Gail Boyd

Fest Honors Detroit's Jazz Legacy

In the past two years the Detroit International Jazz Festival has showcased Detroit's jazz tradition alongside those of Chicago and Philadelphia. But the 2009 festival -- the 30th anniversary of the event -- is all about the home team.

The annual Labor Day weekend festival is marking its landmark birthday by doubling down on its celebration of Detroit. Most notably, the festival has commissioned its 2009 artist-in-residence, bassist and composer John Clayton, to write a major work that pays homage to icons of Detroit jazz history and the city's architecture -- the Pontiac-bred Jones brothers (Hank, Thad and Elvin) and the Guardian Building in downtown Detroit.

The commission, funded by a $50,000 grant from the Joyce Foundation of Chicago, will be given its world premiere on the closing night of the festival Sept. 7 by the Clayton Brothers Quintet and the Detroit-based Scott Gwinnell Jazz Orchestra. The piece will be cast as a concerto grosso -- a small body of soloists working within the fabric of a large ensemble. The commission, the first of its kind for the Detroit festival, represents another step forward in its expanding artistic ambitions.

The 2009 festival will also focus on great families in jazz and include at least one other commissioned work, according to festival executive director Terri Pontremoli. The lineup will be announced in April. The 2009 festival will be Sept. 4-7 at Hart Plaza and the downtown core. Admission is free.

Pianist Hank Jones, a leading figure who turned 90 in 2008 and was scheduled to perform at last year's festival but canceled, is on the festival's want list but not yet confirmed. His younger brothers, Elvin Jones (1927-2004), a drummer, and Thad Jones (1923-86), a composer, trumpeter and bandleader, are both recognized as innovators.

The Joyce Foundation grant, which will be announced Tuesday, will also support residency activities for the Los Angeles-based Clayton, who will visit Detroit six or seven times to work with college and high school students and mentor Gwinnell, 34, an accomplished young composer, pianist and bandleader on the local scene.

Clayton, 56, is a bassist with a sound as big and warm as a bear hug. But he's best known as a charismatic composer and arranger and coleader of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, one of the finest big bands in jazz. He's a logical choice for the Detroit festival because he was deeply influenced by the big band writing of Thad Jones, is himself part of a notable jazz family -- his brother Jeff plays saxophone and his son Gerald is a fast-rising pianist -- and because he's a natural communicator.

"You want someone who is wonderful with people and students and are just pied pipers of a good time," said Pontremoli. "John makes people smile, and he's got chops like mad and can do all kinds of things."

The Detroit Jazz Festival, the largest free jazz festival in North America, is recognized nationally by critics and audiences as one of the country's leading festivals devoted to unadulterated jazz. Produced by the Detroit International Jazz Festival Foundation, founded by philanthropist Gretchen Valade, the quality of the festival has risen steadily since Pontremoli took the artistic reins in 2007, with thematic programming, an artist in residence and a broader menu of significant jazz musicians and styles.

The commission grew out of Pontremoli's desire to honor Detroit's jazz legacy. She brought the Guardian Building, an art deco masterpiece that symbolizes Detroit at its zenith, into the equation to enhance the appeal to the Joyce Foundation, which encourages cultural groups to reach beyond their core audiences. In this case, the festival is hoping to attract architectural aficionados.

The foundation supports the creation of new works by artists of color for cultural groups in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Festival leaders are also planning events under the umbrella of "Another Great Day in Detroit," including noontime concerts at the Guardian Building beginning in April and lectures and tours of the building. The first is a meet-the-artist party with Clayton at the Guardian Building on Feb. 10.

Written by Mark Stryker for the Detroit Free Press, Jan. 26, 2009

Contact MARK STRYKER at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Brother to Brother Review

The New York Times loves the Clayton Brother's new release: Brother to Brother! Read on to see why!
Read more...

John Clayton with Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma's newest record,
Songs of Joy and Peace,
has just been released
and features John Clayton
on bass. Click on the
link below to see a clip
of John with Ma and
the lovely Diana Krall.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfHTn_4SFw

Battle of the Bands

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 respect that are eager to share their artistic energy. And energetic it will be!

What good can come of two huge ensembles performing at the same time? It's all about color and texture, tension and release, inspiring and being affected. There will be sounds produced that you can't get from a smaller combination of instruments and I'm not speaking about the decibel level. There will be a warm, cushion-like sound that fills the room when a ballad is performed by the two bands together. There will be a refined wall of sound that will excite all listeners. But there will primarily be "The Vibe."

The mood, the feeling, the atmosphere communicated from the stage will be in the air in knife-cutting thickness. This mood thing is not
unfamiliar to us. We live for it, we lay for it, and we even spend money to be in the same room with it.

Listen to the bite of the brass, the grace and excitement of the saxes. Check out the drive of the rhythm sections. Feel the joy of the musicians. Put it together and you'll have that special vibe and mood.

The most popular collaboration between two big bands occurred when Count Basie met Duke Ellington in a NY studio in 1961. To understand the respect these top band leaders had for each other, observe what Ellington had to say about Basie on the day of their recording:

"The Count is a very dear friend," he announced regally. "I have known and admired him ever since he appeared at Edmond's in 1923. ...the Count was playing piano [there] when I first arrived in New York from Washington. Yes, he and I are very close. He's like a brother to me. Over the years I have developed a profound and total appreciation of the Count... I deem it a pleasure and an honor to have had him and his entire big, fat sound, swinging band as our house guests, as it were."

It is in this spirit that East meets West. It is in this spirit that unforgettable music will be made. It is in this spirit that music was written and rehearsed for audiences which came from near and far. And it is why, unlike other types of battles, this encounter finds 35 jazz artists getting together to combine their joy.

Listen for their styles, the compositions and arrangements they use to introduce the members, their dynamics, their swing (OMG, The Swing that we will all experience!), their attention to detail and more. When you allow yourself to flow with them, you will be transported to a place that will be fulfilling and memorable.

Duke and Count made history with their 1961 recording. 47 years later, the JLCO and CHJO will make history when they combine forces to laugh and play together. Oh,...and SWING!

JLCO and CHJO will be performing at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center from Oct. 23-25, 2008.

This article first appeared in All About Jazz: New York.

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