The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) presents “In a Whirl of Jazz 6, ” its sixth annual jazz benefit concert and supper on Sunday, October 23 at 5 p.m. in Corbett Auditorium. Hosted by the Friends of CCM, the event features a concert performance by acclaimed bassist and jazz arranger John Clayton and the Clayton Brothers Quintet with CCM’s Faculty Jazz Artists and Student Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Rick VanMatre.
Also that evening, the Blue Wisp Big Band will be honored with the William Lawless Jones Award for their contributions to Cincinnati’s jazz culture. The award is named for the late LTC (Ret.) William Lawless Jones, who was a military intelligence officer, education advocate, Professor of Sociology at the University of Cincinnati, noted historian and a “gentleman of jazz.”
Following the concert, the Friends of CCM will host a light supper in the CCM Atrium.
John Clayton and the Clayton Brothers Quintet
As a bassist, John Clayton has performed with jazz legends including Henry Mancini, the Count Basie Orchestra, Diana Krall, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Monty Alexander and Ray Brown. A prolific writer and arranger, he worked on DeeDee Bridgewater’s Grammy Award-winning CD, Dear Ella, and has also arranged for Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, Milt Jackson, Nancy Wilson, Quincy Jones, George Benson, Dr. John, Regina Carter and Whitney Houston. His well-known arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner for Houston’s 1990 Super Bowl performance became a platinum album.
Clayton became a serious student of the double bass at the age of 16 when he met his mentor, Ray Brown, and by 19 he was performing as the bassist for Henry Mancini’s 1972 television show, The Mancini Generation. He holds a bachelor of music in double bass from Indiana University and was the Amsterdam Philharmonic’s principal bassist for over five years. On the West Coast, he served as the Artistic Director of Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1999 to 2001.
The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, which he co-leads with his saxophonist brother, Jeff Clayton, and drummer Jeff Hamilton, has served as the resident jazz orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. Their newest CD, Live at MCG, was released in July 2005. John and Jeff Clayton also collaborate as co-leaders of the Clayton Brothers Quintet, which also includes Gerald Clayton on piano, Terrell Stafford on trumpet and Obed Calvaire on drums.
The Blue Wisp Big Band
A Cincinnati fixture since 1980, the venerated Blue Wisp Big Band entertains jazz lovers every Wednesday night at Marjean’s Blue Wisp Jazz Club in downtown Cincinnati. During their tenure at the club, the Blue Wisp Big Band has received a Post-Corbett Award for their artistic contribution to the culture of Cincinnati, the 1997 Cammy Award for Best Jazz Big Band, and a 1999 Cammy Michael Bany Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2002, the Blue Wisp Big Band received a Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Jazz Group. They have recorded five CDs.
Members of the Blue Wisp Big Band include Michael Sharfe and Lynn Seaton (bass); Jeff Folkens, Kevin Moore, Al Nori, and Jerry Conrad (trumpet); Joe Gaudio and Herb Aronoff (tenor saxophone); Larrry Dickson (baritone saxophone); Mike Andress and Jim Sherrick (alto saxophone); Gary Langhorst (bass trombone); Jeff Owen, Clarence Pawn, and Paul Piller (tenor trombone); Steve Schmidt (piano); and John Von Ohlen (drums).
Rick VanMatre
Rick Van Matre is director of jazz studies at CCM and music director of the CCM Jazz Ensemble. As a jazz saxophone soloist he has recorded with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the PsychoAcoustic Orchestra, Latin X-Posure and the CCM Faculty Jazztet. He has performed with John McNeil, Bobby Shew, Gene Bertoncini, Tim Hagans, Rosemary Clooney, the Duke Ellington Orchestra led by Mercer Ellington and the Woody Herman Orchestra directed by Frank Tiberi. As a classical saxophonist, he has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under conductors such as Leinsdorf and Penderecki, and as a concerto soloist with the Illinois Phiharmonic, the Middletown Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Wind Symphony. As conductor of the CCM Jazz Ensemble, he has directed programs for American Jazz Radio Festival, National Public Radio, and produced three CD recordings for Alissa Records and Sea Breeze Records.
Also that evening, the Blue Wisp Big Band will be honored with the William Lawless Jones Award for their contributions to Cincinnati’s jazz culture. The award is named for the late LTC (Ret.) William Lawless Jones, who was a military intelligence officer, education advocate, Professor of Sociology at the University of Cincinnati, noted historian and a “gentleman of jazz.”
Following the concert, the Friends of CCM will host a light supper in the CCM Atrium.
John Clayton and the Clayton Brothers Quintet
As a bassist, John Clayton has performed with jazz legends including Henry Mancini, the Count Basie Orchestra, Diana Krall, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Monty Alexander and Ray Brown. A prolific writer and arranger, he worked on DeeDee Bridgewater’s Grammy Award-winning CD, Dear Ella, and has also arranged for Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, Milt Jackson, Nancy Wilson, Quincy Jones, George Benson, Dr. John, Regina Carter and Whitney Houston. His well-known arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner for Houston’s 1990 Super Bowl performance became a platinum album.
Clayton became a serious student of the double bass at the age of 16 when he met his mentor, Ray Brown, and by 19 he was performing as the bassist for Henry Mancini’s 1972 television show, The Mancini Generation. He holds a bachelor of music in double bass from Indiana University and was the Amsterdam Philharmonic’s principal bassist for over five years. On the West Coast, he served as the Artistic Director of Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1999 to 2001.
The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, which he co-leads with his saxophonist brother, Jeff Clayton, and drummer Jeff Hamilton, has served as the resident jazz orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. Their newest CD, Live at MCG, was released in July 2005. John and Jeff Clayton also collaborate as co-leaders of the Clayton Brothers Quintet, which also includes Gerald Clayton on piano, Terrell Stafford on trumpet and Obed Calvaire on drums.
The Blue Wisp Big Band
A Cincinnati fixture since 1980, the venerated Blue Wisp Big Band entertains jazz lovers every Wednesday night at Marjean’s Blue Wisp Jazz Club in downtown Cincinnati. During their tenure at the club, the Blue Wisp Big Band has received a Post-Corbett Award for their artistic contribution to the culture of Cincinnati, the 1997 Cammy Award for Best Jazz Big Band, and a 1999 Cammy Michael Bany Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2002, the Blue Wisp Big Band received a Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Jazz Group. They have recorded five CDs.
Members of the Blue Wisp Big Band include Michael Sharfe and Lynn Seaton (bass); Jeff Folkens, Kevin Moore, Al Nori, and Jerry Conrad (trumpet); Joe Gaudio and Herb Aronoff (tenor saxophone); Larrry Dickson (baritone saxophone); Mike Andress and Jim Sherrick (alto saxophone); Gary Langhorst (bass trombone); Jeff Owen, Clarence Pawn, and Paul Piller (tenor trombone); Steve Schmidt (piano); and John Von Ohlen (drums).
Rick VanMatre
Rick Van Matre is director of jazz studies at CCM and music director of the CCM Jazz Ensemble. As a jazz saxophone soloist he has recorded with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the PsychoAcoustic Orchestra, Latin X-Posure and the CCM Faculty Jazztet. He has performed with John McNeil, Bobby Shew, Gene Bertoncini, Tim Hagans, Rosemary Clooney, the Duke Ellington Orchestra led by Mercer Ellington and the Woody Herman Orchestra directed by Frank Tiberi. As a classical saxophonist, he has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under conductors such as Leinsdorf and Penderecki, and as a concerto soloist with the Illinois Phiharmonic, the Middletown Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Wind Symphony. As conductor of the CCM Jazz Ensemble, he has directed programs for American Jazz Radio Festival, National Public Radio, and produced three CD recordings for Alissa Records and Sea Breeze Records.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
