Jazz Articles about Gerald Clayton

About Gerald Clayton

Album Review

Dopo un'assenza di sei anni dedicati alla maternità, Gretchen Parlato torna con un album magistrale per l'equilibrio che esprime tra ricercatezza, lirismo e intatta spinta a riformulare creativamente i brani. A capo di un nuovo organico--arricchito da Gerald Clayton al piano e tastiere, Mark Guiliana alla batteria e Airto Moreira alle percussioni e voce, in veste di ospiti--la cantante losangelina conferma in Flor la sua collocazione d'interprete assolutamente personale, che non può “temere" nulla dall'ingresso in scena delle splendide vocalist ...

Album Review

Ben Wendel: High Heart

Read "High Heart" reviewed by Mike Jacobs

by Mike Jacobs
October 30, 2020

If Ben Wendel's fifth outing as a leader High Heart shows anything, it's that the saxophonist is ever advancing. While this may seem a fait accompli for a card-carrying member of the shapeshifting collective Kneebody, Wendel's worthy solo efforts have been notably more in a traditionally-sounding vein and thus his innovations were perhaps a bit less readily evident to ears acclimated to that other side of his resume. And yes, by comparison to Kneebody, High Heart still tacks toward a ...

Live Review

Gerald Clayton Trio featuring Joe Sanders and Kendrick Scott at Nighttown

by C. Andrew Hovan
May 25, 2017

Gerald Clayton Trio Nighttown Cleveland, Ohio May 16, 2017 Much like the politics of today, everything seems to come in extremes. So much of what passes for modern jazz today veers too far to the left, often opting for the esoteric and anarchism merely for the sake of being different. As an analogy, one could be different by merely building a house with no roof. But in the final analysis, such an effort would just ...

Album Review

Gerald Clayton: Tributary Tales

Read "Tributary Tales" reviewed by Niccolò Lucarelli

by Niccolò Lucarelli
April 25, 2017

"Se devi chiedere cos'è il jazz, non otterrai mai la risposta." Parole di chi la sapeva lunga in materia, ovvero Louis Armstrong. Parole che, pur con la loro aura di paradosso, racchiudono una verità, stante l'affascinante capacità del jazz di inglobare una pluralità d'influenze, stati d'animo, colori, suoni, da renderne difficile un'esatta definizione. È proprio questa caleidoscopicità l'essenza del nuovo album del pianista -olandese di nascita ma cresciuto a Los Angeles -, Gerald Clayton, che conferma la sua ...

Album Review

Jackie Ryan: Listen Here

Read "Listen Here" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
February 25, 2013

There exists an intersection point in a vocal recording where four elements coalesce in excellence to produce a superb recording: the vocal, instrumental, material and sonic. Singer Jackie Ryan's Listen Here exists on this very point. AAJ critic Dan Bilawsky addressed the first two elements in his thoughtful review of Listen Here, calling Ryan, “a force of nature" and her instrumental support, “ damn good," observations easily echoed here and not improved upon. The latter pair of elements deserve a ...

Album Review

Jackie Ryan with John Clayton & Friends: Listen Here

Read "Listen Here" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
January 25, 2013

With Listen Here, vocalist Jackie Ryan offers a diverse and delectable array of Great American Songbook and jazz classics, well-known but not regularly-recorded older hits, and superb original selections. Supported by Grammy Award-winning bassist John Clayton and most able friends (including Clayton's son, pianist Gerald, a three-time Grammy nominee), the overall effort soars. It's a tour de force of talent and taste.Ryan's voice is full, highly resonant and eminently inviting. It is also one of subtle shadings. Her ...

Album Review

Jackie Ryan: Listen Here

Read "Listen Here" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
January 3, 2013

Jackie Ryan isn't simply a singer; she's a force of nature. Her voice possesses a weighty power, yet soars with grace and ease. Her ability to transmute into different characters and forms, as dictated by the song, lyrics and style, makes her one in a million and she's managed to parlay that unique gift into project after successful project with some of the best in the business backing her up. This date is no exception. Ryan recruited ...