VALDOSTA — A Grammy Award-winning bassist, composer, and conductor will perform with the Valdosta State University Jazz Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1, at Whitehead Auditorium.

John Clayton is known for the patience he exhibits with his students, the provocative notes he chooses when he composes, the empathy he shows when he produces, and the scintillating sounds he coaxes from musicians when he conducts. However, all of that reportedly pales in comparison to his charisma when music enthusiasts get the chance to hear him swing. Those in the jazz industry, including Quincy Jones and Tommy Lipuma, frequently request his talents.

Clayton has written and arranged music for Diana Krall, DeeDee Bridgewater, Natalie Cole, Milt Jackson, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, Gladys Knight, Regina Carter, Queen Latifah, and others. He has served as artistic and musical director of various jazz organizations, workshops, and festivals, and he has received a number of awards and honors, including a platinum record for his arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner” performed by Whitney Houston during the Super Bowl in 1990.

At age 16, Clayton began seriously studying the double bass under Ray Brown, who was a leader in defining the modern jazz rhythm section. Three years later, Clayton was the bassist for Henry Mancini’s television series “The Mancini Generation.” He graduated from Indiana University in 1975 with a Bachelor of Music in Double Bass, toured with Monty Alexander and the Count Basie Orchestra, and held the principal bass position in the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra for more than five years.

“The VSU Jazz Ensemble is very excited to have John Clayton as a guest,” said David Springfield, director of jazz studies and assistant professor of jazz piano in the Department of Music. “He is a true jazz legend who is at the top of his field as a bass player, composer, and band leader. It will be a great learning experience for the students to work with a real professional who can give them an idea of what musical situations are like in the ‘real world.’”

The performance, which is free and open to the public, will feature pieces composed or arranged by Clayton. Springfield said the pieces were originally written for and recorded by the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, which is regarded as one of the top professional jazz ensembles in the world.

“We will also perform his arrangements of some familiar tunes [such as] ‘On the Sunny Side of the Street,’ ‘For All We Know,’ and a medley by … film composer Johnny Mandel,” he added. “We hope everyone can join us for what should be an exciting event.”

The VSU Jazz Ensemble performs at least four concerts per year on campus with a repertoire ranging from Big Band Era standards to contemporary styles and original jazz compositions. It is directed by Springfield.

For more information about John Clayton, visit www.johnclaytonjazz.com.

For more information about the VSU Jazz Ensemble or the upcoming performance, please contact David Springfield, director of jazz studies and assistant professor of jazz piano in the Department of Music, at (229) 333-5805 or daspring@valdosta.edu.

Credits

Valdosta State University News

Last weekend you may have noticed masses of awkwardly dressed and instrument-clad high school students swarming around campus. That’s because last weekend was Lawrence’s 31st annual Jazz Weekend.

Lawrence hosts numerous high school big bands during Jazz Weekend, but the festival also features performances by all of Lawrence’s small jazz groups and large ensembles. This year, Lawrence also had the pleasure of hosting two better-known jazz groups: the Tierney Sutton Band, which performed on Friday night, as well as John and Gerald Clayton, who performed on Saturday.

John Clayton is a well-established bassist and composer, while his son Gerald is a pianist. Last Saturday, the Claytons collaborated with the Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble and drew a large audience that packed the chapel in eager anticipation of the concert.

After LUJE trickled on stage, their director Fred Sturm walked out to thunderous applause. Sturm thanked the Jazz Weekend participants and introduced the concert’s host and conductor, John Clayton, who immediately counted off the first tune.

LUJE opened with an up-tempo John Clayton original titled “Nice to Meet You.” The tune began with a rhythm section introduction, but the saxes and brass quickly entered with a loud and exciting melody a few bars later.

Clayton’s enthusiastic, physical and commanding conducting style was evident from the beginning of the melody. He used his entire body to energize the band, putting even the most aggressive orchestra conductors to shame. His energy quickly rubbed off on the audience during “Nice to Meet You” and seemed to inspire the musicians as well.

LUJE followed “Nice to Meet You” with Clayton’s boogaloo arrangement of Horace Silver’s “The Jody Grind.” “The Jody Grind” featured a number of solos and ended with an intense shout chorus interspersed with solos by drummer Tristan Renfrow.

After LUJE played what Clayton described as a “chilled-out version” of the Frank Loesser and Hoagy Carmichael hit “Heart and Soul”— which featured Clayton’s beautiful bass playing — Clayton introduced his son Gerald.

Gerald played on the final tune of the set, “I’ll Be Serious ‘bout Dem Blues,” and floored the audience with a thoughtful and tasty piano solo. Clayton’s playing was not at all angular or dissonant; instead, he melded different jazz influences into a cohesive whole that felt really good.

The second set of the evening featured the Claytons and LUJE plus the Lawrence University Studio Orchestra. The orchestra began the set with Clayton’s “Metro Madness,” an intricate, hectic composition that culminated in a powerful Gerald Clayton piano solo.

Credits

By Sam Lewin

for The Lawrentian

Back in 2000, tenor saxophonist Don Braden knocked me out when he performed at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, not only with his fiery playing but also with his articulate speaking and amiable, easy-going nature during an onstage interview that preceded his hard-swinging quartet’s set. Braden gave me the impression that he was someone I’d like to sit down with and talk about jazz.

Our conversation, however, had to wait until last week. It also had to transpire by email, but I wasn’t disappointed — the medium also let me know that Braden is the kind of guy who capitalizes “Jazz” and “Blues,” which I definitely respect.

There was certainly a lot of ground for us to cover, given the 47-year-old’s blue-chip career (it includes stints with Tony Williams, Betty Carter and Wynton Marsalis) and his expertise as an educator (he directs the jazz studies program at Montclair State University in New Jersey, directs the annual Litchfield Jazz Camp in Litchfield, Connecticut, and teaches regularly at Dutch music conservatories).

Jazz, the no-nonsense way (the Don Braden interview)

November 8, 2011. 1:00 pm • Section: Jazzblog
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Back in 2000, tenor saxophonist Don Braden knocked me out when he performed at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, not only with his fiery playing but also with his articulate speaking and amiable, easy-going nature during an onstage interview that preceded his hard-swinging quartet’s set. Braden gave me the impression that he was someone I’d like to sit down with and talk about jazz.

Our conversation, however, had to wait until last week. It also had to transpire by email, but I wasn’t disappointed — the medium also let me know that Braden is the kind of guy who capitalizes “Jazz” and “Blues,” which I definitely respect.

There was certainly a lot of ground for us to cover, given the 47-year-old’s blue-chip career (it includes stints with Tony Williams, Betty Carter and Wynton Marsalis) and his expertise as an educator (he directs the jazz studies program at Montclair State University in New Jersey, directs the annual Litchfield Jazz Camp in Litchfield, Connecticut, and teaches regularly at Dutch music conservatories).

I didn’t even get around to asking Braden about what it was like to attend Harvard University to study computer engineering before he embarked on his jazz path, or about being the musical director for The Cosby Show.

The peg for our chat is Braden’s visit to Ottawa this Thursday, Nov. 10, when he will lead an improvisation workshop at Galerie240, using the Tim Murray Quintet as his “lab band.” Braden, who has also taught at the JazzWorks jazz camp at Lake MacDonald north of Ottawa will also play a gig in Toronto this Saturday with some JazzWorks alumni friends including vocalist Julie Michels and pianist Dave Restivo.

Below, Braden, as clearly and amiably as I’d expected, discusses the global jazz student cohort, dispenses some fundamental jazz-playing advice, and relates what Betty Carter, Williams and Marsalis have in common.

1) Given your experience teaching jazz in the U.S. (at Montclair and at Litchfield), in the Netherlands, and to a lesser extent, Canada, I’m curious to know: how do the jazz “student cohorts” compare from country to country? What do they have in common, and how do they differ?
I think the main differences between international students are cultural. For example, students from Bulgaria typically have a strong feeling for odd meters and complex forms since their native music has those attributes. As another example, American students have more of an affinity for the Blues than most European cultures. Other differences between students in general have to do with students’ learning styles and previous music playing experience (which of course can have a cultural element). Some students are more intuitive while others are more cognitive; some students have played in bands for years without learning a single scale, while other students are primarily readers and improvise almost solely based on scales. One interesting difference between the students I teach in Europe and those in America: the European students are several years older on average, which can certainly lead to a different teaching experience.

In terms of similarities, almost all students have the standard technical challenges like the need for improved control of sound, rhythm, harmony and general instrumental technique (especially as it applies to Jazz performance). Almost all students need to learn how to listen more deeply and in more specific ways. Probably most important is that most students have to learn how to be free with emotional expression in their Jazz playing; they’re usually so busy worrying about technical issues of various types that they have a hard time emoting.

2) In your experience, what are the most common strengths and weaknesses in aspiring jazz players? What are some of the common recommendations you offer with respect to improvement?
Today’s aspiring Jazz players (I assume you mean those who are serious) have plenty of strengths: good technique, pretty good sound, solid basic time, good skill at negotiating chord changes, plenty of slick licks and ideas. Things they could work on: more emotion in their playing, more Blues aesthetic, better melodic concepts and motific development, stronger swing and more rhythm (interactive syncopation).

Naturally I have many general recommendations (and each one below could be a chapter), but here’s a brief start. The most important: develop a vision of how you want to sound. To enhance this, I’d recommend listening more carefully to more of the masters, especially the older cats. Most aspiring players listen pretty well to younger players they like and perhaps some masters from the ’60s on, but not enough have really checked out Lester Young or Louis Armstrong or even Bird or Clifford Brown. Also, listen to more vocalists (vocalists: listen to more instrumentalists!), and learn to sing. The voice is the most natural instrument and can help with melodic improv. Learning the lyrics to standards is very helpful. Basic jazz piano skills are very important; drums skills help, too. Regular focused practice is critical — set clear goals and make and execute good practice plans. In addition to practicing technical stuff, practicing improv/creativity with emotion is very important. When improvising with an ensemble, listen carefully all the time, and seek to engage the rhythm section. If they feel like you’re listening to them, they will play better with you. Along those lines, do whatever you have to do to develop your rhythm and harmony so you don’t lean on the rhythm section — if your own time and harmony are strong (as evidenced by the way you interact with them), they will be much more relaxed and the music will fly!

3) Your bio concludes: “As a saxophonist, composer, arranger, and teacher, Don Braden will continue to represent the highest levels of strength, creativity, discipline, joy, and soulfulness as he moves along the classic jazz path: to express a contemporary point of view in the powerful, spiritual, intelligent, and (most importantly) swinging jazz style.”

I wonder: what’s your take on up-and-coming jazz players who seem to favour a different, less-classic jazz path, the ones who apparently have less time for swinging?
In the end, music is about human inspiration through expression, so if that is achieved, it’s all good. My personal preference is that someone who calls himself a Jazz player should seek to aspire to the highest levels of Jazz performance, including swing. Swing is the key. Improvisation exists in many forms, but the Jazz Masters have taken it the furthest, and the swing is where the dance is, and where the music connects to Africa. That connection is essential to the Jazz aesthetic. That’s where the soul is.

4) Turning to Don Braden the music lover — what’s the last music either live or recorded that had a really big impact on you? Why did the music move you?
In general, I love Miles Davis’ 1960s era: My Funny Valentine, Four n’ More, E.S.P., …lots of swing, intellect, interaction, melody, soul, virtuosity, everything! I love Take 6 for the same reason; I’ve transcribed many of their tunes for harmonic progressions. I’m into Billy Strayhorn’s music, too. My favorite recently discovered music is by La Orchestra Familia, led by Brazilian composer Itibere Zwarg. He’s a protege of the great Hermeto Pascoal. Crazy, complex, grooving, beautiful music, which I have yet to sit down and decode, but I love it, and want to fly (with my horn) with it!

5) Finally, I’ll ask you for any impressions, recollections or anecdotes you’re willing to share regarding these three musicians that you came to know and play with:

Betty Carter
Betty was no-nonsense. She taught me to swing consistently, and to not overplay, especially when playing with singers. Philip Harper and I were the first horn players she seriously considered educating, just before she started her Jazz Ahead program. She always seemed to personify one of my favorite creative dictums: at the gig, don’t play what you practice — create!

Tony Williams
Tony was also no-nonsense. That band was the most swinging band I ever played in. It was also the most powerful (and loudest!) I really had to practice hard to keep up, but I was there for four years.

Tony was the ultimate professional, and utterly consistent. His virtuosity was scary. He and Freddie Hubbard –

those two were the scariest! It was he (Tony Williams) who really taught me the value of detailed listening. One time in the can on the road somewhere in Europe, a song came on the radio. He listened for a minute then said: “Kenny Clarke.” I asked him how he knew, and he said: “his left foot…, and his right foot…, and his left hand, and his right hand.” I realized that if you listen deeply, the answers are there!

Wynton Marsalis
Wynton was also no-nonsense (do you sense a pattern here?) and still is. Wynton was the one who taught me the value of checking out the older masters, and the importance of the Blues. Admittedly, it took me awhile to get it since I was only 22 when I joined his band in 1986. I also learned a lot about the pursuit of swing from being in his band. With all the slick music we were playing (the material from Black Codes From the Underground and J Mood), the main goal still was to swing.

Jazz, the no-nonsense way (the Don Braden interview)

November 8, 2011. 1:00 pm • Section: Jazzblog
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Posted by:
Peter Hum
Recent Posts From This Author

A Lick SupremePosted on Nov 14, 2011
Solo piano excursions V (Bill Carrothers CD reviewed)Posted on Nov 14, 2011
Solo piano excursions IV (Denny Zeitlin CD reviewed)Posted on Nov 14, 2011
Five questions for Zakari FrantzPosted on Nov 14, 2011

Back in 2000, tenor saxophonist Don Braden knocked me out when he performed at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, not only with his fiery playing but also with his articulate speaking and amiable, easy-going nature during an onstage interview that preceded his hard-swinging quartet’s set. Braden gave me the impression that he was someone I’d like to sit down with and talk about jazz.

Our conversation, however, had to wait until last week. It also had to transpire by email, but I wasn’t disappointed — the medium also let me know that Braden is the kind of guy who capitalizes “Jazz” and “Blues,” which I definitely respect.

There was certainly a lot of ground for us to cover, given the 47-year-old’s blue-chip career (it includes stints with Tony Williams, Betty Carter and Wynton Marsalis) and his expertise as an educator (he directs the jazz studies program at Montclair State University in New Jersey, directs the annual Litchfield Jazz Camp in Litchfield, Connecticut, and teaches regularly at Dutch music conservatories).

I didn’t even get around to asking Braden about what it was like to attend Harvard University to study computer engineering before he embarked on his jazz path, or about being the musical director for The Cosby Show.

The peg for our chat is Braden’s visit to Ottawa this Thursday, Nov. 10, when he will lead an improvisation workshop at Galerie240, using the Tim Murray Quintet as his “lab band.” Braden, who has also taught at the JazzWorks jazz camp at Lake MacDonald north of Ottawa will also play a gig in Toronto this Saturday with some JazzWorks alumni friends including vocalist Julie Michels and pianist Dave Restivo.

Below, Braden, as clearly and amiably as I’d expected, discusses the global jazz student cohort, dispenses some fundamental jazz-playing advice, and relates what Betty Carter, Williams and Marsalis have in common.

1) Given your experience teaching jazz in the U.S. (at Montclair and at Litchfield), in the Netherlands, and to a lesser extent, Canada, I’m curious to know: how do the jazz “student cohorts” compare from country to country? What do they have in common, and how do they differ?
I think the main differences between international students are cultural. For example, students from Bulgaria typically have a strong feeling for odd meters and complex forms since their native music has those attributes. As another example, American students have more of an affinity for the Blues than most European cultures. Other differences between students in general have to do with students’ learning styles and previous music playing experience (which of course can have a cultural element). Some students are more intuitive while others are more cognitive; some students have played in bands for years without learning a single scale, while other students are primarily readers and improvise almost solely based on scales. One interesting difference between the students I teach in Europe and those in America: the European students are several years older on average, which can certainly lead to a different teaching experience.

In terms of similarities, almost all students have the standard technical challenges like the need for improved control of sound, rhythm, harmony and general instrumental technique (especially as it applies to Jazz performance). Almost all students need to learn how to listen more deeply and in more specific ways. Probably most important is that most students have to learn how to be free with emotional expression in their Jazz playing; they’re usually so busy worrying about technical issues of various types that they have a hard time emoting.

2) In your experience, what are the most common strengths and weaknesses in aspiring jazz players? What are some of the common recommendations you offer with respect to improvement?
Today’s aspiring Jazz players (I assume you mean those who are serious) have plenty of strengths: good technique, pretty good sound, solid basic time, good skill at negotiating chord changes, plenty of slick licks and ideas. Things they could work on: more emotion in their playing, more Blues aesthetic, better melodic concepts and motific development, stronger swing and more rhythm (interactive syncopation).

Naturally I have many general recommendations (and each one below could be a chapter), but here’s a brief start. The most important: develop a vision of how you want to sound. To enhance this, I’d recommend listening more carefully to more of the masters, especially the older cats. Most aspiring players listen pretty well to younger players they like and perhaps some masters from the ’60s on, but not enough have really checked out Lester Young or Louis Armstrong or even Bird or Clifford Brown. Also, listen to more vocalists (vocalists: listen to more instrumentalists!), and learn to sing. The voice is the most natural instrument and can help with melodic improv. Learning the lyrics to standards is very helpful. Basic jazz piano skills are very important; drums skills help, too. Regular focused practice is critical — set clear goals and make and execute good practice plans. In addition to practicing technical stuff, practicing improv/creativity with emotion is very important. When improvising with an ensemble, listen carefully all the time, and seek to engage the rhythm section. If they feel like you’re listening to them, they will play better with you. Along those lines, do whatever you have to do to develop your rhythm and harmony so you don’t lean on the rhythm section — if your own time and harmony are strong (as evidenced by the way you interact with them), they will be much more relaxed and the music will fly!

3) Your bio concludes: “As a saxophonist, composer, arranger, and teacher, Don Braden will continue to represent the highest levels of strength, creativity, discipline, joy, and soulfulness as he moves along the classic jazz path: to express a contemporary point of view in the powerful, spiritual, intelligent, and (most importantly) swinging jazz style.”

I wonder: what’s your take on up-and-coming jazz players who seem to favour a different, less-classic jazz path, the ones who apparently have less time for swinging?
In the end, music is about human inspiration through expression, so if that is achieved, it’s all good. My personal preference is that someone who calls himself a Jazz player should seek to aspire to the highest levels of Jazz performance, including swing. Swing is the key. Improvisation exists in many forms, but the Jazz Masters have taken it the furthest, and the swing is where the dance is, and where the music connects to Africa. That connection is essential to the Jazz aesthetic. That’s where the soul is.

4) Turning to Don Braden the music lover — what’s the last music either live or recorded that had a really big impact on you? Why did the music move you?
In general, I love Miles Davis’ 1960s era: My Funny Valentine, Four n’ More, E.S.P., …lots of swing, intellect, interaction, melody, soul, virtuosity, everything! I love Take 6 for the same reason; I’ve transcribed many of their tunes for harmonic progressions. I’m into Billy Strayhorn’s music, too. My favorite recently discovered music is by La Orchestra Familia, led by Brazilian composer Itibere Zwarg. He’s a protege of the great Hermeto Pascoal. Crazy, complex, grooving, beautiful music, which I have yet to sit down and decode, but I love it, and want to fly (with my horn) with it!

5) Finally, I’ll ask you for any impressions, recollections or anecdotes you’re willing to share regarding these three musicians that you came to know and play with:

Betty Carter
Betty was no-nonsense. She taught me to swing consistently, and to not overplay, especially when playing with singers. Philip Harper and I were the first horn players she seriously considered educating, just before she started her Jazz Ahead program. She always seemed to personify one of my favorite creative dictums: at the gig, don’t play what you practice — create!

Tony Williams
Tony was also no-nonsense. That band was the most swinging band I ever played in. It was also the most powerful (and loudest!) I really had to practice hard to keep up, but I was there for four years.

Tony was the ultimate professional, and utterly consistent. His virtuosity was scary. He and Freddie Hubbard –

those two were the scariest! It was he (Tony Williams) who really taught me the value of detailed listening. One time in the can on the road somewhere in Europe, a song came on the radio. He listened for a minute then said: “Kenny Clarke.” I asked him how he knew, and he said: “his left foot…, and his right foot…, and his left hand, and his right hand.” I realized that if you listen deeply, the answers are there!

Wynton Marsalis
Wynton was also no-nonsense (do you sense a pattern here?) and still is. Wynton was the one who taught me the value of checking out the older masters, and the importance of the Blues. Admittedly, it took me awhile to get it since I was only 22 when I joined his band in 1986. I also learned a lot about the pursuit of swing from being in his band. With all the slick music we were playing (the material from Black Codes From the Underground and J Mood), the main goal still was to swing.

I learned some things about business from him, too; he had (and still has) and great team. To this day Wynton is still one of the most amazing musicians I’ve ever met, not least because of his profound productivity and effectiveness and promoting Jazz, but also because of his great music.

The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra (CHJO) is both a torch-bearer for the long and proud tradition of jazz big bands and a constant innovator of the genre. Perhaps the most-respected and venerable big band on the scene today, the Grammy nominated CHJO marked its 25th anniversary in 2010. Co-leader John Clayton is a world-class bassist and peerless arranger, having a platinum record and seven Grammy Award nominations to his credit. Jeff Clayton, his brother and co-leader as well, is a sax and flute master who has collaborated with everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Madonna. The third co-leader, drummer Jeff Hamilton, is a rhythm powerhouse who has soaked up the jazz drumming tradition first-hand with the likes of Roy Brown and the Count Basie Orchestra. Jeff leads his own Jeff Hamilton Trio and is also the drummer of choice for Diane Krall.

The CHJO is consistently recognized by peers and audiences alike for the high level of its musicianship and arrangements and for both keeping the big band tradition alive and thriving.

” one of the premier large jazz ensembles in the country.” – Los Angeles Times

This engagement is presented in partnership with the EWU Jazz Dialogue Festival 2012.
Venue:
INB Performing Arts Center
334 West Spokane Falls Boulevard
Venue URL

Credits

Rolling Stones Records

First I’d like to quickly apologize for being absent from blogging for so long. The exciting and intoxicating challenges of leading a growing company means I have less time for other pleasurable endeavours, but it won’t keep me away forever. With that, lets ease back into genYchina.com with a review of Gerald Clayton.

———–

In the past year that I’ve had Gerald Clayton in my playlist, there are countless times that I’ve heard his songs and had to flip through my iTunes to check who it is. Every time I expect it to be Robert Glasper, because their playing styles are very similar — lyrical, light and elegant, yet with deep-seeded funk and soul driving the course of their musical compositions. While Robert Glasper uses a lot of hip-hop and RnB elements in many of his jazz-fusion pieces, Gerald Clayton utilizes a traditional jazz ensembles but can still capture the same rhythm and blues attitude we’ve come to know and love.

It doesn’t surprise me therefore, that Gerald Clayton, a Jazz Pianist, has for some years been a fixture in Roy Hargrove‘s quintets.  Roy Hargrove has been one of the main stalwarts of Jazz-Funk and Jazz-Soul fusion for over 10 years with both the RH Factor and his Quintet. Gerald Clayton toured with Hargrove’s Quintet throughout the 2006-2007 seasons and was the pianist in Hargrove’s 2008 ‘Earfood’ album. I am sure these were important formative years for Gerald Clayton and did a lot in forming his sound today.

I believe the ‘Earfood’ album was when I first noticed Gerald Clayton. If I go back to that album I am sure we would find a few tracks that showcase some exquisite piano playing.

Clayton’s edginess is matched and rounded-out by his deliciously intricate playing. Growing up trained in classical music, he brings the full breadth of his repertoire and experience into his jazz music. His 2006 work on two Diana Krall albums may have brought good seasoning to this side of his sound.

What is even more impressive is Clayton’s youth. Graduating with a bachelors of Arts from USC Thorton School of Music in 2006, at the age of 27 Clayton already has 2 albums under his own name. He’s already garnered 2 Grammy nominations, one for the song “All of You” on Clayton’s 2009 ‘Two-Shade’ album, and another for his work in “Battle Circle” on the 2010 ‘The New Song and Dance’ album from his father and uncle’s band, The Clayton Brothers. While Gerald Clayton’s first grammy win eludes him, it is obvious that it is an inevitability. Gerald Clayton is defining himself as one of the leading figures in this new generation of Jazz.

I’m still working through Gerald Clayton’s newest album, ‘Bond: The Paris Sessions’ released earlier this year, but what I’m hearing so far is a continued maturation of Gerald’s sound; drawing on his classical piano training, he is wisely being patient with his compositions, letting them simmer and ripen at their own pace.  Clayton is not afraid of the nakedness of raw, articulate jazz. Instead, he boldly fills the space with unwavering, refined, independent piano that demands your attention and respect. At each moment you can hear he is in complete control, and is aggressively driving you, the listener, to meet him at the middle in the world he is creating.

I’m thoroughly impressed by this young pianist and have already gained hours of enjoyment from his music. I have nothing but continued high hopes and expectations for what is to come.

Credits

By: Kevin Lee

genYchina.com

‘Man, I got words for everything.” Jon Hendricks says, and he means it. Mr. Hendricks, who celebrated his 90th birthday on Friday, has for 60 years reigned as the No. 1 wordsmith of jazz: He’s not only written lyrics to jazz compositions and solos by everyone from Count Basie to Thelonious Monk (and sung with nearly all of them as well), he’s also had hit songs in both the pop and the R&B category, and more recently even penned a libretto to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade.”

Surely no other singer-songwriter is ringing in his 10th decade with two major—and entirely different—concerts in two of the world’s major culture capitals. This Saturday, in a special 90th-birthday concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Mr. Hendricks will mostly recap his past and choose from his many classics (although every Hendricks show includes at least a couple of new pieces). Then, on Nov. 14 in London, he will unveil his latest and most ambitious work: an hourlong cycle of songs based on “Miles Ahead,” the milestone jazz album by Miles Davis and Gil Evans.

Mr. Hendricks is best known for what was a comparatively brief period of his life: 1956-61, when he co-led Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. His collaboration with David Lambert stretches for more years on both sides, but in a very short time LHR completely transformed the use of the human voice in jazz. Using Mr. Hendricks’s lyrics, the group sang words to iconic jazz instrumentals and solos, and swung harder and with more hip humor than any other vocal ensemble before or since.

In a phone interview from his Battery Park apartment, Mr. Hendricks recalls that as a 10-year-old in Toledo, Ohio, he had to be forced to take his music lessons, which were given by a local piano prodigy (13 years older than Mr. Hendricks) named Art Tatum. “He was so arrogant. He would say, ‘sing this!’ I would sing and he would play back the notes I missed.” Mr. Hendricks’s father, a Methodist minister, had attended theological school with the father of another jazz legend, Thomas “Fats” Waller. “Fats knew he had to come pay us a call every time he came through Toledo, or his father would whip his ass. He also knew he couldn’t bring liquor in our house, so he paid one of my little friends to stand outside the window and hand him a taste whenever he got thirsty.”

Mr. Hendricks remembers that he first started thinking of lyrics at the age of 11; he would hear songs that didn’t quite make sense and would rewrite them in his head. This led to a fascination with adding words to big-band numbers. He put music on hold, however, for most of his 20s, when he served in the Navy during World War II and then attended law school. But, encouraged by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, he came to New York in 1950 to seek his fortune in the music business.

His original goal was not only to work with Lambert, whose early recordings had impressed Mr. Hendricks, but also to meet Davis, since he had already written words to one of the trumpeter’s compositions. “So when I got to New York, I went to see Dizzy at Birdland and Miles walked out. I walked over to him and I said ‘Miles!’ He turned around and said, ‘Who the f—k are you?’ I told him I had written lyrics for his tune, and I wanted to sing them for him. He started to raise his hands to my neck, and I was terrified because even then Miles was known to throw a knockout punch. I thought he was going to strangle me—but he just was reaching over to straighten my bowtie.”

In the early 1950s, Lambert and Mr. Hendricks experimented, with little reward, with a number of ideas and collaborators, including a famous session with Parker and Evans. Their fortunes began to turn after they teamed up with the young singer-lyricist Annie Ross and released the landmark album “Sing a Song of Basie” in 1957. That record—and the half dozen or so that followed—were so well received that the three singers toured as a team for five years afterward.

Ms. Ross left the group in 1962, and Lambert was killed in a road accident in 1966. But Ms. Ross and Mr. Hendricks have occasionally reunited over the years, most recently at the Blue Note in June. “It was wonderful,” he said of his old partner. “It was better than I thought it was going to be. Because we don’t have the voices that we used to have. But when Annie gets started, you don’t miss nothing, you know? She just puts so much into it that it sounds great. Annie is like Judy Garland up there, just the greatest.”

He’s enjoyed an even longer relationship with his wife, Judith, whom he has been with since 1954; Percy Heath, the late brother of the saxophonist Jimmy Heath (who is sharing the JALC concert with Mr. Hendricks on Saturday), was his best man. She is Caucasian and he is African-American, and the sight of the couple holding hands would literally stop traffic in the ’50s: “We would walk into Lindy’s and the whole place got suddenly silent for what seemed like forever,” Mr. Hendricks says. “I swear, cars were literally driving into each other.”

Mr. Hendricks claims that he hasn’t yet planned anything specific for the JALC show on Saturday (“Hey man, I’m a jazz singer,” he says with a laugh), but a number of his protégés, including Bobby McFerrin and the young Sachal Vasandani, have been announced, along with the acclaimed Dianne Reeves and Mr. Hendricks’s daughters, Aria and Michelle. The London “Miles Ahead” concert will feature a full choir singing the orchestral parts while Mr. Hendricks assumes the soloist’s role originally written for Miles Davis. “I’m using a choir that worked with Bobby [McFerrin], so I know they’re good,” he says. “I got the original arrangements from Gil’s wife. And they are some of the best lyrics that I have ever written.”

Following “Miles Ahead,” he plans to extend his de facto collaboration with his old friends Evans and Davis by adapting their arrangement of “Porgy and Bess” as a stage production. He has no plans to stop working. “I never put much stock in dying. I think it’s an insult to the one who gave us life,” he says. “You know, people ask me what I’m going to do now that I’m 90. I say I’m going to wait to be 91.”

Credits

By: Will Friedwall

Wall Street Journal

“There’s a rumor going around that I’m 90,” Jon Hendricks remarked from the stage of Frederick P. Rose Hall on Saturday evening, as he flashed a sly believe-it-or-not smile. In his imagination, he admitted, he was still only 11.

Because a large part of Mr. Hendricks, one of the originators of vocalese — the application of fanciful, pirouetting lyrics to jazz instrumental solos — is a precocious, inexhaustibly voluble boy carried away by musical word games, the smaller number feels about right. As for Mr. Hendricks’s influence: I don’t know if he would agree that the leap from vocalese to rap isn’t that great, but it seems obvious. Both are a matter of snatching words out of thin air and infusing them with rhythm. Beneath Mr. Hendricks’s sophistication is an unquenchably playful, boyish spirit.

Mr. Hendricks and friends and family took up the first half of Saturday’s program, “An Evening with Jimmy Heath and Jon Hendricks,” the season opener at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Mr. Heath, the saxophonist, big-band leader, composer, arranger and middle brother of the Heath Brothers, who shared the bill, is also seemingly ageless at 84. The same question that Dianne Reeves, one of Mr. Hendricks’s guests, posed to Mr. Hendricks — “Where is it?” — could as easily be asked of Mr. Heath, agile and grinning as he conducted his piece ensemble. “It” was “the fountain of youth.”

If Mr. Hendricks’s voice, at 90, is a husk of what it used to be, its rhythmic component remains intact. So is his legacy, which is being carried on by his talented daughters, Aria, a brash, flashy improviser, and Michele, who is softer edged and closer in style to Ella Fitzgerald. Kevin Fitzgerald Burke, who with the three Hendrickses filled out the quartet that opened the show, is a virtuoso scat improviser. Backing Mr. Hendricks and his guests was an octet led by Andy Farber. The third special guest, the singer Sachal Vasandani, seemed underused.

Ms. Reeves applied her stamp to “Social Call,” the Betty Carter signature song, with lyrics by Mr. Hendricks. If Carter’s self-contained angular style and Ms. Reeves’s lush wide-open singing couldn’t be more dissimilar, the song welcomes both approaches. That one-man acoustic-music machine Bobby McFerrin joined Mr. Hendricks for an extended improvisation, “Scatting on the Corner,” in which they took turns singing the bass. The set closed as Mr. Hendricks and his guests gathered to turn “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” into excitable group chatter.

After an intermission Mr. Heath and his band played a gleaming set infused with the propulsive drama of a big-city soundtrack. Mr. Heath’s compositions, like “Big ‘P,’ ” “Gemini,” “Togetherness” and “A Sound for Sore Ears” all have the solid structure of elongated songs that combine a brawling propulsion with an undertone of melancholy. Throughout you could hear distant echoes of the film composer David Raksin, but with the strain of noirish melodrama overwhelmed by layered, bebop harmonies that didn’t stray into abrasive dissonance; minor keys prevailed.

Mr. Heath’s arrangements are remarkable for their clarity, even in the most piled-up instrumental passages. The set’s narrative momentum, the sense of a story rushing forward, rarely flagged. The band’s crowning glory is its trumpet-flugelhorn section — Frank Greene, Greg Gisbert, Terell Stafford, Sean Jones — whose members paraded to center stage for solos that hit near-maniacal peaks of sassy braggadocio. Within the orchestra they provided blasts of explosive punctuation that drove the arrangements like whiplashes.

You could describe the evening, with its luminaries whose careers date from the 1940s, as historical, and its theme, the intertwining of jazz vocal and instrumental traditions over many decades. But it was also, often thrillingly, of the moment.

Credits

By: Stephen Holden

The New York Times

We wish Jon a very happy 90th birthday.
To celebrate, Jon will be performing
at Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Frederick P. Rose Hall
on Saturday, September 24 at 8:00pm
with guests, Aria Hendricks, Kevin Burke, Michelle Hendricks, Sachal Vasandani, Dianne Reeves and Bobby McFerrin.
For tickets, click here:
http://jalc.org/concerts/details309a.asp?EventID=2635