JAY CLAYTON
Genres: Vocal Jazz, Exotica • United States

Judith Theresa Colantone (October 28, 1941 – December 31, 2023), known as Jay Clayton, was an American avant-garde jazz vocalist and educator. Judith Theresa Colantone was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1941. From a young age, Clayton would pick up different jazz standards, and eventually learned to play the accordion. As she grew, she picked up piano and received lessons for a number of years. After graduating high school, Clayton spent the following summer at the St. Louis Institute of Music, a formerly accredited music college in Missouri. First in her family to enroll in college, Clayton attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Due to the fact that classical music was the only genre of vocal training offered by Miami University at that time, Clayton studied classical music, though often listened to jazz records and attended jazz performances in her free time. Clayton graduated with a degree in music read more...