‘Twas the Night Before Jazz Fest at Caffe Lena, June 23rd

SARATOGA SPRINGS – On the eve of the Jazz Fest held at SPAC, June 23rd, Caffe Lena is set to host two amazing jazz musicians, John Clayton and Houston Person. Celebrating an album release, these legendary jazz masters perform as a unique duo, with a combined swinging sound that will find a place in any jazz afficianado’s heart. For this event, there will be two evening performances.

Kick off Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Fest at SPAC with Jazz legends John Clayton and Houston Person, who will perform two eagerly-antipated shows at Caffe Lena on the eve of the festival. John Clayton is a natural born multitasker. The multiple roles in which he excels – composer, arranger, conductor, producer, educator, and yes, extraordinary bassist – garner him a number of challenging assignments and commissions. With a GRAMMY on his shelf and nine additional nominations, artists such as Diana Krall, Paul McCartney, Regina Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gladys Knight, Queen Latifah, and Charles Aznavour have had spots on his crowded calendar. In 1985, Clayton co-founded the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and rekindled The Clayton Brothers Quintet. In addition to individual clinics, workshops, and private students as schedule permits, Clayton also directs the educational components associated with the Centrum Jazz Festival and Workshop and Vail Jazz Workshop.

Career highlights include arranging the ‘Star Spangled Banner” for Whitney Houston’s performance at Super Bowl 1990 (the recording went platinum), playing bass on Paul McCartney’s album Kisses On The Bottom, arranging and playing bass with Yo-Yo Ma and Friends on Songs of Joy and Peace, and arranging playing and conducting on Charles Aznavour With the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, as well as numerous recordings with the Clayton Brothers, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Milt Jackson, Monty Alexander and many others.

Tenor saxophone legend Houston Person is the natural heir to the Boss Tenor crown worn so long and so well by Gene Ammons. With his robust sound and swinging style, Person has kept the hard bop and organ-soaked soul-jazz traditions alive. His first big break came while working as a sideman with organist Johnny Hammond and his group, co-led by Etta Jones. Person’s working relationship with Jones began in 1973 and lasted for thirty years. In the more than twenty-five years that he has been a working bandleader, Person has taken his music to most points on the globe. A traveling jazzman in an era that has found that particular species a veritable rara avis, Person does it all himself. He books his own tours, hunts up the new clubs, has the phone number of every major concert promoter on each continent and produces his own albums. He’s recorded more than 75 albums as a bandleader on Prestige, Westbound, Mercury, Savoy, and Muse, and he has most recently been recording on HighNote. Person has recorded with Charles Brown, Ron Carter, Bill Charlap, Charles Earland, Lena Horne, Etta Jones, Lou Rawls, Janis Siegel, Horace Silver, Dakota Staton, Cedar Walton, plus Billy Butler, Don Patterson, Grant Green, Sonny Phillips, Johnny “Hammond” Smith, Richard “Groove” Holmes and others.

TICKET INFORMATION:

Doors open at 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm for the 5:00 and 8:00 pm shows, respectively. Tickets are $65.00 for general admission, $60.00 for members, and $32.50 for students and children. Tickets for the first show can be purchased here; second show here. For those that wish to catch these shows via livestream, they may do so by purchasing access for $5.00. The first show livestream can be purchased here; the second here.