Known as a pioneering vocalist of the free jazz movement, singer Jay Clayton has been in the forefront of new music as well as the American songbook over the years. She is known through her work with Vocal Summit starting in the 1980’s and her duo records with drummer Jerry Granelli as well as fellow singer Sheila Jordan. For this evening, she will perform music from her lengthy career with an incredible band of musicians, many of which are legends themselves. 

Jay Clayton: vocals
Gary Versace: piano
Ed Neumeister: trombone
Jay Anderson: double bass
Billy Drummond: drums

Jay Clayton is an internationally acclaimed vocalist, composer, and educator, whose work boldly spans the terrain between jazz and new music. Clayton’s pioneering vocal explorations placed her at the forefront of the free jazz movement and loft scene in the 1970s, where she counted among the first singers to incorporate poetry and electronics into her improvisations. She formed a long-term association with renowned minimalist composer Steve Reich.

With more than 40 recordings to her credit, Clayton has appeared alongside such formidable artists as Muhal Richard Abrams, Kirk Nurock, Stanley Cowell, Lee Konitz, and Fred Hersch, as well as fellow vocalists Jeanne Lee, Norma Winstone, Urszula Dudziak, and Bobby McFerrin. Clayton currently records for Sunnyside and her most recent album, Brooklyn 2000, met with enthusiastic critical praise. Her many accomplishments include grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, and Chamber Music America (2004). She has worked with thousands of students in the United States and across the globe.