Clairdee and Ken Peplowski with the SJW 50/50 Jazz Orchestra

“In sassy, solidly assured, crowd-pleasing form, a whole lot of interpretive brilliance.” —JazzTimes

When a celebration is called for, Clairdee often gets the call. The vivacious Bay Area jazz vocalist inaugurated the beautiful new North Beach nightspot Keys Jazz Bistro last November, turning an anticipated event into a glorious consecration. In a career spanning some four decades, she’s performed similar benedictions around the world as an internationally touring artist who’s collaborated with some of America’s most celebrated jazz masters, including Dick Hyman, Bucky Pizzarelli, Houston Person, Cyrus Chestnut, and Ken Peplowski. Deeply informed by the music’s departed masters, Clairdee puts a personal stamp on whatever she sings, a gift aptly described by the inimitable Nancy Wilson, who declared that “in the tradition of all great vocalists she infuses each song with her own unique style while always remaining true to the song itself.” Equally at home singing various idioms in an array of settings, Clairdee has worked with symphony orchestras, big bands, small jazz combos, and intimate duos, though she’s never performed with an ensemble quite like the SJW 50/50 Jazz Orchestra. Directed by trumpeter Fred Berry, an eminent educator and Jazz Journalists Association 2023 Jazz Hero, the 16-piece band features a stellar cast divided equally between men and women. In many ways the ensemble marks the culmination of a struggle for inclusion that has shaped jazz since its birth, a fight embodied by players like 50/50 altoist Mary Fettig, who in 1973 became the first woman to join the Stan Kenton Orchestra. A multi-generational aggregation powered by a top-shelf rhythm section with Basie Orchestra pianist Glen Pearson, bassist Ruth Davies, and drummer David Rokeach, the orchestra boasts heavyweight players from top to bottom. The horn players include trombonist Sarah Cline, the director of Berkeley High’s award-winning jazz band, and 17-year-old trumpeter Skylar Tang, whose original big band piece “Kaleidoscope” won Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington festival Dr. J. Douglas White Composition and Arranging Contest last year.