By the end of the week, a handful of students from a Nanaimo high school will be able to say they’ve performed alongside a jazz legend.
Roughly 35 jazz students from Wellington Secondary School will be performing with Grammy award-winning musician John Clayton and musicians Brad Turner and Kelby MacNayr on Friday (May 30) at the Coast Bastion Hotel as part of the Friends of Nanaimo Jazz Society’s Jazz Affair 2014.
Wellington band director, Carmella Luvisotto, said her students are thrilled about the opportunity, which caps off an incredible year for them.
“John is such a legend in the jazz world that I think for all musicians, student musicians and adult musicians, it’s exciting for both of them,” Luvisotto said. “They’re pretty excited. It’s somebody that they look up to and to be on the same bill as somebody that is a jazz legend is incredible.”
Clayton, who won a Grammy in 2007, has worked with some the biggest names in the music industry including Nanaimo’s Diana Krall, Paul McCartney, Yo-Yo Ma, Queen Latifah and Charles Aznavour.
In 1990, Clayton did the arrangement for Whitney Houston’s performance of The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
Clayton is featured as a bassist on Paul McCartney’s album, Kisses On The Bottom.
Clayton performs at the Coast Bastion Hotel on Friday (May 30) at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $48 and can be purchased by visiting www.bit.ly/johnclaytonharbourcity. Ticket price includes includes a gourmet buffet dinner.
For more info, please visit www.friendsofnanaimojazz.com/JazzSociety.htm.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com