Clayton Brothers

Bassist John Clayton, Jr. and his two-years-younger brother, saxophonist Jeff Clayton, play straight-ahead jazz. The brothers were born and raised in Venice, CA. John took up bass in junior high school, while Jeff began playing clarinet at nine, switching to saxophone at 14. John joined Monty Alexander's trio after graduating from college in the mid-'70s, and in 1977 moved to Count Basie's band; Jeff also played with Basie. The Claytons began working together as a group in 1978, issuing their debut album, Clayton Brothers, on Concord Records, followed in 1980 by It's All in th...