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What Others Say about Jay Clayton

By Florence Wetzel   All About Jazz  

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 - 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

RATING: 93/100 (learn more)   Reviewer: Ted Gioia

"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.

 

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.

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.'

  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.