Six-time GRAMMY-nominated pianist-composer and recent Blue Note Artist Gerald Clayton develops musical narratives that unfold as a result of both deliberate searching and chance uncovering.
“A stunning pianist, a gifted composer” — DownBeat
Gerald Clayton searches for honest expression in every note. With harmonic curiosity and critical awareness, he develops musical narratives that unfold as a result of both deliberate searching and chance uncovering. The six-time GRAMMY-nominated pianist and composer and recent Blue Note Artist formally began his musical journey at the prestigious Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA), where he received the 2002 Presidential Scholar of the Arts Award.
Continuing his scholarly pursuits, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance at USC’s Thornton School of Music under the instruction of piano icon Billy Childs, following a year of intensive study with NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron at The Manhattan School of Music. Clayton won second place in the 2006 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Piano Competition.
“A young star” — Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times
Expansion has become part of Clayton’s artistic identity. His music is a celebration of inherent differences in musical perspectives that promote true artistic synergy. Inclusive sensibilities have allowed him to perform and record with such distinctive artists as Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, Dianne Reeves, Terence Blanchard, John Scofield, Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Bernstein, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gretchen Parlato, Ben Wendel, and the Clayton Brothers Quintet. Clayton also has enjoyed an extended association since early 2013, touring and recording with saxophone legend Charles Lloyd.
“Compelling and urgent”— WBGO’s Nate Chinen on Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard
Clayton’s discography as a leader reflects his evolution as an artist. His debut recording, Two Shade (ArtistShare), earned a 2010 GRAMMY nomination for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for his arrangement of Cole Porter’s “All of You.”
“Battle Circle,” his composition featured on The Clayton Brothers’ recording The New Song and Dance (ArtistShare), received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Composition in 2011.
He received 2012 and 2013 GRAMMY nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Bond: The Paris Sessions (Concord) and Life Forum (Concord), his second and third album releases. In 2021, Clayton earned nominations for Best Improvised Jazz Solo and Best Jazz Instrumental Album for his debut release on Blue Note Records Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard.
“A thoroughly enthralling album” — DownBeat on Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard
Capturing the truth in each moment’s conception of sound comes naturally to Clayton. The son of beloved bass player and composer John Clayton, he enjoyed a familial apprenticeship from an early age. Clayton honors the legacy of his father and all his musical ancestors through a commitment to artistic exploration, innovation, and reinvention. A mentor himself, he engages students at all levels of development. Most recently, Monterey Jazz Festival Artistic Director.
Tim Jackson appointed Clayton Director of Next Generation Jazz Orchestra whose full-band rehearsals pivoted to Zoom during the pandemic. The prolific band leader also has served as Musical Director of the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour, a project that featured his trio along with Ravi Coltrane, Nicholas Payton, Terence Blanchard and Raul Midón on guitar and vocals.
In 2016-17, Clayton turned his imaginative curiosity toward uncovering the essence of the Piedmont Blues experience and expression in early 20th Century Durham. A Duke University commission, Clayton’s evening-length composition explores a mixed media performance engaging some of the most resonating voices in contemporary music. Piedmont Blues has appeared across the United States at Modlin Center for the Arts, Savannah Music Festival, Music Center at Strathmore, Sheen Center and Centrum’s Jazz Port Townsend.
“Clayton’s piano contributions, in their wild, free-spilling, lyrical aspiration, are consistently stunning” — JazzTimes
Clayton expanded his fascination with mixed media in 2019 when he received a commission from Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) to compose a musical pendant for visual artist Charles White’s “5 Great American Negroes”mural. Seeking to bring race and racial tensions to the surface for his audiences, Clayton titled the quintet project White Cities: A Musical Tribute to Charles White. His intention for the piece is one of beauty and engagement as well as introspection and discomfort.
Throughout the pandemic, Clayton has continued aligning his work with social inquiry and unrest and the fragmentation of progress. In January 2020, he began work on the critically acclaimed score for Sam Pollard’s award-winning documentary MLK/FBI which garnered international praise for its stark, honest handling of a subject matter that often receives incomplete treatment or outright erasure. The emotional resonance of Clayton’s score imbues the film with subtle, lingering moments of struggle and humanity, and helps capture a complex arc of an enduring subject.
“Clayton approaches…with pensive grace as he slowly unravels thick, striking chords” — DownBeat
Clayton looks forward to continuing to populate an international tour schedule for his latest projects, as well as pursuing new musical and interdisciplinary concepts and collaborations. To keep up with Clayton’s tour schedule, visit his frequently updated calendar and follow his social channels.
By the Way Berkshires is a digital magazine exploring creative life and community — art and performance, food and the outdoors — and I’m writing it for you, with local voices, because I’ve gotten to know this rich part of the world as a writer and journalist, and I want to share it with you.
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Stella Levi tells Michael Frank stories of the Juderia, the neighborhood on the Greek island of Rhodes where she’d grown up in a Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium.
Stella Levi tells Michael Frank stories of the Juderia, the neighborhood on the Greek island of Rhodes where she’d grown up in a Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium.
Bud Wobus, professor emeritus of Geology at Williams College, leads a geology presentation and walk looking at thje history of the granite slabs of the Manton Research Center and Tadao Ando-designed Clark Center.
Adapted from Kent Haruf’s novel, 'Our Souls at Night,' this World Premiere musical tells the joyful story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together in a search for happiness and family.
Along with the Clark’s major summer exhibition, Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth, Manton Curator Anne Leonard presents the Clark’s full set of Munch's works on paper.
Adapted from Kent Haruf’s novel, 'Our Souls at Night,' this World Premiere musical tells the joyful story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together in a search for happiness and family.
The Clark offers free watercolor painting — walk through Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth and pick up a miniature watercolor kit and try plein air painting outdoors.
The West Stockbridge Farmers Market offers fresh produce — fruits and vegetables in season, eggs, meats and cheeses, breads and baked goods, fudge and jams and more.
The museum serves local brews in artist Dean Baldwin’s-sculpture-turned-river-side-beer-garden, one night each week, with live local music outdoors under the stars.
Mass MoCA Senior Curator Susan Cross holds a conversation with American photographer Holly Lynton on Lynton’s first book, Bare Handed, a portrait of rural life throughout 21st-century America.
Murder and madness will haunt the Tina Packer Playhouse as Shakespeare & Company presents a three-performance reading of William Shakespeare’s tragedy.
The Sheffield Farmers Market returns outdoors with some 20 vendors — from pickles, seasonings and garlic, to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine, baked fresh wheat-free breads, local meats, honey and maple syrup and more.
Naumkeag will lead a Mindfulness in Nature series each Friday in summer, July 7 through September 8, with Sandrine Harris, meeting in the Afternoon Garden.
The Knights return to the Clark to celebrate the Edvard Munch with a selection of music from fellow Norwegian Edvard Grieg, Antonín Dvořák, Frederick Delius (a friend of Munch's) and more.
Anima, an immersive multidisciplinary installation by French visual artist/photographer Noémie Goudal, theater director Maëlle Poésy, circus artist Chloé Moglia, and composer Chloé Thévenin, reflects on the history of the earth’s climate.
Interweaving the classic songs and jams of The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band and The Band, Dead Man’s Waltz celebrates the crossover between The Dead, The Allmans and The Band.
Murder and madness will haunt the Tina Packer Playhouse as Shakespeare & Company presents a three-performance reading of William Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Explore author Edith Wharton's estate, including the woods, wetlands, and meadows that may have inspired her writing, and learn to know birds by sight and sound.
The West Stockbridge Farmers Market offers fresh produce — fruits and vegetables in season, eggs, meats and cheeses, breads and baked goods, fudge and jams and more.
The Sheffield Farmers Market returns outdoors with some 20 vendors — from pickles, seasonings and garlic, to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine, baked fresh wheat-free breads, local meats, honey and maple syrup and more.
Naumkeag will lead a Mindfulness in Nature series each Friday in summer, July 7 through September 8, with Sandrine Harris, meeting in the Afternoon Garden.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
Housatonic Heritage explores the past, present and future in the Berkshires, in open spaces and downtowns, historic sites and trails. Walks set out from many places between Pittsfield and Northwest Connecticut, and all of them are free.
Housatonic Heritage explores the past, present and future in the Berkshires, in open spaces and downtowns, historic sites and trails. Walks set out from many places between Pittsfield and Northwest Connecticut, and all of them are free.
Hershey Felder’s Beethoven takes audiences on a journey through Beethoven's life and work as a composer in 19th century Vienna, from his boyhood to his last years.
Naumkeag's horticulturist will lead a after-hours tour of the gardens while sipping on a glass of wine. Each month will offer a different topic for the garden.
The West Stockbridge Farmers Market offers fresh produce — fruits and vegetables in season, eggs, meats and cheeses, breads and baked goods, fudge and jams and more.
Alyssa Sakina Mumtaz speaks on Verse of Light: Resonances Between Islamic Art and the Shakers, along with the Stillness and Light Photography Exhibition.
Mass MoCA's artists-in-residence show their work at The Studios — where you may wander into surreal worlds, find kindship in nature and multimeda performance, follow an artist's journey from Delhi to Lahore ...
The Sheffield Farmers Market returns outdoors with some 20 vendors — from pickles, seasonings and garlic, to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine, baked fresh wheat-free breads, local meats, honey and maple syrup and more.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
Funk, rock and reggae group the Feathers are back after seven years with Berkshire musicians Jordan Weller, Rob Sanzone, Joe Rose, Miles Lally and Tom Parker.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
Dewey Hall and Michael Lesko are partnering to revive a monthly open-mic-meets-variety show with an open creative soirée and a talented headlining act.
The West Stockbridge Farmers Market offers fresh produce — fruits and vegetables in season, eggs, meats and cheeses, breads and baked goods, fudge and jams and more.
Justin Adkins and Arianna Alexsandra Collins of HooRWA will lead a walk along the Hoosic River, identifying wild edible and medicinal plants and fungi.
Botanist Ted Elliman will lead a workshop and field trip to look closely at kinds of goldenrods and asters, striking and vivid blooms in late summer and fall landscapes.
Dream Away invites you to start your weekend jumping early with dance grooves all night long. Come to the deep woods disco and let it all hang out with DJ BFG.
FreshGrass returns with a lineup of classic bluegrass, folk, world and international musicians — Grammy-winning vocalist and banjoist Rhiannon Giddens, the Dropkick Murphys and many more.
The Sheffield Farmers Market returns outdoors with some 20 vendors — from pickles, seasonings and garlic, to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine, baked fresh wheat-free breads, local meats, honey and maple syrup and more.
Sonoro performs a blend of jazz, latin, and classical music, bringing a jazz-like freedom and Latin emotion to classical works to make them new and unexpected.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
The Black Legacy Projct band kicks off their first tour with an album release show on Fridayat the Guthrie Center - literally where the Black LP journey began.
FreshGrass returns with a lineup of classic bluegrass, folk, world and international musicians — Grammy-winning vocalist and banjoist Rhiannon Giddens, the Dropkick Murphys and many more.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
Housatonic Heritage explores the past, present and future in the Berkshires, in open spaces and downtowns, historic sites and trails. Walks set out from many places between Pittsfield and Northwest Connecticut, and all of them are free.
FreshGrass returns with a lineup of classic bluegrass, folk, world and international musicians — Grammy-winning vocalist and banjoist Rhiannon Giddens, the Dropkick Murphys and many more.
Hancock Shaker Village will celebrate the beauty of Autumn in the Berkshires at their annual Country Fair with family entertainment, live music and dance performances, workshops and more.
Berkshire potters will open their studios, welcoming all comers to meet the makers and learn about the craft in a free weekend with demonstrations and guest artists.
Housatonic Heritage explores the past, present and future in the Berkshires, in open spaces and downtowns, historic sites and trails. Walks set out from many places between Pittsfield and Northwest Connecticut, and all of them are free.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
A collective of formerly incarcerated women and theater artists are co-creating an original theater piece, working with theater makers through the 2nd Street organization in Pittsfield.
A collective of formerly incarcerated women and theater artists are co-creating an original theater piece, working with theater makers through the 2nd Street organization in Pittsfield.
A collective of formerly incarcerated women and theater artists are co-creating an original theater piece, working with theater makers through the 2nd Street organization in Pittsfield.
In Sanaz Toossi's 2023 Pulitzer prizewinning play, four students meet regularly in a classroom in Iran, preparing to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language proficiency exam.
The West Stockbridge Farmers Market offers fresh produce — fruits and vegetables in season, eggs, meats and cheeses, breads and baked goods, fudge and jams and more.
Before her appearance at the 2023 Brooklyn Book Festival, Finnish illustrator, writer and visual artist Marika Maijala joins Mass MoCA for an artist talk on Rosie Runsand hands-on silkscreen with Gary Lichtenstein.
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, Copenhagen, explores the events surrounding a fateful meeting between two of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century: Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg.
In Sanaz Toossi's 2023 Pulitzer prizewinning play, four students meet regularly in a classroom in Iran, preparing to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language proficiency exam.
The Sheffield Farmers Market returns outdoors with some 20 vendors — from pickles, seasonings and garlic, to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine, baked fresh wheat-free breads, local meats, honey and maple syrup and more.
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, Copenhagen, explores the events surrounding a fateful meeting between two of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century: Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
In Sanaz Toossi's 2023 Pulitzer prizewinning play, four students meet regularly in a classroom in Iran, preparing to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language proficiency exam.
Chocolate peanut butter cookies, fresh flowers, jams and pickles and cheeses ... the North Adams Farmers Market returns weekly with more than a dozen farmers and makers.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
In Sanaz Toossi's 2023 Pulitzer prizewinning play, four students meet regularly in a classroom in Iran, preparing to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language proficiency exam.
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, Copenhagen, explores the events surrounding a fateful meeting between two of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century: Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg.
On a summer night, in the middle of a field on their midwest farm, a long-married couple sits on folding chairs to observe the seven stages of a lunar eclipse.
Band leader Isaac Stanford brings fellow Philadelphia musicians, including David Streim and Freddie Berman from the Amos Lee band, to learn a selection of old steel guitar instrumentals.
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