Gerald Clayton

Jazz pianist Gerald Clayton is an adept improviser and composer with a bent toward post-bop and straight-ahead jazz. The son of bassist John Clayton, he has helped to shape a number of high-profile jazz projects including albums by Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, and Ambrose Akinmusire. His trio dates, including 2009's Two Shade and 2011's Bond: The Paris Sessions, established his reputation as a skilled composer and arranger. The latter album earned Clayton a Grammy nomination, as did 2013's Life Forum, which found him expanding his group with trumpeter Akinmusire, saxophonists Logan Richardson, and vocalist Gretchen Parlato. A larger group also performed 2017's charting Tributary Tales. More Grammy nominations arrived with 2019's Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard. Clayton's debut for Blue Note Records, the live album paved the way for his first studio date for the storied label, 2022's Bells on Sand, which featured appearances by saxophonist Charles Lloyd and others.