Stripling brings jazzy sensibilities of Christmas chestnuts – JH News&Guide

Communion, connection and spirit-lifting are all on the agenda when the Grand Teton Music Festival hosts Stripling, his rhythm section and vocalist Sydney McSweeney for his “Holiday Swing!” program Dec. 18 in the Center Theater.

“Christmas to me … it’s religious, but it’s also about family,” he said, whether that’s a literal, blood-relation family or the family one finds or makes wherever one may be. “This is a chance where music can bring people together.”

Stripling’s jazz bona fides mark him as an authentic voice: After studying at the Eastman School of Music and the Interlochen Arts Academy, he toured and recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Doc Severinsen, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, Gerry Mulligan, J.J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins and other such giants of the art form. He has played with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and Joe Henderson Big Band, and was named lead trumpeted for the Count Basie Orchestra.

Arvell Shaw, Louis Armstrong’s bassist at various times during the 1940s and ’50s, tapped him to play the jazz innovator in the Broadway musical “Satchmo,” both to portray the title character’s effusive personality and to represent his unmistakable trumpet style.

Since 2002, he has served as artistic director of the Columbus (Ohio) Jazz Orchestra, and in 2020 was appointed principal pops conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

And, somehow, Stripling also maintains a busy touring schedule. His Jackson Hole gig is part of a string of seasonal appearances with the Orlando Symphony, Columbus Jazz Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony.

“For me, this is the most wonderful time of the year,” Stripling said, because so many people are gathered in good fellowship and receptive to all the sounds associated with Christmas — including the music.

 

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