An acclaimed educator and vocalist whose inclusive outlook embraces jazz alongside modern creative forms, Jay Clayton deploys a three-octave instrument in strikingly personal ways, treating it as a wordless horn that navigates intricate, intellectually rigorous pieces with ethereal, frequently startling grace. After first appearing in New York clubs during the 1960s interpreting standards, she quickly aligned herself with forward-looking figures such as Muhal Richard Abrams, John Cage, Jane Ira Bloom, Bobby McFerrin, Gary Peacock, and Steve Reich. Her own discography includes the 1980 small-group session All Out, the 1986 collaboration Sound Songs alongside percussionist Jerry Granelli, the entirely solo 2008 release The Peace of Wild Things, and 2017’s Unraveling Emily recorded with pianist Kirk Nurock. Although primarily acoustic, she has also incorporated electronics into her work.
Born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1941, Clayton absorbed standards as a child by listening to her mother at home, began private piano study early, and briefly attended the St. Louis Institute for Music. She earned a music-education degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1963; although her formal training centered on classical repertoire, she performed jazz in local clubs on weekends. After relocating to New York she moved beyond standards to become one of the earliest vocalists to collaborate with avant-garde improvisers, integrate electronics, and engage with poets. Her partners over the decades have included saxophonists Mark Whitecage, Steve Lacy, Jane Ira Bloom, and Gary Bartz; clarinetist Perry Robinson; trombonist Julian Priester; pianists Muhal Richard Abrams and George Cables; and the a cappella collective Vocal Summit, which united her with Jeanne Lee, Urszula Dudziak, Bobby McFerrin, and Norma Winstone.
Inspired by Sheila Jordan’s teaching example, Clayton has herself become an influential pedagogue, leading innumerable seminars, workshops, and master classes. She served twenty years on the jazz faculty of Cornish College of the Arts and has also taught at the Universität für Musik in Austria, the Bud Shank Jazz Workshop, City College, the New School in New York City, the Vermont Jazz Workshop, and the Banff Center in Canada; she currently holds a jazz-faculty position at the Peabody Institute for Music. Her recordings have appeared on Anima, Hep, West Wind, ITM, Winter & Winter, and Solo Winds. In 1995 she issued the duo standards album Beautiful Love with pianist Fred Hersch on Sunnyside. Circle Dancing followed on the same label in 1997, featuring George Cables, Gary Bartz, Anthony Cox, and Jerry Granelli, while Brooklyn 2000 (2001) presented her with Briggan Krauss, Phil Sparks, Aaron Alexander, Jim Knapp, and Randy Halberstadt. That same year Advance Music published her book Sing Your Story: A Practical Guide for Learning and Teaching the Art of Jazz Singing; An American Garden appeared on Solo Winds the following year.
Returning to Sunnyside in 2008, she delivered the acclaimed solo project The Peace of Wild Things. In and Out of Love (2010) placed her in a trio with guitarist Jack Wilkins and bassist Jay Anderson. Three years later came the trio tribute Harry Who?, honoring songwriter Harry Warren and including saxophonist Houston Person and pianist John De Martino. In 2017 she reunited with composer, pianist, sound sculptor, and arranger Kirk Nurock for Unraveling Emily, an outgrowth of their prior live and research partnership. The 2020 duo album Alone Together reunited her with percussionist Jerry Granelli, while the archival release 3 for the Road documented a 2001 trio performance with trombonist Ed Neumeister and Austrian pianist Fritz Pauer.
