On his new record Tributary Tales, set to release April 21
on Motéma Music, pianist and composer Gerald Clayton traces paths of myriad
streams -- personal, experiential, intangible -- that flow into one another,
creating a musical narrative greater than the sum of his individual
compositions.
"I feel like the various encounters in my life are in
their own way tributaries -- like every trip is somehow an opportunity to
discover a new type of bend in the river," Clayton says. "The various
places, people, foods and cultures I've been able to experience in my travels,
all the musicians I gathered for this project and all the songs I've written --
there's a feeling of connectedness between them, even though they're all their
own separate entities."
Clayton imbues Tributary Tales with a range of influences,
including dialects and vocabulary handed down from his father, bassist and
composer John Clayton and uncle, saxophonist Jeff Clayton, to contemporary
expressions he heard growing up as a child of the '80s and early '90s. In
Clayton's unique vision, those diverse inspirations are impossible to unravel,
melding together into a sound that resonates with modern styles as boldly as it
evokes classic and timeless sounds.
"The process is really natural," Clayton says.
"When I'm in the experience of creating something, I try to open my ears
and to be as selfless and open as possible. I grew up listening to and loving
hip-hop, R&B, soul and rock. To me, they all flow from a single source. The
cultural relevance of jazz and hip-hop is all the same; we're talking about
black music -- about black expression -- so it doesn't feel right to build any
dams across those streams.
An alternate definition of tributary, he adds, is that of
"a person or state that pays tribute to another" -- another apt
metaphor in the tradition-oriented world of jazz. "Much of what we do has
to do with what's gone before us," he says. "We're constantly paying
tribute to the elders, the masters, and being cognizant of all of the musicians
who've lived and died in service of the music."
To record Tributary Tales, Clayton assembled a group of
artists both new and familiar, each of whom brings additional, unique
influences and experiences to the music. Saxophonists Logan Richardson, Ben
Wendel and Dayna Stephens, bassist Joe Sanders, drummer Justin Brown and
percussionists Henry Cole and Gabriel Lugo join guest vocalist Sachal Vasandani
and poets Carl Hancock Rux and Aja Monet to bring life to Clayton's range of
alluring compositions.
"I've really enjoyed exploring the natural connection
between instrumental music and spoken word. I find there to be great potential
for one to give unexpected meaning to the other."
Gathering this cast of individual artists together to create
a unified musical voice is another way Clayton sees the reflection of the
tributary concept in his creative life. Pulling back to take an even broader
view, he sees a beautiful parallel for communion and togetherness at a time
that's been marred by divisiveness and strife.
"Even though we're all separate streams, we all come
from the same ocean," he says. "If we all just take a step back we
can see that all human experience is essentially the same -- the suffering, the
will to transcend that suffering, our joys, our sorrows -- they're all
connected. I'd love for the music on this record to remind people of our
interconnectedness."
The hectic, angular edge of "Unforeseen," then,
might suggest the frantic pace of Clayton's adopted home of New York --
especially as experienced by a west coast kid more acclimated to riding waves
than subway cars. "Soul Stomp," as its names suggests, is a
celebratory, raucous bounce, a glimpse of ecstatic happiness with the funky
punch of R&B and the sanctified tinge of gospel. "A Light" burns
with modern hip-hop sensibility and simmering groove, while "Patience
Patients" draws in the listener with its slowly uncoiling melodic line.
The acclaimed Vasandani weaves his wordless vocals around
the melodic lines of Richardson and Wendel on "Squinted," while Monet
and Hancock Rux both reflect on the elusive idea of love on "Lovers
Reverie" and explore the path from the deeply personal to the transcendent
on "Dimensions: Interwoven." The album is punctuated by a series of
brief, improvised interludes, the open-ended titles of which ("Search
For," "Reach For," etc.) turn the track list itself into a
poetic rumination.
While different songs may spark certain memories or recall
images to his mind, Clayton says it's not as simple as a single experience
inspiring a single piece of music. Just like our personalities are subtly
shaped by the gradual accumulations of circumstance and events, so is his
compositional voice invisibly molded by the places he's been, the people he's
met -- even the meals he's eaten.
"I can point to those moments in life when the
experience feels otherworldly, almost like a taste of transcendence. A bowl of
pasta in Italy, falling in love, making a connection with a new friend from
another part of the world, surfing -- the feeling of tapping into the energy of
the ocean and dancing with it -- those are all really special moments and, in
their own way, artistic beauty. As is making music, connecting with the
musicians I play with. All those experiences connect to one another and feel
similarly spiritual."
The tributaries of Clayton's fascination with language and
his multi-faceted gifts as a musician merge gracefully in his poetic liner
notes for Tributary Tales.
Gerald Clayton · Tributary Tales
Motéma Music · Release Date: April 21, 2017
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