Life Forum Gerald Clayton

• 1Life Forum02:52
• 2Future Reflection04:52
• 3Shadamanthem06:37
• 4Sir Third04:18
• 5Deep Dry Ocean05:27
• 6Dusk Baby05:39
• 7Mao Nas Massa04:47
• 8Prelude00:59
• 9Some Always05:37
• 10Like Water05:16
• 11Unhidden03:57
• 12When an Angel Sheds a Feather05:31
• 13Ummg03:56
• Total Runtime59:48

Info for Life Forum

Gerald Clayton 'Life Forum' is a 12-song set combining Clayton's highly skilled trio members, bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Justin Brown with saxophonists Logan Richardson and Dayna Stephens and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. Vocalists Gretchen Parlato and Sachal Vasandani and poet Carl Hancock Rux complete the ensemble.

Clayton is an artist who does not work in a vacuum. Clayton is recognized by peers and public alike to hungrily seek opportunities which allow for creative musical exchanges with other artists. And he understands that any successful artistic venture requires listening as much as expressing, open-mindedness as well as respect for the input of others. It requires leadership and, most importantly, demands a shared love for the art form and each other. Clayton understands that these are the conditions that create a forum for something truly magical to emerge.

Clayton's recording, Life Forum, testifies to these values.

As Clayton states, 'From everyone's high level of musicality, open ears, creativity and love for one another has emerged a product that is so much more than the sum of its parts.' He adds, 'This record is about gathering my favorite musicians and giving them the best platform to explore and openly express themselves. I take the same concepts and values that lead to creative expression as a credo to live by, hence Life Forum.'

Clayton considers Life Forum possibly his most ambitious album to date, which is no small claim considering the artistic and commercial success of Two Shade, his Grammy-nominated 2009 debut album, followed by the equally acclaimed 2011 - also Grammy-nominated - Bond: The Paris Sessions (he received a third nomination in 2012 for his composition, Battle Circle, written for The Clayton Brothers). 'I am writing more now than I have ever done before,' he says. 'Working with a larger ensemble for this album meant a great deal of preparation. Ben Wendel, who produced the record, was extremely helpful. I really admire his playing and his writing, so I knew I would value his musical feedback. He and I got together prior to the sessions to talk in detail about the music and map out exactly what needed to happen and at what time during the recording session. Organizationally, and in terms of the writing involved, creating this album was much more demanding than my previous records.'

And yet, Life Forum seems so effortless, from the very first title track that leads off the setː supported by the powerful musical undercurrent provided by the musicians, Carl Hancock Rux's spoken word performance describes Life Forum as, 'This is the map, old paths to new dangers, a place for passion reserved, for brief touches, for remembering love diminished, for freedom...'

The subsequent track 'Future Reflection' rides a wave that is slightly more up-tempo and intense, with Parlato and Vasandani delivering an ephemeral chant above the persistent interplay between Clayton's trio and the three horn players.

In the impressionistic 'Sir Third,' the spaces between the notes seem to matter as much as the notes themselves. Demonstrating the trio's now famous chemistry and cohesiveness, we witness them working as if taking a collective solo while still maintaining the groove.

'Dusk Baby' starts off as a gentle solo piano ballad with atmospheric lyrics delivered expertly by Vasandani's light-as-a-feather vocal style. Midway through, Brown and saxophonist Dayna Stephens conjure up an energetic interlude, then step back to allow piano and vocal to finish out the track.

'Mao Nas Massa' combines a lighthearted piano melody with a persistent drum pattern. Conjuring up the feeling of a Brazilian samba, this song demonstrates the beauty of casual interplay between the two musicians.

'Some Always' packs enough brass and rhythmic punch to classify as an 'anthem.' Clayton comments: 'I worked on that for a while, just coming up with different voicings for that melody,' he says. 'There is a recurring melody throughout the whole song, with solos being played on top. I also wrote a solo section where Ambrose and I play a single-note solo together. That was a new approach for me.' This is definitely a track which stands out.

'When an Angel Sheds a Feather,' a vocal duet with Parlato and Vasandani, is everything the title suggests - otherworldly and lighter than air. Clayton's accompaniment provides a musical cushion for the voices, supporting their melodies with lush colors and tantalizing lines. Vasandani's lyric is appropriately tender and beautiful.

'All of my projects are personal,' says Clayton and Life Forum is his most recent and arguably most revealing to date. 'All of the tunes in this collection are my originals and are inspired by events in my life, especially by love and life transitions. It was my intention that these very personally inspired compositions would provide a forum for a group of amazingly creative artists to express themselves in a spirit of freedom, open mindedness and harmony. All life experiences and interactions offer us the chance for the development of tolerance, love, honesty, compassion and acceptance. Personally, the creation of this album has been an extraordinary opportunity for growth.'

Gerald Clayton, piano & keyboards
Joe Sanders, bass
Justin Brown, drums
Logan Richardson, saxophones
Dayna Stephens, saxophones
Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet
Gretchen Parlato, vocals
Sachal Vasandani, vocals
Carl Hancock Rux, spoken word

Gerald Clayton
Over the course of eight years, with three albums as a leader, several studio projects as a sideman, and countless worldwide performances, pianist and composer Gerald Clayton has established himself as a leading figure in the up-and-coming generation of jazz artists who are fluent in the range of styles that make up today´s jazz lexicon. Hailed by The New York Times for his "huge, authoritative presence," Clayton is well on his way toward etching his own enduring mark in the long and rich tradition of jazz. Never has this been more apparent than in Life Forum, his latest recording on Concord Jazz and his most ambitious project to date.

Born in the Netherlands in 1984 and raised in Southern California, Clayton took his first piano lessons before age seven with the full support and encouragement of his father, the acclaimed jazz bassist, composer and bandleader, John Clayton. Music was a central part of his life from as long as he can remember and it became a lifetime commitment very early on:

"I was in the third grade, and there was a talent show where I played a boogie-woogie piece that my dad had written for me," he recalls. "It was the first time that I played for an audience where I felt that people were really moved by something that I had just played. I remember thinking, ´Yep, this is what I´ll be doing for the rest of my life.´"

Clayton attended the L.A. County High School for the Arts and then enrolled at the USC Thornton School of Music. In the midst of his third year at USC, he temporarily relocated to New York to study at the Manhattan School of Music. "I knew I was eventually going to move to New York," he says, "so I thought it would be a good idea to experience the city for a year as a student." After returning to L.A. for a year and a half to finish his degree, he moved back to New York permanently.

In 2006, Gerald received the second place prize in the prestigious Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz Piano Competition. Around that time, he was introduced to trumpeter Roy Hargrove when they were both featured artists at a performance of the Henry Mancini Orchestra. "We were backstage during one of the rehearsals, and we started playing some duets," recalls Clayton. "After that I would see him from time to time in New York, and he would say, ´Great that you´re in New York now. I´ll call you.´ That was how things started."

The association resulted in three years of extensive touring with Hargrove between 2006 and 2009, and appearances on Hargrove´s recordings, Earfood (2008) and Emergence (2009). Gerald also appeared on recordings by several other artists, such as Diana Krall, Ambrose Akinmusire, Kendrick Scott, Melissa Morgan, Terell Stafford & Dick Oatts, and more recently Michael Rodriguez, Dayna Stephens, Terri Lyne Carrington, and the Clayton Brothers Quintet, led by his father and his uncle, saxophonist Jeff Clayton. Gerald continues to perform regularly with the Clayton Brothers.

In 2009, he released Two Shade, his debut album as a leader, with bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Justin Brown. Sanders and Brown have remained with him for his two subsequent records. It was from this recording that Gerald received a 2010 Grammy nomination in the category of ´Best Improvised Jazz Solo´ for his rendition of Cole Porter´s "All of You."

In 2011, Gerald received a second Grammy nomination, this time for ´Best Jazz Instrumental Composition´, for his piece "Battle Circle" featured on the Clayton Brothers recording, The New Song and Dance.

The same year, Clayton released his second album, Bond: The Paris Sessions. While the expectations may have been high in the aftermath of the acclaimed debut album, Clayton recalls the album coming together organically and with a minimum of stress. "You hear people talk about the curse of the sophomore album, but recording that album – and the whole process leading up to it – was very natural for us as a trio. We´d been touring a great deal at the time and spending a lot of time together, so going into the studio and catching that vibe was completely natural." Bond received a Grammy nomination, Gerald´s third, in 2012 for ´Best Jazz Instrumental Album´.

Life Forum, set for release in April 2013, "might be the most ambitious album yet," states Clayton. "Conceptualizing the music for a group of eight musicians was a new experience for me, and it required more preparation than I was accustomed to. With the addition of lyrics to three of the tunes, as well as some other post-production work, this project has been a departure from my previous two. I´m doing more writing now than I´ve ever done before, and working with Ben Wendel, who produced the record, was very helpful. I really admire his playing and his writing. He and I got together prior to the sessions to talk about the music and map out what I needed to do to get it recorded. In that sense, it was more demanding than the previous records."

This album contains no booklet.