John Clayton | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | John Lee Clayton Jr. |
Born | Venice, California, U.S. | August 20, 1952
Genres | Jazz, swing, classical |
Occupation(s) | Musician, arranger, composer |
Instrument | Double bass |
Years active | 1980s–present |
Member of | The Clayton Brothers, Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra |
Website | johnclaytonjazz |
John Lee Clayton Jr. (born August 20, 1952) [1] is an American jazz musician, classical double bassist, arranger, and composer.
He is the father of pianist Gerald Clayton and the brother of saxophonist Jeff Clayton, with whom he formed the Clayton Brothers; and the Clayton–Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with Jeff Hamilton.
Clayton began his bass career in elementary school playing in strings class, junior orchestra, high school jazz band, orchestra, and soul/R&B groups. In 1969, at the age of 16, he enrolled in Ray Brown’s jazz class at UCLA, beginning a close relationship that lasted more than three decades. [2] Three years later, he was bassist on the Henry Mancini's television series The Mancini Generation. [2] In 1975, he graduated from Indiana University School of Music with a degree in bass performance.
He went on to tour with the Monty Alexander Trio and the Count Basie Orchestra, before taking the position of principal bass in the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in Amsterdam, Netherlands. [2] After five years he returned to the U.S. for a break from the classical genre and, in 1985, co-founded the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with his brother, saxophonist Jeff Clayton, and drummer Jeff Hamilton. [2] He also performed in a duo as the Clayton Brothers with musicians such as Bill Cunliffe and Terell Stafford.
He has been Artistic Director for the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, Sarasota Jazz Festival, Santa Fe Jazz Party, Jazz Port Townsend Summer Workshop, Jazz at Centrum [3] and Vail Jazz Workshop. From 1999 to 2001, he was the Artistic Director of Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic program at the Hollywood Bowl. He conducted the All-Alaska Jazz Band. He has taught at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and has served as president of the International Society of Bassists.
He has composed and arranged for the Count Basie Orchestra, Diana Krall, Whitney Houston, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, Ernestine Anderson, Quincy Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Natalie Cole, Till Bronner, and the Tonight Show Band.
In 2006, his son Gerald Clayton came in second at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition.
In 2007, Clayton won a Grammy Award for Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for the song "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" by Queen Latifah. In December 2009, Brother to Brother by the Clayton Brothers received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.
With the Clayton Brothers
With Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
With Monty Alexander
With Milt Jackson
With Diana Krall
With others
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist, known for his extensive work with Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald. He was also a founding member of the group that would later develop into the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander OJ CD is a Jamaican American jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was influenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Les McCann, and Frank Sinatra. Alexander also sings and plays the melodica. He is known for his surprising musical twists, bright rhythmic sense, and intense dramatic musical climaxes. His recording career has covered many of the well-known American songbook standards, jazz standards, pop hits, and Jamaican songs from his original homeland. Alexander has resided in New York City for many years and performs frequently throughout the world at jazz festivals and clubs.
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 jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.
Alan Leonard Broadbent is a New Zealand jazz pianist, arranger, and composer known for his work with artists such as Sue Raney, Charlie Haden, Woody Herman, Chet Baker, Irene Kral, Sheila Jordan, Natalie Cole, Warne Marsh, Bud Shank, and many others.
Christmas Songs is the eighth studio album by Canadian singer Diana Krall, performed with The Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. It was released on October 26, 2005, by Verve Records. This is Krall's first full-length album of Christmas songs, and her first studio album with a big band. The album was released on vinyl for the first time on October 14, 2016.
Discography for jazz double-bassist and cellist Ray Brown.
Thurman Green was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of the Horace Tapscott Quintet and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
Lynn Seaton is a jazz bassist associated with bebop and swing.
George Duvivier was an American jazz double-bassist.
John Pisano was an American jazz guitarist.
Jeff Hamilton is an American jazz drummer and co-leader of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. A former member of the L.A. Four, Hamilton has played with jazz pianist Monty Alexander, bandleader Woody Herman, and singer Rosemary Clooney, and has worked extensively with singer Diana Krall.
Roy McCurdy is a jazz drummer.
Lawrence Benjamin Bunker was an American jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and percussionist. A member of the Bill Evans Trio in the mid-1960s, he also played timpani with the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.
The Clayton–Hamilton Jazz Orchestra is a big band led by Jeff Hamilton and brothers John Clayton and Jeff Clayton. The band was founded in Los Angeles in 1985.
Jeff Clayton was an American jazz alto saxophonist and flautist.
The Clayton Brothers is the brain child of saxophonist Jeff Clayton. According to Jeff, some 30 years ago he and his brother, Grammy Award-winning bassist John Clayton, agreed to support each other's preferred formats. Jeff's love of small groups lead to formation of the Clayton Brothers Quintet. John's love for big bands led to formation of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with drummer Jeff Hamilton, of which brother Jeff is a part. The current roster of the Clayton Brothers Quintet includes John Clayton, along with John's son Gerald Clayton (piano), Obed Calvaire (drums) and Terell Stafford (trumpet). The band's latest album The Gathering was released in December 2012. Jeff Clayton died on December 16, 2020, after suffering from kidney cancer. He was 66 years old.
Tamir Hendelman is an Israeli-American jazz pianist.
Rickey Woodard is an American jazz saxophonist.
Larry Fuller is a jazz pianist based in New York City, performing in the style of mainstream jazz. Fuller is a Yamaha-endorsed Artist and leader of the Larry Fuller Trio. He was also the last pianist with legendary bassist Ray Brown's Trio, member of the Jeff Hamilton Trio, and member of the John Pizzarelli Quartet. He has also performed with artists including Stanley Turrentine, Phil Woods, Clark Terry, Herb Ellis, Ernestine Anderson, John Legend, and Nicholas Payton.
Byron Stripling is a jazz trumpeter who has been a member of the Count Basie Orchestra.