COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Jazz Orchestra returns to the Southern Theatre stage this week to kick off its 2024-25 season with a show they've guaranteed to be "The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World."
"I don't know what else you would call this concert," explained Jazz Arts Group CEO Katy Coy, "because Byron Stripling is back on the stage and he's going to be welcoming John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton to town. They are living legends."
"'The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World' and you're going, like, 'That's not possible.' We're getting ready to make that happen," promised Columbus Jazz Orchestra's bandleader and music director Byron Stripling. "The way you do that is you get two of the greatest jazz musicians in the world and you bring them to Columbus."
John Clayton is a famed musical arranger who many may know from his arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner" performed by the incomparable Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV in 1991. Clayton is also known as one of the greatest jazz bassists in the world who has played with musicians from Count Basie to Paul McCartney.
Percussionist Jeff Hamilton, who has also played with Count Basie as well as the likes of Woody Herman and Ray Brown, will join the concert on drums.
"Those guys, whenever they sit in a band, it's like dynamite happens and they blow the roof off," said Stripling. "They are the greatest jazz musicians. So, what if I combine that then with the greatest jazz band in the world? The Columbus Jazz Orchestra, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls and children of all ages."
"Byron Stripling is the real deal and we are so fortunate to have him as the music director for the Columbus Jazz Orchestra," said Koy of the group's famed bandleader who has recently recorded his 20th year as the orchestra's leader. "He is a showman and a tremendous musician. He carries the legacy of jazz with him."
"There's something in the water here; there's something in the air," observed Stripling of deep roots of jazz music that run through central Ohio. "Our whole thing with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra is to feature the greatness that is right here in this city and so we do that every time we step on stage. Everybody that you see walk on that stage, they live in Columbus, they pay local taxes here in Columbus and they're here because of their love of jazz and our desire to uplift this community through jazz."
"The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World" runs Oct. 10-13 at the Southern Theatre in downtown Columbus. For more information, visit: https://www.jazzartsgroup.org/.