John Clayton

One of the pillars of The Jazz Cruise for 20+ years, bassist, composer, arranger and producer, John Clayton, is a busy man. With a Grammy® on his shelf and nine additional nominations, artists such as Diana Krall, Paul McCartney, Regina Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gladys Knight, Queen Latifah, and Charles Aznavour have all had spots on his crowded calendar. In 1985 John co-founded the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and rekindled The Clayton Brothers Quintet. In addition to individual clinics, workshops, and private students as schedule permits, John also directs the educational components associated with the Centrum Jazz Workshop and Vail Jazz Workshop. Career highlights include arranging the ‘Star Spangled Banner” for Whitney Houston’s performance at Super Bowl 1990 (the recording went platinum), playing bass on Paul McCartney’s album Kisses On The Bottom, arranging and playing bass with Yo-Yo Ma and Friends on Songs of Joy and Peace, and arranging playing and conducting the Charles Aznavour With the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra album, and numerous recordings with the Clayton Brothers, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Milt Jackson, Monty Alexander and many others.

John’s contribution to the education of young musicians is legendary and he has recently added Creative Director of Vail Jazz Organization to his many titles and undertakings. For many years now, John has overseen Anita’s Big Band during the cruise, which requires him to come up with entirely new arrangements and to conduct that large ensemble of all-star musicians for numerous shows during the week. Only John could do it…and do it so well.

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