Hall of fame guitarist Joe Settlemires and his band will headline the 27th annual Cameron University Jazz Festival, set for the afternoon and evening of Feb. 6 in Lawton.
 

The 2003 version of the festival will include a jazz competition and clinic for high school bands from 2-5 p.m. in the University Theatre. The evening concert begins at 8 p.m. with performances from the Cameron University Jazz Ensemble, the Cameron/Lawton Community Jazz Ensemble and the Iowa Park, Texas, High School Band.
 

Admission for the afternoon activities and evening concert, which are open to the public, are free. 
 

Performing with Settlemires, will be members of his band: tenor saxophonist Logan Walker, trumpeter Steve Fulton, pianist Ukie Heart, bassist Ken Nelson and Michael Walker on drumset. 
 

The concert will feature a wide variety of big band and combo jazz music, including such tunes as "Ceiling Dogs," "Cherokee," "Superbone Meets the Badman," "Council Grove Groove" and "I'll Remember April."
 

When Settlemires bought his first guitar at age 12, no one knew the impact it would have on his life. He began a professional career at 14, and by 16, he was traveling on weekends with the Merle Lindsey Band. He joined the band full-time on the day after his graduation from high school.

Settlemires, guitar and saxophone instructor at the University of Science and Arts in Chickasha, has played with the cream of the crop in both country and jazz, including Willie Nelson, Lefty Frizzell, Tex Ritter, Roy Clark, Ray Price, Chet Atkins and Loretta Lynn. Settlemires is the youngest musician to ever draw a paycheck from Bob Wills.
 

"Joe is more than a guitarist," said CU assistant music professor John Moots, who will direct the Cameron bands appearing at the festival. "He plays with the grace and ease of a musician that has made music his life's work and his first love. Joe is definitely known in both the country and jazz fields as one of the best guitarists today."
 

Settlemires gives guitar seminars throughout the country and teaches guitar, music theory, arranging and composition in his spare time. He and his wife, Donna, also own a recording studio and independent record company, DJS Productions, located in Blanchard.
 

Settlemires was inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame in 1998 and the WSMSS Hall of Fame for Oklahoma/Texas in 2001. He was named one of the Pioneers of Western Swing in 2000.
 

The CU Jazz Festival is made possible through the generosity of the Cameron University Lectures and Concerts Series, the CU School of Liberal Arts, the university's music and theatre arts department and the CU Foundation's "Friends of Jazz."

Editors and Broadcasters: For more information, contact Mr. Moots at 580.581.2432.