# Gerald Clayton

Gerald William Clayton (born May 11, 1984) is a Dutch-born American jazz pianist and composer.

## Biography

Clayton attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts; USC's Thornton School of Music, where he studied piano with Billy Childs; and the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Kenny Barron.
He has performed and recorded with Roy Hargrove, Diana Krall, Ben Wendel, Dianne Reeves, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ambrose Akinmusire, Dayna Stephens, Kendrick Scott, Ben Williams, Terell Stafford & Dick Oatts, Michael Rodriguez, Avishai Cohen, Sachal Vasandani, Gretchen Parlato, 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 On Tour, a project that features his trio with Ravi Coltrane, Nicolas Payton, and Raul Midón.
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 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's "All of You" from his debut album, Two-Shade. His nomination competed with established jazz musicians Terence Blanchard 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, Hank and Elvin Jones. Clayton's piano playing was described by Ben Ratliff of The New York Times as "[filling] 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.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of studio albums with details and chart positions :
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Details | US Jazz | US Trad. Jazz |
| Two-Shade | Released: 2009 Label: ArtistShare Format: CD, digital download, streaming | — | — |
| Bond: The Paris Sessions | Released: 2010 Label: EmArcy Format: CD, digital download, streaming | 25 | 12 |
| Life Forum | Released: 2013 Label: Concord Format: CD, digital download, streaming | 13 | 9 |
| Tributary Tales | Released: April 21, 2017 Label: Motéma Format: LP, CD, digital download, streaming | | |
| Bells On Sand | Released: April 1, 2022 Label: Blue Note Format: LP, CD, digital download, streaming | | |

### Collaborative albums

List of collaborative albums with details and chart positions :
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Details | US Jazz | US Trad. Jazz |
| Reverence (Kendrick Scott featuring Walter Smith, Gerald Clayton, Mike Moreno and Derrick Hodge) | Released: August 13, 2009 Label: Criss Cross Format: CD, digital download, streaming | — | — |
| While We're Still Young (Patrick Cornelius featuring Gerald Clayton, Jason Palmer, John Ellis, Kendrick Scott, Miles Okazaki, Nick Vayenas and Peter Slavov) | Released: February 12, 2016 Label: Whirlwind Format: CD, digital download, streaming | — | — |
| Let Loose (Peter Bernstein featuring Gerald Clayton, Doug Weiss and Bill Stewart) | Released: May 6, 2016 Label: Smoke Sessions Format: CD, digital download, streaming | 20 | 10 |
| Songs and Photographs (Anthony Wilson featuring Gerald Clayton, Jay Bellerose, Joshua Crumbly and Patrick Warren) | Released: December 7, 2018 Label: Goat Hill Format: CD, digital download, streaming | — | — |
| Sanctuary (with Matt Slocum and Larry Grenadier) | Released: May 31, 2019 Label: Sunnyside Format: CD, digital download, streaming | — | — |

### Live albums

List of live albums with details and chart positions :
| Title | Details |
| Happening: Live at The Village Vanguard | Released: July 10, 2020 Label: Blue Note Format: CD, digital download, streaming |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist with year and album name :
| Title | Year | Album |
| "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (with Preservation Hall Jazz Band) | 2021 | Music from the Movie MLK/FBI |
| "Theme from MLK/FBI" (with Preservation Hall Jazz Band) | 2021 | Music from the Movie MLK/FBI |

#### As featured artist

List of singles as featured artist with year and album name :
| Title | Year | Album |
| "Smooth and You" (Ralph Johnson featuring Gerald Clayton) | 2020 | — |
| "Hourglass Sea" (Sachal Vasandani featuring Gerald Clayton) | 2020 | — |

### Guest appearances

List of non-single guest appearances, showing year released, other artist(s) featured, and album name :
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
| "Listen Here" | 2013 | Jackie Ryan | Listen Here |

### Piano credits

| Year | Artist | Title |
| 2023 | Vicente Archer | Short Stories |
| 2020 | Charles Lloyd | 8: Kindred Spirits (Live from the Lobero) |
| 2018 | John Scofield | Combo 66 |
| 2016 | Peter Bernstein | Let Loose |
| 2016 | Ben Wendel | What We Bring |
| 2015 | Matthew Stevens | Woodwork |
| 2013 | Terri Lyne Carrington | Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue |
| 2011 | Ambrose Akinmusire | When the Heart Emerges Glistening |
| 2010 | Dick Oatts & Terell Stafford Quintet | Bridging the Gap |
| 2009 | Melissa Morgan | Until I Met You |
| 2008 | Roy Hargrove | Earfood |
| 2006 | Diana Krall | From This Moment On |
| 2006 | Diana Krall | Christmas Songs |
| 2006 | Roberta Gambarini | Easy to Love |
| 2005 | Laura Welland | Dissertation on the State of Bliss |
| 2004 | Teedra Moses | Complex Simplicity |
| 2003 | Bobby Rodriguez | Trumpet Talk |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
| 2011 | Edison Awards | Best International Jazz Album | Bond: The Paris Sessions | Won |
| 2009 | Grammy Awards | Best Improvised Jazz Solo | "All of You" | Nominated |
| 2010 | Grammy Awards | Best Instrumental Composition | "Battle Circle" | Nominated |
| 2011 | Grammy Awards | Best Jazz Instrumental Album | Bond: The Paris Sessions | Nominated |
| 2013 | Grammy Awards | Best Jazz Instrumental Album | Life Forum | Nominated |
| 2020 | Grammy Awards | Best Jazz Instrumental Album | Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard | Nominated |
| 2020 | Grammy Awards | Best Improvised Jazz Solo | "Celia" | Nominated |