JAMM Scholarship Trio – 2015

Photo from JAMM website

JAMM Scholarship Trio featuring Clif Metcalf

Saturday, August 8, 2015 – 4:30 to 5:15
River Stage

This year’s recipient of the Sandy Izenson Scholarship — Clifton (Clif) Metcalf — is a senior at Alma High School.  Playing a Hammond B3 organ, Clif will be joined by Conor McCornack (the 2014 scholarship recipient) on drums, and  professional guitarist, Doug Fritch, a member of Jazz Alliance of Mid-Michigan (JAMM).

Clif first found success as a bassist and tenor sax player, for which he took numerous awards at local and regional school­-based jazz festivals through his freshman and sophomore years. In the winter of 2013, Clif (an avid jazz listener) began focusing on jazz organ artists and experimenting with software-­based jazz organ sounds on his Mac. With just a midi keyboard and software, Clif, his brother, and some good friends formed Dot Org Jazz Organ Combo, and were encouraged by judges’ positive comments at local jazz festivals.

In February 2014, after meeting Jim Alfredson (Lansing) of the organ jazz group Organissimo, Clif’s primary focus on jazz organ was clinched. Impressed by Clif’s talent and hard work, Jim gave Clif a vintage Hammond that he had, himself, learned to play on, and mentorship has grown into friendship — to the point that each has written a tune in honor of the other. Clif will give the debut public performance of his composition “Jim’s Groove” as part of Dot Org‘s performance that opens our festival Friday on the South Stage.

After performing with Dot Org at 5 pm, then with the JAMM Scholarship Trio at 7:15 pm, Clif will be in the audience at 9:30 to hear another renowned jazz organist with a big impact on his life —Tony Monaco, Artist-in-Residence at Hope College, Holland Michigan. Since Dot Org met Tony in April 2014, Clif has dual-­enrolled at Alma High School and Hope College, which he will attend fulltime in the fall of 2016.

The Sandy Izensen annual scholarship winner is drawn at random from a pool of recommended high school students studying jazz, and the $500 prize is designated to fund summer study or private lessons.

JAMM Website: http://www.jazzjamm.com