JAY CLAYTON Project singing the jazz standards and beyond.... with newest collaborator GARY THOMAS
Jay Clayton- Vocals Gary Thomas - Saxophone/flute Tim Murphy - Piano Mike Formanek - Bass Nasar Abadey - Drums

Internationally acclaimed Jazz veterans, vocalist, Jay Clayton and saxophonist, Gary Thomas with their stellar jazz compatiriots from the faculty of the Peabody Jazz Studies Dept, bring their exciting improvisational approach to jazz standards and originals. With Mike Formanek on bass, Timothy Murphy on piano, and Nasar Abadey on drums

“Clayton is an important singer…one who proposed dramatic changes in vocal styles and roles…her musicianship is impeccable.” Francis Davis – Downbeat

Jay Clayton is a vocalist, composer and educator whose work boldly spans the terrain between jazz and new music. He has had a long-term association with minimalist composer Steve Reich and she was one of the first singers to record composer John Cage’s vocal music. Jay has more than 40 recordings to her credit, with such artists as Muhal Richard Abrams, Julian Priester, George Cables, Lee Konitz, Gary Bartz, and Kirk Nurock, as well as fellow vocalists Jeanne Lee, Norma Winstone, Urszula Dudziak, and Bobby McFerrin. Her album “Circle Dancing” was named by Downbeat Magazine as one of the top 30 vocal jazz albums of all time. She teaches vocal jazz at Peabody Institute.

Gary Thomas is an internationally known tenor saxophonist, flutist, educator and founder and director of the jazz studies degree program at Peabody Institute. Gary Thomas has traveled the globe as both a leader and a sideman, with performance and recording credits alongside the likes of Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette, John McLaughlin, Dennis Chambers, Pat Metheny, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jim Hall, Dave Holland, Nana Vasconcelos, Ron Carter, Vinnie Colaiuta, Billy Hart, Wynton Marsalis, David Sanborn, Joe Lovano, Geri Allen, Joshua Redman, Bobby McFerrin, Sam Rivers, Vanessa Williams, Betty Carter, George Benson, McCoy Tyner, Randy Brecker, James Newton, Jeff Watts, Marvin "Smitty"Smith, Patrice Rushen, Kevin Eubanks, Greg Osby, John Scofield, Tony Williams, Kenny Garrett, Jimmy Smith, Steve Coleman, John Patitucci, Ravi Coltrane. In addition to 11 recording dates as a leader, his work on more than 80 recordings as a featured sideman reflects his status as one of the most coveted saxophonists on the jazz scene today. Two of his recordings as a leader, By Any Means Necessary and While the Gate Is Open, were named best recordings of the 1990s by Downbeat Magazine. He has been a member of the Herbie Hancock Quartet since 2002. As Director of Jazz Studies at Peabody he is guiding a new generation of jazz musicians toward finding their own sound.