Buck Clayton

Buck Clayton (born Wilbur Dorsey Clayton in Parsons, Kansas on November 12, 1911-died in New York City on December 8, 1991) was a American jazz trumpet player, fondly remembered for being a leading member of

Buck Clayton (born Wilbur Dorsey Clayton in Parsons, Kansas on November 12, 1911-died in New York City on December 8, 1991) was a American jazz trumpet player, fondly remembered for being a leading member of Count Basie’s 'Old Testmant' orchestra and leader of mainstream orientated jam session recordings in the 1950s. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong. The “Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD” 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’s father was an amateur musician associated with the families local church, who was responsible for teaching his son to play the piano from the age of six. From the age of seventeen, Clayton learnt the trumpet, and was taught by Bob Russell, a member of George E. Lee’s band. In his early twenties he was based in California, and was briefly a member of Duke Ellington’s Orchestra and worked with other leaders. Clayton was also taught at this time by trumpeter Mutt Carey, who later emerged as a prominent west-coast revivalist in the 1940s.