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Clark Gayton

You would be hard-pressed to identify a musician as comfortable with classical music as he is with jazz, indie rock, folk and reggae. You would be equally hard-pressed to identify a musician who can rock with Levon Helm (formerly of The Band) on weekends, fly to Istanbul for a command performance, pack the house weekly in New York at nublu, make recording sessions, wax eloquent about music history and the fundamentals of musicianship, tour with friends in support of their fledgling bands, and still find the wherewithal to record a big band piece from scratch in the remaining spare time (you must listen to the phenomenal re-recording of “Tina,Too”) … unless you happen to know Clark Gayton.

Clark Gayton was born in Seattle, Washington, January 18th, 1963. After graduating high school in 1981, Gayton received a scholarship to attend the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1984. Gayton then moved to Oakland briefly before moving to New York in 1987.

Since living in New York, Clark has worked with some of the finest jazz musicians in the world, such as Charles Tolliver, Lionel Hampton, McCoy Tyner, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, Ted Nash and Odeon, Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra Nancy Wilson, and Ray Charles. Clark toured with Bruce Springsteen as part of the Seeger Sessions band as well as the E Street Band. Clark has recorded or performed with Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Sting, Rhianna, U2, Steel Pulse, Wyclef Jean, Queen Latifah, Quincy Jones, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Santana, Maxwell, Brazilian Girls, The Skatalites, and Bad Brains, to name a few. He played with The Roots on May 8, 2015 when they backed U2. In addition, he is a strong advocate for musicians’ rights and has been a panelist for discussions about the online and independent music industry.

He was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill on May 31, 2015. He performs regularly in NYC with the band Fatboy Kanootch which he co-founded with fellow NY Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Brian Mitchell.

Awards

New York Blues Hall of Fame Inductee, May 31, 2015


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6
Album Review

Michael Blake: Combobulate

Read "Combobulate" reviewed by Chris May


The instrumentation alone promises something out of the ordinary. Saxophone, two tubas, trumpet, trombone, drums. Then there are the musicians, luminaries of downtown New York jazz. Michael Blake, Bob Stewart, Marcus Rojas, Steven Bernstein, Clark Gayton, Allan Mednard. And within seconds of the needle descending on track one, side one, Combobulate starts delivering on the promise. The album is one of four marking the return of audiophile-vinyl label Newvelle after a two-year hiatus. The approximate meaning of its ...

9
Album Review

Juliet Varnedoe: Cajun Bleu

Read "Cajun Bleu" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


New York City vocalist Juliet Varnedoe has developed a keen feel for the collective music of New Orleans. Her first single from her self produced 2022 release Cajun Blue, “Mon Chéri" revealed an international approach to the regional music that freely mixed Dixieland with zydeco, the blues, and sleek Caribbean sounds, creating a languid, humid and organic breeze. On her follow-up single, “Sing High Sing Low," Varnedoe swerves hard into the direction of zydeco, taking full advantage of ...

7
Album Review

Juliet Varnedoe: Cajun Blue

Read "Cajun Blue" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


New York based singer songwriter Juliet Varnedoe has a plan. She has developed a New Orleans themed recording, Cajun Blue, which is to be released later this year, a collection of eight original blues and jazz songs combining the disparate influences of King Oliver Creole Band, the classical French chanson as realized by Blossom Dearie and Juliette Greco, with an alchemic shot of the cool scintillating vibe of Serge Gainsborough. In preparation for the delivery of Cajun Blue, Varnedoe is ...

9
Album Review

Monika Ryan: Windmills

Read "Windmills" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Jazz vocalist Monika Ryan has recorded a series of albums as leader since 2000 with the sensuous and audacious Windmills, a tribute to the lyrics of composers Alan and Marilyn Bergman, one of her latest projects. Voicing a repertoire of beautiful love songs and ballads, Ryan caresses the lyrics of each song with a measure of emotion and taste making for a vocal jazz album that's a pleasure to hear often. Supporting her crisp vocal instrument are a ...

181
Album Review

Ben Allison & Medicine Wheel: Buzz

Read "Buzz" reviewed by Rob Cline


Despite its moderate tempo, “Respiration," the opening track on Buzz, sets an insistent tone that drives the album’s first three tracks. Bassist Ben Allison penned all three charts, which feature tight, energetic ensemble playing by the six-piece band as well as plenty of open space for improvisation, including a textured piano solo by Frank Kimbrough on “Respiration" and a blistering tenor solo by either Michael Blake or Ted Nash (the promo copy of the disc does not specify) on “Buzz." ...

224
Album Review

Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel: Buzz

Read "Buzz" reviewed by John Kelman


On the fourth album with his group Medicine Wheel bassist Ben Allison continues to push the boundaries of structured music with a programme of six originals and one Beatles cover. With a straightforward sound that belies a richer complexity, Allison continues to present invention masked in simplicity, combining intelligence with emotional depth.

Buzz opens with Allison’s “Respiration,” a 9/4 piece that is insistent, with simple interweaving bass, piano and electric piano parts laying the groundwork for a snake-like horn theme ...

263
Album Review

Ben Allison: Buzz

Read "Buzz" reviewed by Jim Santella


Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel have a history of going against the grain, with their provocative form of New York jazz. Allison has said that “a composition should create a landscape in which a musician can freely explore and find an individual voice.”

With its fourth release, however, Medicine Wheel turns collective and moves its circle closer to the center. Voices move together as one. Pleasant harmony and smooth rhythms support simple melodies. Their “New York buzz” ...

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"If you are fond of reggae, ska, gospel, the b flat tuba and trombone, the explorations of Clark Gayton in these musics (sic) on these instruments will have you dancing and shouting hallelujah, his in-the-pocket rock-steady a smooth groove. Composer, arranger and keyboardist, Gayton also possesses a seductive blues palette authenticated by roots in the Mississippi riverboat tradition. That Mr. Gayton is a compelling jazz man goes without saying. Having first encountered him at nublu on NY's Lower East Side, I soon found myself looking forward to his then-weekly Tuesday nights. The band could always be counted on. Skankin'! Gayton's trombone is one of the mellowest since Lawrence Brown, supported by laid-back arrangements and solid composition. There is nothing amorphous about it - want to skank? Here it is.... Tradition seems to be at once Mr. Gayton's tool and his plaything: while the function of brass in the orchestra is to compel, Gayton's work on these instruments is subversive, delivering subtle lines of bebop wrapped carefully in a ska sandwich. Vocalist Dollarman rides these rhythms as easily as a mare. The brass, composition and arrangements are pop jewels. Gayton is indeed a man for all seasons and all persuasions when it comes to his music. Still, it's all about the skank. Listen if you will, to 'Just For You'. Gayton's organically metronomic tuba is a perfect foil for the others in the section. The blues guitar of Bill Sims must rank with the best." —John Farris

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Cajun Blue

Self Produced
2022

buy

Cajun Bleu

Self Produced
2022

buy

Combobulate

Newvelle Records
2022

buy

Windmills

Self Produced
2017

buy

Involution

Resensitize Records
2014

buy

Mon Chéri

From: Cajun Bleu
By Clark Gayton

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