Buck Clayton
An excellent bandleader and accompanist for many vocalists, including Billie Holiday, Buck Clayton was a valued soloist with Count Basie Orchestra during the '30s and '40s, and later was a celebrated studio and jam session player, writer, and arranger. His tart, striking tone and melodic dexterity were his trademark, and Clayton provided several charts for Basie's orchestra and many other groups. Clayton began his career in California, where he organized a big band that had a residency in China in 1934. When he returned, Clayton led a group and played with other local bands. During a 1936 visit to Kansas City, he was invited to join Basie's orchestra as a replacement for Hot Lips Page. Clayton was also featured on sessions with Lester Young, Teddy Wilson, and Holiday in the late '30s. He remained in the Basie band until 1943, when he left for army service. After leaving the army, Clayton did arrangements for Basie, Benny Goodman, and Harry James before forming a sextet in the late '40s. He toured Europe with this group in 1949 and 1950. Clayton continued heading a combo during the '50s, and worked with Joe Bushkin, Tony Parenti, and Jimmy Rushing, among others. He organized a series of outstanding recordings for Columbia in the mid-'50s under the title Jam Session (compiled and reissued by Mosaic in 1993). There were sessions with Rushing, Ruby Braff, and Nat Pierce. Clayton led a combo with Coleman Hawkins and J.J. Johnson at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, then reunited with Goodman in 1957 at the Waldorf Astoria. There was another European tour, this time with Mezz Mezzrow. He appeared in the 1956 film The Benny Goodman Story and played the 1958 Brussels World Fair with Sidney Bechet. Clayton later made another European visit with a Newport Jazz Festival tour. He joined Eddie Condon's band in 1959, a year after appearing in the film Jazz on a Summer's Day. Clayton toured Japan and Australia with Condon's group in 1964, and continued to revisit Europe throughout the '60s, often with Humphrey Lyttelton's band, while playing festivals across the country. But lip and health problems virtually ended his playing career in the late '60s. After a period outside of music, Clayton once again became active in music, this time as a non-playing arranger, touring Africa as part of a State Department series in 1977. He provided arrangements and compositions for a 1974 Lyttleton and Buddy Tate album, and did more jam session albums for Chiaroscuro in 1974 and 1975. He also became an educator, teaching at Hunter College in the early '80s. Clayton led a group of Basie sidemen on a European tour in 1983, then headed his own big band in 1987 that played almost exclusively his compositions and arrangements. That same year Clayton's extensive autobiography Buck Clayton's Jazz World, with Nancy Miller-Elliot, was published.
© Ron Wynn /TiVo
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Buck Meets Ruby (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Avid Entertainment on 24/01/2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Jazz Series 1953 Vol. 2
Jazz - Released by Complete Jazz Series on 1/12/2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Robbin's Nest
French Music - Released by Rooster Records on 4/08/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Swing Time: Muggsy Spanier - Buck Clayton Jam Session - Mezz Mezzrow
Muggsy Spanier, Buck Clayton, Mezz Mezzrow
Jazz - Released by Bella Musica Edition on 21/08/2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Buck Clayton-Featuring Lester Young, Count Basie, Teddy Wilson Vol 2
Jazz - Released by Documents on 2/09/2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jumpin' at the Woodside + How Hi the Fi
Jazz - Released by Treasury Jazz on 15/01/2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bebop Live Concerts Vol. 3 (1946-47)
Wardell Gray, Buck Clayton, Charlie Parker
Jazz - Released by Documents on 1/09/2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Good Morning Blues
Jo Jones, Lester Young, Buck Clayton
Jazz - Released by Vanilla OMP on 30/11/2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Buck Clayton-Featuring Lester Young, Count Basie, Teddy Wilson Vol 1
Jazz - Released by Documents on 2/09/2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jumpin' at the Woodside (Bonus Track Version)
Jazz - Released by New Jazz Society on 3/06/2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Leisure Time
Jazz - Released by LST Collector Series on 22/08/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Live in Basel, 1961 (Live)
Jazz - Released by Blue Velvet on 17/02/2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fiesta in Blue (20 Blues Themes)
Blues - Released by Original Master Tape on 16/01/2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -