At not yet forty, Gerald Clayton is one of modern hardbop jazz’s brightest stars. Two of his studio albums and his live album have been Grammy-nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. Moreover, he has also been nominated for Best Improvised Solo and Best Instrumental Composition.
Gerald Clayton was born in the Netherlands into a musical family where his father is the well-known jazz bassist, composer and arranger John Clayton. The family moved to Los Angeles where young Gerald received his first musical training and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree under pianist Billy Childs before studying under the wings of legendary jazz pianist Kenny Barron at the Manhattan School of Music.
Although he has an unusually wide palette, Gerald Clayton shows a post-bop elegance in the wake of Kenny Barron. But he also has a fantastic feel for the Hammond organ, which he has proven together with John Scofield on the record Combo 66. On his long list of collaborations Clayton also has jazz icons such as Roy Hargrove, Diana Krall, Avishai Cohen and not least the tenor hero Charles Lloyd.
We look forward to presenting Gerald Clayton at Stockholm Jazz Festival.
