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Clark Gayton

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This article is about the musician. For the Admiral of the Royal Navy, seeClark Gayton (Royal Navy officer).
Clark Gayton playing trombone
Clark Gayton, Buffalo, NY, 2009

Clark Gaytonis an American multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer and musicians' rights advocate.

Biography

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Born asCarver Clark Gayton Jr.to Carver Clark Gayton[1]and Mona Marie Lombard,[2]Clark Gayton is a professional musician (trombone,[3]euphonium, tuba, sousaphone, cornet, keyboards, piano), composer and producer.

Clark studied music withFloyd Standifer,JoAnn Christen, Curry Morrison,Julian Priester,Joe Braziland Buddy Catlet while attending Garfield High School.[4]After graduating from high school in 1981, Clark received a scholarship to attend theBerklee College of Music,where he studied withPhil Wilson,Tom Plsek and Tony Lada. He graduated in 1984 and moved to Oakland before moving to New York in 1987 where he lives to this day.[5]

Since living in New York, Clark has worked and recorded[6]with some of the finest jazz musicians in the world, such asCharles Tolliver,Lionel Hampton,Wynton Marsalis and JALC,McCoy Tyner,The Duke Ellington Orchestra,theMingus Big Band,Ted Nashand Odeon,Ben Allison & Medicine Wheel,Michael Blake,Brian Mitchell,Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra andSteven Bernstein/Henry Butlerand the Hot 9, theCarnegie Hall Jazz Band,theCount Basie Orchestra,Clark Terry,[7]Nancy Wilson,andRay Charles.[8]

In the early 2000s he joined theLevon HelmBand and performed at Helm's Midnight Ramblers concerts.

For several decades Gayton has toured and recorded toured withBruce Springsteen,joining in 1997 as part of theWe Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessionsband. He rejoined Springsteen several years later as a regular member of his touring band, playing both trombone and sousaphone.

Clark has recorded or performed withPrince,Rihanna,Brazilian Girls,Steel Pulse,Wyclef Jean,Queen Latifah,[9]Quincy Jones,Sting,[10]Sturgill Simpson,Whitney Houston,Stevie Wonder,Bruno Mars,Bette Midler,Nora Jones,Usher,Steve Van Zandt,Beyoncé,Santana,[11]Maxwell,The Skatalites,andBad Brains,to name a few.

Gayton is a staple on the New York City music scene often creating a regular series at local bars and clubs including the Parkside Lounge, 55Bar, Bar Lunatico andNublu.[12]While he has led several bands, most notable is the Jamaican music inspired project Explorations in Dub,.[13]

Gayton has appeared in the moviesMalcolm X,[14]Sweet and Lowdown,[15]andKansas City.[16]

Gayton's most recent TV work was playing in the burlesque band on the seriesThe Marvelous Mrs. Maiselseasons 4 and 5.

It was reported in March 2023 that Gayton had recently suffered a very seriousstroke.AGoFundMepage was set up to help raise money for his rehabilitation.

Family influence and early music history

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He is the son of Carver Clark Gayton[1]and Mona Marie Lombard[2]and is the great-grandnephew of the legendary New Orleans musician,Manuel "Fess" Manetta.[17]

The first two professionally trained musicians on his maternal side were Jules and Deuce Manetta who founded the Pickwick Brass Band and played cornet and trombone, respectively. Deuce, trained classically in France, was said to be the first slide trombone player in New Orleans. Valve trombone was the instrument of choice at the time. Their nephew was Manuel Manetta. He began on violin and guitar but did his first paid work as a pianist for CountessWillie Piazza.He played withBuddy Boldenin 1903. By 1910 he had mastered cornet, saxophone, and trombone. Manuel played at Tuxedo Hall with the Eagle band. He went to Chicago in 1913, then returned to New Orleans, played locally for five years. He went to Los Angeles in November 1919 to joinKid Ory.He returned home shortly afterwards and toured as pianist for with Martels' Family Band, then played piano inEd Allen's Band on riverboats. He settled down in New Orleans where his versatility and musicianship enabled him to work with many bands and orchestras, includingPapa Celestin's, Arnold Du Pas andManual Perez's, and solo work atLulu White's.[18]

In later years he became the most renowned teacher in New Orleans. He gave occasional public appearances well into his seventies, making a specialty of playing two brass instruments simultaneously. Manuel had a sister, Olivia, who had a son, Lawrence (trombone), and three daughters: Lucille (Clark's grandmother, piano), Dolly (Adams, played all instruments, mother of Justin, Placide, and Gerry Adams), and Gladys (piano). All were born inAlgiers.[19]

Discography

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  • Clark Gayton & Neatherealm –Don't Try To Question1995 (Ritual, Ltd.)
  • Neatherealm –JahMerican Jazz(Ritual, Ltd.)
  • Clark Gayton –Walk the Water1999 (Ritual, Ltd.)
  • Clark Gayton –Sankofa!2003 (Ritual, Ltd.)
  • Clark Gayton –Best of Clark Gayton2008 (Ritual, Ltd.)
  • Clark and the SuperSlicks- "New York" 2013 (Ritual, LTD)

As sideman

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References

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  1. ^abBeers, Carole (October 18, 1998)."Obituaries | Music, Church, Charity Filled The Life Of Lucille Lombard".Community.seattletimes.nwsource.com.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  2. ^"Clark Gayton".Trombone-usa.com. July 1, 2008.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  3. ^"july2006.indd"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on September 27, 2011.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  4. ^Tom Lord. "The Jazz Discography" (North Country Distributors, 1992)ISBN1-881993-01-9,ISBN978-1-881993-01-8
  5. ^"Clark Gayton Discography at Discogs".Discogs.com.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  6. ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon May 7, 2006.RetrievedDecember 11,2008.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^All About Jazz."Clark Gayton | Jazz | Trombone".Allaboutjazz.com. Archived fromthe originalon January 18, 2009.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  8. ^"Black Reign Music Guide – WikiMusicGuide, your music wiki".Wikimusicguide.com.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  9. ^"SYNCHRONIsite - Picture Gallery".October 27, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon October 27, 2009.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  10. ^He performed also for the video "Smooth" featuringRob Thomas.https://www.youtube.com/v/gpX97eg-W-k&hl=en&fs=1
  11. ^"Nublu".Nublu. October 11, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon November 12, 2011.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  12. ^"- YouTube".YouTube.
  13. ^Member of Lionel Hampton band (name misspelled)"Malcolm X (1992)".Archived fromthe originalon June 5, 2009.RetrievedDecember 11,2008.
  14. ^"Sweet and Lowdown: Credits".Sonypictures.com. Archived fromthe originalon June 5, 2011.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  15. ^"Rhapsody Productions Inc".Rhapsody.web-enabled.com. Archived fromthe originalon October 5, 2011.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  16. ^[1]ArchivedSeptember 5, 2008, at theWayback Machine
  17. ^"storyville madams".Storyvilledistrict.tripod.com. February 14, 1914.RetrievedOctober 20,2011.
  18. ^Ogren, Kathy J. (1989).The jazz revolution twenties America & the meaning of jazz.New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-507479-6.
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