Clinician Bios
J.B. Scott
Jacksonville, FL
Clyde Connor
Gainesville, FL
Lisa Kelly
Jacksonville, FL
J.B. Scott
Born in Philadelphia, PA, JB was the first graduate of the UNF Jazz Program under Rich Matteson and a former student of Arturo Sandoval at FIU. His career starting with the “Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra,” and the “Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus” (Japan), Scott led the legendary “Dukes of Dixieland” for three years in New Orleans, was featured on several CD’s and the PBS special “A Salute to Jelly Roll Morton,” and performed with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. His hard swinging, soulful lines, a la Freddie Hubbard- Clark Terry Dizzy Gillespie, skillfully reflect his level of experience and versatility of style. He has performed with numerous legendary artists including Al Hirt, Paquito D’Rivera, Jeff Hamilton, Ed Calle, Lynn Seaton, and Tim Hagans. From years spent playing in the clubs of New Orleans and Miami to stages around the world, on trumpet or on flugelhorn, Scott’s masterful interpretive style is sassy, grooving, fiery, and beautifully sensitive, frequently articulated through affluent vocal scatting.
​JB Scott holds a BA Degree in Jazz Performance from the University of North Florida, and an MS Degree in Music Education from Florida International University. Now in his 25th year of teaching at UNF, he is an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies, Coordinator of Jazz Studies, and Director of the Great American Jazz Concert Series. He teaches trumpet, various music courses and directs the flagship UNF JE1 big band, selected by Downbeat Magazine as the “Best” undergrad large jazz ensemble in the country in 2015. Scott is a Warburton Trumpet Artist/Clinician, an FBA adjudicator and guest artist/clinician, and co-leads several groups with vocalist, Lisa Kelly, “JB Scott’s Swingin’ Allstars,” “The Kelly/Scott Sextet,” the 10-piece big band “Sophisticated Swing,” and 20-piece “Florida Swing Orchestra.” Kelly and Scott have been featured on many recordings, TV and radio, have co-released 6 successful CD recordings, including the 2013 project, “Renditions: the Summer Sessions,” and have performed for numerous regional, national and international jazz societies, concert halls, festivals and clubs, including the Montreux Jazz Festival, Elkhart Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Sun Valley Jazz Festival, Festival Vien, Savannah Jazz Festival, Jacksonville Jazz Festival, the Suncoast Dixie Classic, Mammoth Lakes Jazz Festival, Elkhart Jazz Festival, and the Sacramento Jazz
Jubilee, to name only a few.
Scott has performed and presented clinics for IAJE, FMEA/FMENC, Chicago Midwest, and JEN (Jazz Educators Network) Music Conferences, and was the 2009 Florida All-State Jazz Band Director for the annual FMEA/MENC Conference in Tampa, Florida. He & Lisa Kelly are featured artists in the book “The New Face of Jazz,” on Amazon.com, released July 2010. In 2017, JB Scott was inducted into the Jacksonville Jazz Festival “Hall of Fame.”
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Clyde Connor
Percussionist, composer and arranger, Clyde J. Connor is a native of Grove, Oklahoma, and graduated with a Bachelors of Music Education from the University of Central Oklahoma in 1988. After graduation, Clyde attended the University of North Texas as a graduate student in the Jazz Studies Masters Degree program and was a member of the Two o’Clock Lab Band. While there, Clyde successfully auditioned for the U. S. Navy Band Commodores Jazz Ensemble and in the fall of 1989, moved to Washington, D.C. In the Navy, Clyde was featured as a performing musician, composer and arranger, with many charts to his credit included in regular concert programming and recordings.
Civilian musical opportunities were abundant, and Clyde took full advantage performing regularly at the world-renowned Blues Alley in Washington, D.C., the Big Apple Circus in Reston, Virginia and countless festivals and shows in Baltimore, Maryland, including two seasons as the "Pops" drummer with the Baltimore Symphony. Clyde can be heard on numerous recordings as a session player at Omega Recording Studios in Rockville, Maryland, with the majority of work in conjunction with major music publishing companies including Barnhouse, Columbia, CP Beldwin and Warner Brothers. In addition, Clyde’s compositions and arrangements are being performed by university and professional groups worldwide.
After leaving the Navy, Clyde settled in the Northeast Florida area, and in the Fall of 2005, Clyde served as an adjunct professor of music at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. In the spring of 2016, Clyde completed his Masters in Music degree at the University of Florida. Clyde can currently be seen as a freelance drummer performing at various venues throughout the United States, including serving as the drummer for the annual Jacksonville International Jazz Piano Competition and Festival in Jacksonville, FL.
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Artists Clyde has performed with include Jeff Andrews, Louie Bellson (drum duet), Randy Brecker, Dave Brubeck, Pete Christlieb, Eddie Daniels, Curtis Fuller, Jon Faddis, Terry Gibbs, Don Grolnick, Milt Hinton, Steve Kahn, Dave Liebman, Brandon Marsalis, Don Menza, Claudio Roditi, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schurr, Doc Severinsen, Bobby Shew, Lou Soloff, Marvin Stamn, Clark Terry, Stanley Turentine, Chris Vadala, Ernie Watts, Joe Williams and Snooky Young.
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Lisa Kelly
Profiled in the 2010 international book, The New Face of Jazz, Lisa Kelly is an eight-time DownBeat Magazine award winning vocalist, composer, and arranger, the selected vocalist for the 2000 IAJE Sisters in Jazz Combo, winner of many vocal awards and scholarships, and 2013 Jacksonville Jazz Festival "Hall of Fame" Inductee. She has been the featured vocalist with countless small groups and big bands, including the legendary Larry Elgart Orchestra, the UNF JE1, the St. Johns River City Band, the Chris Riddle Orchestra, and the United States Marine All-Star Band. Kelly holds a B.M. and an M.M. Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of North Florida Music School.
Appearing on numerous TV and radio commercials, Kelly has been featured on many recordings, is the only vocalist to sing on four CD projects with the UNF JE1 big band, and on two releases, "Swinging Up the River" and "25th Anniversary Silver Threads" by the former St. Johns River City Big Band, Florida's official state band. Co-leading small groups to big bands with music partner, trumpeter JB Scott, Kelly debuted her solo CD, "By Request" at the 1997 Montreux Jazz Festival, then co-released five successful CDs with Scott.
​Kelly has appeared with notables Ed Calle, Ed Metz, Jr, Bill Allred, Arturo Sandoval, Dave Brubeck, Slide Hampton, Claudio Roditi, Ed Metz, Jr, Bill Allred, Jane Monheit, Mulgrew Miller, Bunky Green, Danny Gottlieb, Lynne Arriale, Dr. Bill Prince, Allan Vache, Maceo Parker, Carmen Bradford, and many others.
She has performed for jazz societies and international festivals, including the Montreux Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, the Vienna State Opera House/Festival Vien, Austria, the Pescara Jazz Festival, the Kennedy Center/Mary Lou Williams Woman In Jazz Festival, Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Savannah Jazz Festival, Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Elkhart Jazz Festival, Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, Mammoth Lakes Jazz Festival, Suncoast Dixie Classic, & Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree.
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A much sought-after commercial vocalist, vocal coach, mentor, guest artist/clinician and adjudicator, Kelly taught formally at LaVilla Middle SOTA, Douglas Anderson High SOTA, the First Coast Community Music School, and in interim at the University of North Florida. She has served at jazz camps, presented workshops and clinics for FMEA/FVA, FBA, IAJE, FJE, JEN and for many school programs, and was the vocalist with the FMEA Directors Reading Band for nineteen years. A respected vocal jazz pioneer in Florida, Kelly initiated and coordinated an audition based high school all-state jazz mentoring clinic for five years which also prepared a vocalist to perform with the all-state jazz band, and a one-day vocal jazz masterclass at UNF for five years. She created the official jam session for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival in 1997, hosting it with her quintet for twenty-one years. In 2019, Kelly initiated a four-day vocal/instrumental jazz camp, secondary to adult ages, which she coordinates annually for the Friday Musicale music organization, where she serves on the Board of Directors.
Website: www.kellyscottmusic.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.kelly.792303
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