This is a group that has been on our “short-short list for some time – and the reason is simple: it’s one of the clearest present-day examples of how jazz transcends generations, of how the tradition gets handed down among generations and from one generation to another. We also wanted to present the Clayton Brothers Quintet because they a very, very good and cohesive working band. Finally, we wanted to present them to the community because they have not been here previously.
In the Clayton Brothers not the band but the actual brothers – we have John Clayton, the bassist extraordinaire who is equally versed in classical as well as jazz, and Jeff Clayton, the talented alto saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. We have siblings who have both spent a good deal of their lives working together as the co-leaders of this ensemble as well as each brothers who have established their own respective voices and places within jazz....
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This is a group that has been on our “short-short list for some time – and the reason is simple: it’s one of the clearest present-day examples of how jazz transcends generations, of how the tradition gets handed down among generations and from one generation to another. We also wanted to present the Clayton Brothers Quintet because they a very, very good and cohesive working band. Finally, we wanted to present them to the community because they have not been here previously.
In the Clayton Brothers not the band but the actual brothers – we have John Clayton, the bassist extraordinaire who is equally versed in classical as well as jazz, and Jeff Clayton, the talented alto saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. We have siblings who have both spent a good deal of their lives working together as the co-leaders of this ensemble as well as each brothers who have established their own respective voices and places within jazz.
And then there is the more recent addition to the mix – John’s son,
Gerald Clayton who, at 25, has already turned heads and garnered national attention. A tremendously gifted pianist, the youngest Clayton finished second in the 2006 Thelonious Monk Institute Piano Competition; he is leading his own trio and the word is out on just how gifted he is. On the brink of stardom, it is ever so obvious that Gerald Clayton has absorbed the lessons and the even-keeled attitude of his father and uncle.
Consider that John Clayton began playing the bass as a youngster and took lessons with the late Ray Brown who would become both friend and mentor. Eventually he would earn his degree from Indiana University; ultimately he has proven to be a masterful composer, arranger, educator and all-around musician working in some cases behind the scenes bolstering the likes of Diana Krall, Quincy Jones, Whitney Houston, Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams and Natalie Cole to truly name only a few. Jeff, born in 1954 and two years John’s junior, also owns a long line of credits from work with Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, and Lena Horne. And, that, too, only scratches the surface.
The genesis of this ensemble dates to 1977, which is to say they have been at it a long time and chances are they are good judges of talent. In addition to bringing Gerald into the mix they also enticed one of our adopted favorite sons, trumpeter Terell Stafford, to share the front line with Jeff Clayton and help anchor the band. Good choice. And now they have added Obed Calvaire on drums – a Miami native and a 2005 graduate of the Manhattan School of Music.
So in the Clayton Brothers Quintet we have close to three generations of musicians working together, siblings, a father-son-uncle tandem and cumulatively one of the really solid small groups comprised of some of the most technically proficient musicians. We knew there was a reason why we wanted to host this band as part of our celebratory season.
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