- Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

2010 Grammy nominee for Best Improvised Jazz Solo, Gerald Clayton stakes his claim in the history and the present of this vital music with the following words, “Tradition and innovation can peacefully coexist.” His dynamic and award-winning sound has been praised by the Jazz Times and Los Angeles Times. The New York Times has saluted his “Oscar-Peterson like style” and “huge, authoritative presence”, and he was recently voted first place for “Rising Star – Pianist” in Down Beat Magazine’s 2010 Critics Poll.

As a composer, Clayton’s work has been commissioned by the Jazz Gallery in New York City and performed overseas by the BBC Orchestra. He has been honored with a Level 1 award by the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts (NFAA), the title “Presidential Scholar in the Arts,” and second place in the Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Piano Competition.

Clayton will be touring throughout 2011 in support of Bond, his January, 2011 release.