Announcing the 2024 Artistic Development Winners.
Honoring the memory of John Stites and his passion for jazz music
Honoring the memory of John Stites and his passion for jazz music
Posted September 7, 2023
The Lake Effect Jazz Big Band from St. Joseph, Michigan, now in its 24th year of bringing traditional and contemporary jazz arrangements to the summer venues of Michigan’s Southwest region, will be headlining the South Haven Jazz Festival on Saturday, September 16th, at 7:00 pm. The festival is held at the Huron Street Pavilion in downtown South Haven and is a FREE two day jazz festival featuring many of the area’s finest jazz musicians and bands.
The LEJBB is proud to be featuring John Clayton, composer, arranger, educator, and jazz bassist extraordinaire, as our guest soloist for the event! John Clayton’s appearance has been made possible by a generous grant from the John Stites Jazz Award Organization from Kalamazoo, Michigan. John Clayton is a Grammy winner with nine additional nominations, is Diana Krall’s bass player and co-founded the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
John is dedicated to motivating and inspiring present and future jazz musicians through educational workshops and masterclasses throughout the US and around the world. As a key component of the John Stites Jazz Award, John will be holding a FREE masterclass at 1:00 pm on Saturday, September 16th, titled “Rhythm Section BASSics for the Modern Jazz Band”. This Masterclass is part of the South Haven Jazz Festival and will be held in the Auditorium at South Haven High School.
For more information see lakeeffectjazz.org and sou
This world needs more of him, not less.
Ray Kamalay
The John Stites Jazz Awards (JSJA) are funded by the John Stites Jazz Artist Organization.
The organization funds advanced studies for emerging and established professional jazz musicians, as well as personal development projects which enhance their career opportunities.