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What Others
Say about Jay Clayton |
Innovative singer Jay Clayton has forged a career
out of taking chances and exploring the
possibilities inherent in the human voice. The
Peace of Wild Things is a subtly adventurous
mix of voice, electronics and poetry. Each of the
nine songs features a poem; five are by the renowned
poet E.E. Cummings, with others by jazz innovator
Jeanne Lee, the farmer-poet Wendell Berry, Lara
Pellegrinelli and Clayton herself.
What's so fresh about this CD is the spare and
spacious approach Clayton and her co-producer Jay
Anderson have taken; they use electronic effects in
a judicious fashion that lets Clayton's gifts
breathe and allows the poetry to be heard. A good
example is "Love is a Place," which features one of
Cummings' poems. Clearly Clayton is inspired by
Cummings; she echoes his elliptical, joyful poetry
in her airy arrangements and playful delivery.
Through the use of innovative mixing, Clayton sings
and speaks over a percussive background that
consists of her own voice. Different melodic and
percussive lines emerge throughout the song and
these are gradually layered over one another as the
song progresses. Yet even with the layering of
sound, the song remains spacious with a gentle,
lilting quality both understated and vibrant.
Another wonderful song is "No Words, Only a
Feeling," written by the late, great Lee. In this
gently funky piece, Clayton's natural voice plays
against an electronically enhanced version and a
minimalist approach creates a bouncy lightness, a
veritable souffléé of sound.
The CD's title comes from Berry's poem, a gentle
meditation on finding peace within nature. The
Peace of Wild Things does indeed exude peace
and its gentle exuberance and sense of celebration
make it a welcome offering in Clayton's long and
illustrious career.
The Peace of Wild Things
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Released:
October, 21, 2008
Record Label:
Sunnyside
Review by Michael G.
Nastos, All Music Guide
It is not recent news
that Jay Clayton is one of the most phenomenal
vocalists in creative improvised music. What she
offers in terms of flexibility, diversity,
durability, and keen originality sets a high
standard for all other "singers." This solo
recording has Clayton in her usual mode of combining
lyrics with wordless vocals in her own ethereal way,
while adding spoken prose, poetry, and an electronic
palate to the proceedings. The result is unlike any
other vocal recording you might have ever heard this
side of Urszula Dudziak, Grazyna Auguscik, or maybe
the more experimental side of Joni Mitchell. What
Clayton brings to the table is pure elegiac savvy,
an earth mother's wisdom, a siren's sensuality, and
a challenged soul. There are many examples here of
her chemical alchemy; using her voice as a dumbek
during "Love Is a Place," evoking ghostly
atmospheric spirits for the title track, or speaking
of creationism via "God's big breath" on "Why,
Because." Her multi-tracked voice on "Sometimes"
evokes Native American motifs, and her heartfelt
association with Sheila Jordan. She exclaims
"sometimes I think/I'm not so sure/I know I
don't/really want to/just don't care/ought to know".
Then, as most would expect for "Free Me," after an
overdubbed counterpoint and sampled mbira in modal
7/7 time, she is wanting to sing like the birds "not
worrying about who hears, or what they think". The
all spoken "Let It Go" is most prosaic, "Secrets of
Living" a scatted child's song with the sweetest of
harmony lines, and "No Words, Only a Feeling"
actually has lyrics rendered in an underlying dark
tone in an amazing display of multiple techniques
and sonics that are simple and complex, elegant and
playful, and deeply profound. Of the many excellent
projects Jay Clayton has offered, this is her very
best effort, one that comes highly recommended, and
lifts the art of improvisational vocal music to a
new level. It's near perfect.
Review of 'Free Me' from 'The Peace of Wild
Things
Composed by Jay Clayton, with words from e.e. cumming
"I want to sing like birds sing," Jay Clayton announces midway through this
performance. And—dang!!—the lady pulls it off. Give Olivier Messiaen a
mike and, I guarantee, he couldn't do better than Ms. Clayton in vocalizing a
type of ornithology the beboppers never knew. Of course, this vocalist has
long demonstrated that jazz singing can be more than the usual cabaret rehash.
But here Clayton delivers one of the freshest and freest releases of the year.
She tosses aside the standards. She does without a rhythm section. Much of the
time she works without words, too. But the more Jay Clayton tosses overboard,
the higher she soars. If you have given up on jazz singers, thinking that only
pretty boys and glamour gals are releasing CDs these days . . . well, think
again. This CD is an aural trick and treat, coming just in time for Halloween.
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Jay's 65th
Birthday Bash!
October
25, 2006 @ Sweet Rhythm, New York
The first set was packed and while Wednesday is
generally a slower night, it was packed at Sweet
Rhythm on the second set as well. The mood was
bubbly and spirits riding high for the
celebration of Jay's 65th Birthday.
She's been singing in NY and termed as one of
the most adventurous singers in jazz and has
performed all over the world. Jay mentioned her
best friend, Sheila Jordan who was there in
spirit. Tonight's lineup included Jane Ira Bloom
on soprano sax, Gary Thomas (sax, flute) and a
rhythm section with George Cables (p), Mike
Formanek (b) and Billy Hart (d).
Jay opened by inviting her tap dancing friend
Brenda Buffalino to the stage. Brenda gave a
tap-intro to "A Little Hiku" with Jay scatting
accompaniment. Brenda even tapped sitting down.
This was an unexpected percussive enhancement
that worked very well.
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Jay's voice still has magic at 65, with a great
sense of swing. She's an entertainer. Her
ability to mirror the instrumental improvisation
instantaneously was great.
Jay was animated and also into her groove. They
were all on their games with Billy stinging the
skins in a highly punctuated solo. Hart seems to
cruise along and then inject explosive raps on
the snare and or cymbals. He kept us attentive
and helped keep the energy level high.
They followed with "A Lament" for John Coltrane.
This is where Clayton used her voice as an
instrument. Jay sang the vocals of "Young and
Foolish" well followed by a rolling piano solo
from Cables. Formanek was steady all night long.
The music became soothing and relaxed us.
"A Little Fortune Cookie" gave us a view of the
more melodic Clayton. Jay is comfortable in a
wide variety of settings from ballads to free
jazz. The performance of Gary Thomas was not to
be overlooked with strong solos on both sax and
flute.
But this was Jay's night and she kept us
focused!
From 'Featured at O's Place.'
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Los Angeles Times -
September 25, 2006
So good, you should have heard of her already
By Don Heckman - Special to The Times
Singer Jay Clayton is one of the special
blessings of jazz. Like her close friend Sheila
Jordan, she is an artist for whom the music is
front and center. She turns 65 in October and
has recorded on a fairly regular basis without a
breakout album. But she has delighted virtually
every musician who's heard her or performed with
her.
Clayton's appearance at Giannelli Square in
Northridge on Saturday night provided a rare
opportunity to experience the eclectic
musicality of this vocal wizard. She set the
tone for the evening with her first number, an
enthralling take on the Alec Wilder standard
"While We're
Young." Starting with a few lines of poetry from
e.e. cummings, Clayton drifted into a series of
disjunct notes — some high, some low — gradually
allowing them to coalesce into the lyrics of the
song.
When she followed with "Young and Foolish," she
jokingly referred to her upcoming birthday
celebration, then proceeded to interpret it in
her utterly ageless style. Other pieces — from
minor blues to more standards — received
similarly eclectic renderings.
Clayton often inserted fragments of verse, more
from cummings, some her own. She occasionally
used an electronic looping machine juxtaposed to
her spontaneous vocal lines, producing
remarkable harmonic and polyphonic effects. And
she was joined by Jordan for a stunning vocally
symbiotic 80th birthday tribute to John
Coltrane.
Clayton has worked and recorded with such
contemporary music figures as Steve Reich as
well as edgy jazz artists including Muhal
Richard Abrams, Stanley Cowell and the
provocative a cappella vocal ensemble Vocal
Summit.
But her excursions through the outer territory
of free spontaneity in no way diminished her
mastery of straight-ahead jazz singing.
Her pliable voice, which allowed her to roam
freely, with no register break, from velvety
chest sounds to gloriously airy head tones, made
each standard tune into an intimate experience.
And her zephyr-buoyant sense of rhythm brought
subtle, but urgent, propulsive swing to the
middle-tempo songs.
Clayton did not draw a capacity crowd, and her
name recognition among the wider jazz audience
is relatively insubstantial. That's a shame,
since she is a true jazz original. |
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