For this year’s swinging celebration, Jacobs jazz faculty and students will be joined by luminary alumni John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums.

Performing together since their twenties, these prolific musicians, composers, and arrangers have garnered multiple Grammy nominations with their Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, including for the 2025 awards, in addition to Clayton’s win for arranging for Queen Latifah.

Their list of collaborations reads like a “Who’s Who” of the music industry, working with additional stars such as Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney, and Barbra Streisand.