John Clayton band leader, bass
Jeff Hamilton band leader, drums
Jeff Clayton band leader, alto sax
Tamir Hendelman piano
Christoph Luty bass
Graham Dechter guitar
Keith Fiddmont alto sax
Charles Owens- Rickey Woodard tenor sax
Lee Callet baritone sax
Stephan Warren Baxter – Ira Nepus – Ryan Porter trombone
Maurice Spears bass trombone
Brian Schwartz -James Ford- Gilbert Castellanos – Bijon Watson- Clay Jenkins trumpet EZ
In 1985, Jeff joined bassist John Clayton and saxophonist Jeff Clayton to form the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. Together with an all-star lineup of Los Angeles-based musicians, the big band received an enthusiastic response from reviewers and fans. It also earned a Grammy Award nomination.
You can feel the echoes of Woody Herman, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington in every song that the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra interprets. You can feel the cool swing of Henry Mancini and the hard bop syncopation of Horace Silver too. And, of course, you can feel the all-star quality that this big band brings with it everywhere it goes.
he Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, which was named by the readers of Downbeat Magazine in 2004 as the top big band in jazz, is today considered one of jazz’s great orchestras