The grandson of a jazz trumpeter who grew up hearing music from a wide variety of artists, Sam Skelton began playing saxophone in the fifth grade when a friend asked him to join the school band at Honey Creek Elementary in Conyers.
“I said, ‘Let’s do it,’ and, by seventh grade, it had become an obsession,” Skelton recalled. Years later, he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in jazz studies from Georgia State University. He also became a Montgomery Music Scholar and a two-time fellowship recipient to the Aspen Music Festival.
Like many accomplished musicians, Skelton credits his early teachers for their support, dedication and influence. “My teachers played during the lessons,” he said. “It was the oral tradition — that is, ‘Copy me.’ And all those teachers, until I got to grad school, played jazz. [But] a classical education is an absolute must, because you have to know every aspect of the instrument. You get all your dexterity from that — a solid foundation of the nuts and bolts of saxophone playing — and you can go everywhere from there.”
As a classical musician, Skelton has performed and soloed on saxophone, clarinet and flute with the likes of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. When asked to name a favorite or two of these classical performances, he cited the Sonic Symphony, music from the video game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog — “a full symphony orchestra fronted by a heavy metal rock band.” He was also honored to be chosen by Auburn University professor and composer Lee Johnson to play all three instruments on London Symphony Orchestra’s Abbey Road Studios recording of Johnson’s “Seaside Symphony, Symphony no. 4, Ora Pro Mi.”
Credit: Courtesy Georgia Symphony Orchestra
Credit: Courtesy Georgia Symphony Orchestra
Skelton’s grasp of jazz has netted him work with Quincy Jones and Michael Brecker, and his versatility has found him on stage with the widest range of celebrities, from Mel Torme to Kenny Rogers. Then there is the studio — more than 300 recordings from Elton John to the Gap Band, as well as a host of TV and radio theme songs and jingles.
Through all his exposure to legendary artists, Skelton has been most impressed with how easy they make it to work with them. “No airs whatsoever,” he said. Such was the case with Jones one evening at the Fox Theatre: “His band was full of the greatest of the greats, and not a single attitude in the bunch.”
He added that working with so many legends has left indelible impressions.
“Most young saxophonists gravitate toward Michael Brecker, the finest saxophonist who ever lived. I played in the orchestra behind him at the Emory Jazz Festival [in 2000]. It took me three years to recover from what came out of that saxophone in front of me. Being that close to someone you have idolized was amazing.”
Beyond performing music, Skelton’s other commitment is educating and guiding young musicians. A long trail of distinguished positions with local universities — including Georgia State, the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech — has led to his current position as director of jazz studies and senior lecturer in saxophone at Kennesaw State University.
During the hiatus of live music during pandemic — and notably the closing of Churchill Grounds — there were few places in Atlanta to play jazz, even as live music began its comeback. Skelton had regularly been involved in productions at the Fox, and he shifted his focus there.
Now, as director, he leads the Georgia Symphony Orchestra’s repertory jazz orchestra and youth orchestra. He describes the program as being “modeled after Jazz at Lincoln Center,” and, as the orchestra manager, he contracts the group for performances with City Springs Theatre Company.
On stages with those orchestral groups is where you’ll often catch Skelton these days, with “some of the finest musicians in Atlanta performing challenging music.” On April 13, GSO Jazz! will play Music of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Vanguard Orchestra at the Strand.
MUSIC PREVIEW
GSO Jazz! presents Music of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Vanguard Orchestra
8 p.m. April 13, at the Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre, 117 N. Park Square, Marietta. Tickets, $16.10-$46.10 (includes convenience fee). 770-615-2908, georgiasymphony.org
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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