Gerald Clayton Trio

Gerald Clayton – piano, Fender Rhodes
Joe Sanders – double bass
Jeff Ballard – drums 

Pianist and composer Gerald Clayton (Utrecht, 1984) began his studies at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, continuing them at USC's Thornton School of Music (Prof. Billy Childs) and the Manhattan School of Music (Prof. Kenny Baron). In 2006, he won second place in the prestigious "Thelonious Monk" piano competition. 

A gifted sideman open to different concepts, Clayton collaborated with respected jazzers of diverse expression, including Diana Kroll, Roy Hargrove, Dianne Reeves, Ambrose Akinmusire, John Scofield, Terri Lyne Carrington, Rene Marie and Avishai Cohen. He was a member of the Clayton Brothers quintet, led by his father John (double bass) and uncle Jeff (saxophone and flute), as well as leading the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour project (with Ravi Coltrane, Nicolas Peyton and Raul Midón). His engagement in various bands of the legendary Charles Lloyd is particularly impressive, starting in 2013. He recorded several albums with him and had many performances, including the ones at the Belgrade Jazz Festival in 2014 and 2019.  

Clayton released six albums as a leader and over twenty as a co-leader or sideman. He was nominated for a Grammy six times: three times for an instrumental jazz album, twice for an improvised jazz solo and once for an instrumental composition. Exclusive to Blue Note label since 2020, he released the album Bells On Sand last year after a concert performance recorded at the Village Vanguard club. The album contains original tracks, two standards and two compositions by Catalan composer Federico Mompou, featuring Charles Lloyd, Gerald's father John, drummer Justin Brown and Portuguese singer MARO. Bells On Sand. Album sadrži originalne numere, dva standarda i dve kompozicije katalonskog kompozitora Federika Mompoua, a društvo mu čine Čarls Lojd, otac Džon, bubnjar Džastin Braun i portugalska pevačica MARO. 

geraldclayton.com