Gerald Clayton Quintet

Terence Blanchard's UpSwing Series

Mar 01, 2025

Miner Auditorium

SatMar 1

Member Discount

7:30 PM

$25 | $45 | $65 | $85

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Possessing an exquisite touch, astonishing technique, and a sound that somehow combines the dynamic finesse of Ahmad Jamal with the hurtling swing of Oscar Peterson, six-time GRAMMY nominee Gerald Clayton ranks among the very best pianists of his generation. He performs with his working quintet as part of Terence Blanchard’s UpSwing Series.

Just recently turning 40 years of age, Clayton has become a well-traveled veteran who has served as music director of the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour, released numerous highly regarded albums, and collaborated with artists including Roy Hargrove, Charles Lloyd, Diana Krall, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Terri Lyne Carrington. With a compositional approach inspired by studies with Billy Childs, Clayton is the scion of a jazz dynasty. The son of esteemed Los Angeles bassist/arranger John Clayton and nephew of the late alto saxophonist Jeff Clayton, he’s played and recorded with the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and the Clayton Brothers (with whom he earned a GRAMMY nomination for a composition on 2010’s The New Song and Dance.)

His most recent album and Blue Note debut, Bells on Sand, was released in 2022, and his recent concert presentation, Piedmont Blues, is a multi-media production featuring a nine-piece ensemble dubbed The Assembly that explores the musical history of the Piedmont region in the Appalachian Highlands.

Combining the dynamic finesse of Ahmad Jamal with the hurtling swing of Oscar Peterson, six-time GRAMMY nominee Gerald Clayton ranks among the very best pianists of his generation.

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