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SFJAZZ is excited to partner with Diablo Regional Arts Association and the Lesher Center Presents Headliners series on its first ever season of concert events in Contra Costa County. Curated by SFJAZZ this thrilling line-up of internationally recognized jazz artists launches its inaugural residence at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts during the 2025-26 Season. 

ABOUT GERALD CLAYTON
Possessing an exquisite touch, astonishing technique, and a sound that somehow combines the dynamic finesse of Ahmad Jamal with the hurtling swing of Oscar Peterson, six-time GRAMMY nominee Gerald Clayton ranks among the very best pianists of his generation.  

Just recently turning 40 years of age, Clayton has become a well-traveled veteran who has served as music director of the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour, released numerous highly regarded albums, and collaborated with artists including Roy Hargrove, Charles Lloyd, Diana Krall, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Terri Lyne Carrington. With a compositional approach inspired by studies with Billy Childs, Clayton is the scion of a jazz dynasty. The son of esteemed Los Angeles bassist/arranger John Clayton and nephew of the late alto saxophonist Jeff Clayton, he’s played and recorded with the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and the Clayton Brothers, with whom he earned a GRAMMY nomination for a composition on 2010’s The New Song and Dance. 

His most recent album and Blue Note debut, Bells on Sand, was released in 2022, and his recent concert presentation, Piedmont Blues, is a multi-media production featuring a nine-piece ensemble dubbed The Assembly that explores the musical history of the Piedmont region in the Appalachian Highlands. 

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