MJF's Interview with
JOHN CLAYTON
Social media networks for John Clayton:
"When selecting sidemen for the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, we look for sensitivity, a command in the use of dynamics, and a love to swing. We look for team players who do not just focus on themselves. We like for soloists to react to what we rhythm section players are playing. The musical ideas we feed them should affect the direction the music takes. Amongst the rhythm section players, it is our rule never to just concentrate on ourselves but instead to listen to the full group." - John Clayton
Artists Who Influenced
Jimmy Blanton
In autumn 1939, the twenty-one year old Blanton started playing on a regular basis at the Coronado Hotel Ballroom in St. Louis. According to Miles Davis, Blanton sat in one night with Davis during his stint with the Blue Devils, the house band at the Rhumboogie Club. It was on this night that Duke Ellington, in town for a concert, stopped by and impressed by the abilities of the young musician, signed Blanton immediately. - Allaboutjazz.com
Monty Alexander
"Louis Armstrong was number one. I loved his records and movies like "High Society." When he came to Jamaica and I saw him on stage, wow, that was a big moment for me. I also saw Nat Cole who also left a lasting impression on me. But even before that, I was listening to all kinds of music. It didn't have to be jazz. In Jamaica there were these local folk guys playing calypso. I used to love that. And then there were the musicians in the hotels. But as far as famous Americans, anyone who had that sense of, what's the word, poise and expertise and spirit were an inspiration to me." - Monty Alexander
Oscar Pettiford
"Oscar contended that the importance of the American Indian to jazz has been underestimated if not completely overlooked. He maintained that the 4/4 tempo, which after all is the basic beat of jazz, came directly from the American Indian; that, though it existed in European music, it was not used in the same way; and that African rhythms, supposedly the important ingredient, were of very different rhythmic nature." - Jacqueline Pettiford
Count Basie
"If you're going to come up with a new direction or a really new way to do something, you'll do it by just playing your stuff and letting it ride. The real innovators did their innovating by just being themselves." - Count Basie
Ray Brown
"Well, jazz is to me, a complete lifestyle. It's bigger than a word. It's a much bigger force than just something that you can say. It's something that you have to feel. It's something that you have to live." - Ray Brown
Ron Carter
"I've always treated each recording as a free lesson on how to organize the music, how to get the most out of the musicians and learning various ways of recording the instruments, so each session was important." - Ron Carter
Duke Ellington
"You've got to find some way of saying it without saying it." - Duke Ellington
Recommended Recordings
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