Meet the Instructors

Six-time GRAMMY-nominated pianist, composer and band leader Gerald Clayton earned recent Recording Academy recognition for Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard, his debut release on Blue Note Records.

Clayton began his musical journey at the prestigious Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where he received the 2002 Presidential Scholar of the Arts Award. Under the instruction of Billy Childs, Clayton earned a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance at USC’s Thornton School of Music following a year of intensive study with Kenny Barron at the Manhattan School of Music. Clayton additionally won second place in the 2006 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Piano Competition.

Clayton currently serves as Director of Monterey Jazz’s Next Generation Jazz Orchestra following his service as Musical Director for Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour in 2016.

Los Angeles-based bassist and vocalist Katie Thiroux has clearly established herself as one of the most exciting and in demand musicians today. Thiroux’s unique gift of simultaneously balancing sultry vocals and virtuosic bass playing leaves audiences worldwide in awe.

Her most recent album, Off Beat, from Grammy-nominated label, Capri Records, collected rave reviews and was named “Best Album Of 2018” by DownBeat Magazine and she received a DownBeat “Rising Star” Award in 2018 & 2019. 

Thiroux is dedicated to jazz education and outreach for students and audiences, conducting masterclasses and workshops. In 2019, she released an online course on Discover Double Bass and was asked to start the Jazz Maui Camp in Hawaii. She also hosts a podcast The Hump with Katie which has featured Christian McBride, Larry Grenadier, Rufus Reid, and many others. Katie is the director of the Monterey Jazz Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo and is the #1 selling artist on Capri Records.

A graduate summa cum laude from the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific, Robert B. Klevan pursued his graduate studies at DePaul University in Chicago, and at UOP where he received a Masters of Music Degree.

In 1993, Dr. Klevan earned his Ph.D. at the University of Texas in Austin. In 1992, Dr. Klevan was named “CMEA-CCS Educator of the Year” and received the “McNeely Award for Excellence in Teaching.” Monterey Jazz named him the “Jazz Educator of the Year” for 2003-04. CMEA selected Dr. Klevan as the “Jazz Educator of the Year for 2006-07.” In the spring of 2009, he received DownBeat Magazine’s “Education Achievement Award.”

Dr. Klevan was selected as the first recipient of the Monterey Jazz “Jazz Champion” Award, and was named the “John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year” by Berklee College of Music and Jazz Education Network in 2017. Most recently, Dr. Klevan was inducted into the California Alliance for Jazz Hall of Fame. Dr. Klevan currently serves as the Coordinator for the Jazz Education Network’s JENerations Jazz Festival.

Playing the tenor, alto and soprano saxes as well as clarinet and bass clarinet, Stu Reynolds has performed at festivals nation-wide including the Taste of Chicago, San Francisco’s Reggae in the Park, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Riverfest in Wisconsin, the Bay Area Latin Jazz Festival, the San Jose Jazz Festival, and the Big Sur Jazz Festival.

Stu has opened shows for Carlos Santana, Airto, Yellowjackets, Branford Marsalis, and many others. He appears on recordings with Maria Muldaur, Latin Jazz Collective, Along Came Betty, Santa Cruz Steel, Mario Flores Latin Jazz, Aporia, and others.

Stu has been teaching music since 1990 in private lessons, high school and university settings; he has directed jazz ensembles at York School, Santa Catalina School, Palenke Arts, and Monterey Jazz.

Janice is the youngest daughter of Monterey musician and community leader, Mike Marotta Sr. who’s training and guidance prepared her for a career as a musician. She has worked as Vocal Director for Pacific Repertory Theatre, Forest Theatre Guild, Compass Church, Trinity High School, and the Monterey Jazz Regional All-Star Vocal Ensemble. As a private voice instructor, she teaches through Dennis Murphy School of Music.

Janice is a working jazz vocalist and performs with our areas top instrumentalists. She is also the founder of “Live Jazz at MidiCi”, currently hosting live jazz every Thursday and Sunday evening. She has recently finished recording her upcoming album, featuring all-star musicians Gary Meek, Dave Marotta, Michael Lent, John Nava, John Ferraro, Skylar Campbell, and Paul Contos, and was produced by Bill Spencer. She is honored to be co-directing the Monterey Jazz All-Stars!

Bill Spencer studied jazz and composition at the University of North Texas and toiled in the busy studio and live music scene in Dallas before relocating to San Francisco where he quickly became in demand as a versatile musician and inspired keyboardist. He has played all over Northern California, backing singers Kenny Washington, Carla Helmbrecht, Tony Lindsay, Nic Beard, and many others, including Alex Ligertwood, Lenny White, Robert Guillaume, Eddie Fisher, Jack Jones, Will Donato, Rick Allen, and Lauren Monroe.

Since relocating to Monterey, he’s been the pianist in a jazz trio at the Inn at Spanish Bay, and has performed at nearly every venue where live music is featured on the peninsula, including the Monterey Jazz Festival.