John Clayton Steps Out at the Guardian

Los Angeles bassist and bandleader John Clayton will be this year’s artist in residence at the 2009 Detroit Jazz Festival.

At its first “Another Great Day in Detroit” event at the Guardian Building downtown Detroit on February 10, the Jazz Fest presented Clayton to the jazz community. The festival has received a $50,000 Joyce Award to support a new composition by Clayton that pays tribute to the Jones Brothers and the Guardian Building. It will be played at the festival by Scott Gwinnell’s sixteen-piece big band and the Clayton Brothers Quartet, in a Concerto Grosso format according to Clayton in his welcoming speech. Gwinnell also performed at the Guardian with his piano trio, which included Kurt Krahnke on bass and Sean Dobbins on drums. Clayton sat in for a few numbers as did vocalist Shahida Nurullah.

Future events include a noontime jazz series at the Guardian, workshops with Clayton and the DJF press conference on April 29, which will announce the lineup for the Labor Day festival.

ABOVE: John Clayton and Scott Gwinnell

photography by Lars Bjorn

I N - T H I S - I S S U E :
1. SEMJA AWARD TO GEORGE BENSON   2. REMEMBERING MR. FATHEAD
3. JOHN CLAYTON STEPS OUT   4. AROUND TOWN
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