Jazz Forum: The Art of Originality — Stevie Wonder and Beyond with Artist-in-Residence Gerald Clayton

Six-time Grammy Award-nominated pianist, composer, and USC Thornton alumnus Gerald Clayton (’07)—the USC Thornton Jazz Department’s returning Artist-in-Residence—will share his extraordinary talents with students, faculty, and the wider community. In a special session titled “The Art of Originality — Stevie Wonder and Beyond,” Clayton will explore songwriting, rootedness, and influence through the work of Stevie Wonder and a handful of other artists with distinctly original musical voices. Through listening and analysis, he will consider how their compositions draw from—and depart from—musical traditions, and the ways in which originality is shaped by cultural lineage. ABOUT GERALD CLAYTON Six-time Grammy-nominated pianist, composer and band leader Gerald Clayton earned recent Recording Academy recognition for Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard, his debut release on Blue Note Records. Collaborating over the years with such distinctive artists as Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, Dianne Reeves, Terence Blanchard, John Scofield, Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Bernstein, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gretchen Parlato, Ben Wendel, the Clayton Brothers Quintet and legendary band leader Charles Lloyd, Clayton currently serves as director of Next Generation Jazz Orchestra following service as musical director for Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour. Under the instruction of Billy Childs, Clayton earned a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance at the USC Thornton School of Music following a year