BUCK CLAYTON

[Admin]

Buck Clayton (born Wilbur Dorsey Clayton in Parsons, Kansas on November 12, 1911-died in New York City on December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpet player, fondly remembered for being a leading member of Count Basie’s 'Old Testament' orchestra and leader of mainstream-oriented jam session recordings in the 1950s. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong. The The Penguin Guide to Jazz says that he “synthesi[zed] much of the history of jazz trumpet up to his own time, with a bright brassy tone and an apparently limitless facility for melodic improvisation”. Clayton worked closely with Li Jinhui, father of Chinese popular music in Shanghai. In the long run, his contribution changed the course of music history in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.