R.I.P. Jay Clayton

Jay Clayton, a singer whose six-decade career included freewheeling improvisation, lyrical song and poetry and the scientific use of electronics, died at her home in New Paltz, N.Y., on Dec. 31. She was 82.

His daughter, Deja Colantuono, said the cause was small-cell lung cancer.

Ms. Clayton established herself as an innovator in the 1970s and ’80s, sparring with instrumentalists in avant-garde settings and using electronics to transform and expand her vocal palette before the practice became common. . She worked frequently with other singers – she formed a particularly close relationship with early mentor Sheila Jordan – and she sang in playful aerobatic vocal groups with peers such as Jean Lee, Ursula Dudziak, Norma Winstone and Bobby McFerrin.

Critic John Garelick wrote of her work in The Boston Phoenix in 1990, “She works in the familiar avant-garde terrain of wordless, spontaneous improvisations in duo and group settings.” , and this lyricism permeates all his works.
Ms. Clayton in 1969. After moving to New York in 1963 she became involved in the downtown jazz scene. Credit…via Clayton Family

He performed for a decade with composer Steve Reich, participating in the development and recording of successful pieces such as “Drumming,” “Music for 18 Musicians” and “Tehillim.” She worked closely with dancers and choreographers early in her career, and she maintains an enduring collaboration with tap dancer Brenda Bufalino.

A prominent and influential teacher, Ms. Clayton held positions at the City College of New York, the Peabody Institute, and Princeton University. She developed a singing program for the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada, where she taught with Ms. Jordan. The two collaborated on training programs in Massachusetts and Vermont and ran a renowned retreat for singers at Willow Lane Farm in Burns, NY, near Albany.

Notable among Ms. Clayton's students are composer Karen Goldfeder and protean vocal improviser Theo Blakeman. But through his extensive pedagogy — which includes a book published in 2001, “Sing Your Story: A Practical Guide for Learning and Teaching the Art of Jazz Singing” — his offspring are much larger.

She was born Judith Theresa Colantone on October 28, 1941 in Youngstown, Ohio. His father, William Colantone, was a carpenter and construction worker; His mother, Josephine (Armeni) Colantone, sang professionally during the big-band era.

Ms. Clayton took up the accordion and later took piano lessons for several years. After high school, he attended a summer program at the St. Louis Institute of Music and then enrolled at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he received a bachelor's degree in music education in 1963. Since jazz courses were not available, he studied classical repertoire while quietly polishing his improvisational skills on weekend dates with a local trombonist.

After moving to New York City in 1963, Ms. Clayton became involved in the city's jazz scene and made an early association with the soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy. Through him, she met drummer Frank Clayton, with whom she began a relationship in 1965. In 1967, the couple started a concert series, “Jazz at the Loft”, at their home on Lispenard Street, later called Tribeca. Performances by saxophonist Sam Rivers, pianist Joan Bracken and others. They married in 1968.

Shortly afterward, Ms. Clayton was introduced to Mr. Reich by the singer Joan LaBarbara, who was his student. What he wanted, he said in a phone interview, was “the modern-day equivalent” of Ella Fitzgerald: someone who could present her music with ease as well as precision.

Ms. Clayton fits the bill. “His pitches were dangerous and his rhythm was electrifying,” Mr Reach said. “He understood what had to be done, and he did it to perfection.”

Flourishing among her fellow innovators and iconoclasts, Ms. Clayton led educational workshops with Gene Lee and performed with pianist Muhal Richard Abrams at the Public Theater in 1979. That same year, she consulted on the first Women in Jazz Festival, produced by Kobi Narita. (who died in November).

In 1981, Ms. Clayton released her first album, “All-Out,” featuring Mr. Clayton, pianist Larry Karush, saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom, singer Shelley Hirsch and others. On several tracks, Ms. Clayton collaborated with Ms. Bloom, who recently moved to New Haven, Conn. Ms. Clayton had taken her under her wing.

“From the moment he and I met, there developed a linear synchronicity between us,” Ms. Bloom said in an interview. “There's something about the combination of his sound and my sound: we played lines together, and it was like this other instrument.” They collaborated for decades.

In 1982, Ms. Clayton, her husband, and their two children moved to Seattle, where she taught at the Cornish School, now the Cornish College of the Arts. When she and Mr. Clayton divorced in 1984, she remained in Seattle and developed a new group of collaborators, including drummer Jerry Granelli, trombonist Julian Priester, bassist and saxophonist Brigan Cross.

She recorded works by the experimental composer John Cage in the late 1980s, and returned to Mr. Reich's music on occasion. His jazz recordings from those years include “Beautiful Love”, a 1995 album devoted to old popular standards with pianist Fred Hersch.

“I always think that doing standard material gives you a sense of where someone is coming from,” Mr. Hersh said in an interview, comparing the practice to a painter doing a still life or nude. “In Jay's case, a lot of it is very beautiful, and very fierce in terms of improvisation.”

Ms. Clayton moved back to New York in 2002 and re-established a local presence, both alone and in collaboration with Ms. Jordan. He made a stream of recordings for the Sunnyside label, ranging from a lyrical tribute to songwriter Harry Warren to a bold electronic fantasy involving the poetry of Emily Dickinson, created with composer and pianist Kirk Nurock.

He was diagnosed with aggressive lung cancer in December 2022. Her final recording, “Voices in Flight”, a collaboration with singer Judy Neimak, was released in June.

In addition to her daughter, Ms. Clayton is survived by her brother, William Colantone Jr.; his son, Dov Clayton; And two grandchildren.

To the end, Ms. Clayton remained dedicated to her students. “Personally and musically, she was always exactly the same,” Ms. Goldfeder wrote in a Facebook post. “This is just one of the many ways she was a great teacher.”

Source: www.nytimes.com