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John Clayton: Parlor Series, Vol. 1
by Dan Bilawsky
The Parlor Series was conceived of long before it came into existence. Bassist/Composer/Arranger/Educator extraordinaire John Clayton had long hoped to explore the piano-bass duo medium on record. He had admired albums like This One's For Blanton (Pablo, 1974), which paired his mentor--bass legend Ray Brown--with the great Duke Ellington, and Steal Away (Verve, 1995), which brought bassist Charlie Haden and pianist Hank Jones together in service of spirituals. Clayton even told Jones how much he loved that album, going so ...
Continue ReadingBottom’s Up: John Clayton, Rodney Whitaker, Victor Wooten at the Mesa Arts Center
by Patricia Myers
Bottom's Up: John Clayton, Rodney Whitaker, Victor Wooten Mesa Arts Center Mesa, AZ September 27, 2013 West Coast bassist John Clayton created a trio called “Bottom's Up" with fellow bassists Rodney Whitaker and Victor Wooten for a 90-minute concert that showcased their collective and individual talent. An audience opting to attend a concert by just three bass players, with no horn, piano, guitar or drums, likely would bring a positive bias for that instrument. If ...
Continue ReadingJackie Ryan: Listen Here
by C. Michael Bailey
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 ...
Continue ReadingJackie Ryan with John Clayton & Friends: Listen Here
by Nicholas F. Mondello
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 ...
Continue ReadingJackie Ryan: Listen Here
by Dan Bilawsky
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 ...
Continue ReadingThe Clayton Brothers: The New Song And Dance
by Dan Bilawsky
There was a time when jazz and dance were linked in the minds of the general public. As each evolved, this all changed: nobody was getting up to dance for bop--save, perhaps, Thelonious Monk cutting a rug mid-performance--and big bands focused on their music more than making a danceable product. The literal act of dancing might have been removed from close association with this music, but a segment of the music never altered its dance-worthy DNA. Foot ...
Continue ReadingBattle of the Bands
by AAJ Staff
By John Clayton If true battles were fought the way some people imagine the Clayton-Hamilton and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra are to duke it out this month (more on the “other" Duke in a moment), we might just be a world with fewer global conflicts.
What you will witness, when the two bands perform on Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater stage together, will be two bands with a high level of mutual ... Continue Reading
