Ben Lassiter

Ben grew up in a musical household in Greensboro, NC. His first band experience came at Peeler elementary school where he played clarinet.

At age fifteen, Ben studied with Greensboro guitarist Jack King and joined the Page High School Jazz Band (’98-’99). He was awarded 'Outstanding Soloist' by band director Ed Kimbrough.

Ben studied at Appalachian State University from 2000 - 2004 where he earned a liberal arts B.A. with a music minor. He studied with saxophonist Todd Wright and guitarists Andy Page and Dr. Douglas James. He performed with the ASU jazz band.

In 2012, Ben earned his Master of Music in Jazz Studies from NC Central University in Durham. Ben studied under Dr. Ira Wiggins, Baron Tymas and Brian Horton. Ben also received instruction from Branford Marsalis and Joey Caldorazzo, artists in residence at NCCU.

Since 2014, Ben has been the principle guitarist for the Mint Julep Jazz Band, a local Ellington-focused swing band that performs at swing dances. In June 2016, the MJJB performed for hundreds of dancers for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Swing’ in NYC.

Since 2019, Ben has been a guitarist/vocalist with the Onyx Club Boys, an acoustic swing quartet playing music in the spirt of gypsy guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt.

Ben began teaching private guitar lessons in 2004 in Boone, NC. In Greensboro he taught at McFadden Music and the Greensboro Day School.

In 2013, Ben joined the teaching studio Russell Lacey Music in Durham to teach guitar, ukulele and electric bass. Ben makes arrangements for and rehearses student bands for RLM’s Ensemble program. This program gives students the opportunity to use skills developed in private lessons in a band setting.