Gerald Clayton, whose photograph is on this year’s Jazz Port Townsend promotional poster, is also the poster child for what Centrum strives to provide during its summer events.
“We want participants to get exposure to emerging artists as well as established masters,” said Centrum marketing director Mark Livingston.
“And Gerald Clayton is the face of the next generation of jazz.”
Pianist Clayton, 27, leads the Gerald Clayton Trio, which will be featured in one of the three faculty main stage performances, all at McCurdy Pavilion, that are culminating acts — along with Jazz in the Clubs — of the weeklong Jazz Port Townsend classes at Centrum at Fort Worden State Park.
The trio — composed of Clayton, bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Quincy Davis and joined by tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm — will perform at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Reserved seating is $45, $31 and $20, with 18 and younger admitted free.
Friday at 7:30 p.m. will be the first of the three featured faculty concerts.
The vocals of Centrum veteran Dee Daniels and newcomer to Jazz Port Townsend Charenée Wade will be accompanied by Benny Green on piano, Christoph Luty on bass, Clarence Acox on drums and alto saxophonist Jeff Clayton.
The final faculty concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Vibraphonist Stefon Harris will perform with Sanders, Davis and Clayton.
Reserved seating for each of the nighttime concerts is $35, $28 and $18, with 18 and younger admitted free.
Pianist Clayton was twice a student at the festival, where his father, bassist John Clayton, serves as musical director.
Clayton has just released his second solo album, “Bond: The Paris Sessions.”
The New York City resident began playing piano when he was 7 years old. He was nominated for a Grammy in 2010 for his instrumental composition.
“As it has been handed down, jazz is a social music,” he said.
“It has a format where musicians who have never played together can sit down and make music on the spot.”
With these conversations, musicians can transmit their feelings and emotions to others who then respond.
“If someone plays one thing and you play the exact thing back, it really isn’t a conversation,” Clayton said.
“When you are playing, you try to tap into the vibe of the other musicians, take someone’s ideas and finish it or respond to it.”
Clayton said “there are no rules,” and in some cases, a musician may play something that is crunchy or dissonant that disrupts the flow.
If the feeling is honest, the dissonance is acceptable, Clayton said.
Spontaneity is important, and many of the songs recorded for his album represent the first or second time the musicians tackled that particular selection.
“There is a certain freshness in the first two takes. After that, you tend to overthink things,” he said.
“While playing, you ride a wave of uncertainty, and you roll with it, riding the wave wherever it takes you.”
Livingston said there are 270 students at this year’s festival, ranging in age from their teens to their 60s.
Each one is looking to expand their musical horizons, and they all had to audition to get in.
“The challenge for these students is to not become just another box in the box factory,” Clayton said.
“They need to develop a personal relationship with music and know what inspires them, learning how they can use it to express themselves with honesty.”
Clayton looks back to his own time as a student at Centrum, which he said was the first time he was inspired to check out music in a new way.
“Anytime you can get people together to hear music in a different way, it is a good thing,” he said.
“You have people here from New York who play in clubs, or they play on subway platforms and try not to get robbed, and they bring a certain energy to this place where people might be feeling that energy for the first time.”
Despite accolades, Clayton isn’t chasing widespread fame but will ride the wave wherever it takes him.
“There are no rules,” he said.
“The goal is to get to the deeper meaning of what it is to be human and touch upon those feelings in ways that are a little bit more magical and a little less obvious.”
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.centrum.org.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
