Gerald William Clayton (born May 11, 1984) is a
Dutch-born American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
,
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and
bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...
.
Biography
Clayton attended the
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA, ) is a visual and performing arts high school located on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) in Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
The school was ...
; USC's Thornton School of Music, where he studied piano with
Billy Childs
William Edward Childs (born March 8, 1957) is an award-winning American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States.
Early life
When he was sixteen he attended the Community School of the Performing ...
; and the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with
Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era.
Biography
Born in Philadel ...
.
He has performed and recorded with
Roy Hargrove,
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, '' Billboard'' maga ...
,
Ben Wendel
Ben Wendel is a grammy nominated jazz saxophonist, bassoonist, and pianist who is a founding member of the band Kneebody. He has worked with Snoop Dogg, Ignacio Berroa, Daedelus, Taylor Eigsti, Gerald Clayton, and Tigran Hamasyan Career
Wendel ...
,
Dianne Reeves
Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer.
Biography
Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...
,
Terri Lyne Carrington
Terri Lyne Carrington (born August 4, 1965) is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and ma ...
,
Ambrose Akinmusire,
Dayna Stephens
Dayna Stephens (born August 1, 1978) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. In addition to leading his own group, Stephens has performed extensively with Kenny Barron, Ambrose Akinmusire, Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage, Eric Harland, and Ger ...
,
Kendrick Scott
Kendrick Scott (born July 8, 1980 in Houston, Texas, United States) is an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. He is the founder of the record label World Culture Music.
Biography
Kendrick A.D. Scott was born and raised in Houston. ...
,
Ben Williams,
Terell Stafford
Terell Stafford (born November 25, 1966) is a professional jazz trumpet player and current Director of Jazz Studies at the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University.
Terell Stafford was born in Miami, Florida, and raised in both Chi ...
&
Dick Oatts
Richard Dennis Oatts (born April 2, 1953) is an American jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator.
Biography
While growing up in Des Moines, Iowa, Oatts gained an interest in music from his father, Jack Oatts, who was a sa ...
, Michael Rodriguez,
Avishai Cohen,
Sachal Vasandani
Sachal Vasandani, known professionally as Sachal, is an American jazz singer. Vasandani released ''Slow Motion Miracles'' on the Okeh label in 2015. He previously released three albums on Mack Avenue Records, ''Eyes Wide Open'' in 2007, ''We Move' ...
,
Gretchen Parlato
Gretchen Parlato (born February 11, 1976) is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke.
Pa ...
, and the
Clayton Brothers Quintet. Clayton also has enjoyed an extended association since early 2013, touring and recording with saxophone legend,
Charles Lloyd. 2016 marks his second year as Musical Director of the
Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jaz ...
On Tour, a project that features his trio with
Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane (born August 6, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi.
Biography
Ravi Coltrane is the son of sa ...
,
Nicolas Payton, and
Raul Midón
Raul Midón (born March 14, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from New Mexico.
Biography Early life
Midón was born prematurely in a rural hospital in Embudo, New Mexico, Embudo, New Mexico, to parents of Argentines, Arg ...
.
In 2012 and 2013, Clayton received Grammy nominations for ''The Paris Sessions'' (Concord) and ''Life Forum'' (Concord). In 2010, he was nominated for
Best Instrumental Composition
The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (including its previous names) has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of an original piece of music (not an adaptation), first released during the eligibility year. I ...
for "Battle Circle", which is featured on the Clayton Brothers album, ''New Song and Dance''. In 2009, he was nominated for
Best Improvised Jazz Solo for his solo on
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.
Born to ...
's "All of You" from his debut album, ''
Two-Shade''. His nomination competed with established jazz musicians
Terence Blanchard
Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...
and
Roy Hargrove, with whom Clayton toured for several years.
The Clayton Brothers' ''Brother to Brother'' received a nomination in the
Best Jazz Instrumental Album category. Gerald Clayton plays piano on the album, which holds loosely to a theme of songs that were made famous by
Thad Thad is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Thaddeus. It may refer to:
* Thad Allen (born 1949), United States Coast Guard admiral
* Thad Altman (born 1955), American politician
* Thad Balkman (born 1971), American politician ...
,
and
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era.
Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...
. Clayton's piano playing was described by Ben Ratliff of ''The New York Times'' as "
illing Illing is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Marianne Illing (born 1974), Canadian water polo player
* Peter Illing (1899–1966), Austrian born British film and television actor
* Vivian Illing (1900–2009), at the time ...
up the available space" with Clayton "busying himself with prettiness and authority...If you've listened to much hard bop or mainstream jazz of the early '60s, you might find some easygoing clichés in his playing – or maybe even an awful lot of them – but they are smoothly rendered. More important, the friendly rhetoric of this music allows them."
Clayton is the son of American jazz bassist
John Clayton John Clayton may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Writing
*John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer
*John Bell Clayton and Martha Clayton, John Bell Clayton (c. 1907–1955), American writer
*John Clayton (sportswriter) ( ...
.
Discography
Studio albums
Collaborative albums
Live albums
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Guest appearances
Piano credits
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Gerald Clayton official websiteFlickr photos of Gerald Clayton"Gerald Clayton Trio: Live At The Village Vanguard" NPR
Gerald Clayton Interview with Linus Wyrsch, breakthruradio.com, November 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, Gerald
1984 births
Living people
Dutch emigrants to the United States
USC Thornton School of Music alumni
American jazz pianists
American male pianists
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts alumni
African-American jazz musicians
21st-century American pianists
21st-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra members
Motéma Music artists
Verve Records artists
Concord Records artists
African-American pianists
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American people
Blue Note Records artists
ArtistShare artists