Pierce Street Jazz to host guitarist John Payne

And as a youngster in West Texas, he was drawn to the region’s fiddle and guitar music and the western swing sounds of Hoyle Nix. Such inspirations helped propel his career as a musician and teacher.

On Wed., Aug. 19 at 7 p.m., Payne will bring his talents to La Sierra University’s Pierce Street Jazz series. He will be backed by Henry “the skipper” Franklin on bass, Theo Saunders on piano, and Ramon Banda on drums.

Payne spent several years in El Paso, Texas, and for the past 28 years has been in Santa Barbara where he divides his time between playing and teaching. He has played with Randy Tico, Bob Ledner, Lorca Hart and many others.

Saunders, Banda and Franklin have all performed and recorded with many famed acts of the jazz and pop industries including Freddie Hubbard, David “Fathead” Newman, Barbara Morrison, Gladys Knight, Al Jarreau, Stevie Wonder, Milt Jackson, Hugh Masekala, Poncho Sanchez, Dizzie Gillespie, Tito Puente, Chick Corea and many others.

Pierce Street Jazz concerts are held in the Troesh Conference Center at La Sierra’s Zapara School of Business. Admission is free. For more information about Pierce Street Jazz call 951-785-2148. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside. A campus map is available at https://lasierra.edu/map/.