with a who’s who roster of musicians and singers, including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Frank Foster, Nell Carter, Bill Dowdy and others, as well Big Band Nouveau, Orquesta Tradicion and Stone Soul Rhythm Band. Doyle formed Evidence Jazz in 1994.
Getting a chance to deliver the group’s original music in a live setting continues to inspire Doyle and his bandmates – and remains a challenge at times.
“It feels great, and we just love it in regard to being able to connect with audiences with our material and everything,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate that sometimes we run into some audience members (who) ask us to play something that’s already been done or so-called jazz standard material. But if you want to hear that stuff, you can buy records of it. Why hear it again live? The objective of it is to … get our sound out there and show what it is. I just think sometime people just have to have an open mind and open attitude of new things rather than just staying with things that have already been done.”
This week’s edition of the Michigan Music Showcase debuted two tracks from the upcoming new Evidence Jazz album: “Night Dream” and “Javalina Nights.” The show also featured new music by other Michigan artists, including Greg Nagy, Steven Malcolm (with Carly Ann Taylor), Hot Girls, Ghouly Get Down, Luke Winslow-King, Don Was & The Pan-Detroit Ensemble, Mosby Jaye, Greensky Bluegrass and Michael Varverakis. Listen to the interview and show below.
The Michigan Music Showcase airs at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org, and on Interlochen Public Radio at 7 p.m. Saturdays.
PODCAST: Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase (10/17/25)
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