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Founded in 1985 in Los Angeles, California, the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra was a big band led by drummer Jeff Hamilton and brothers John and Jeff Clayton on double bass and saxophone, respectively. The band was born from an agreement that the Clayton brothers had to support each other’s preferred musical formats. Jeff was a fan of small groups and John joined him in the Clayton Brothers Quintet. John, on the other hand, was a fan of big bands and Jeff joined his musical project the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra with drummer Jeff Hamilton, who had previously played with Woody Herman’s Orchestra (1977-78) and the L.A. Four (1977-1982). The Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra’s debut album, Groove Shop, was released in 1990. The band released several in the 1990s including Explosive!, which was released on Qwest/Warner Bros. In the 2000s, they released their own albums alongside collaborations with other artists including Diana Krall (2005’s Christmas Songs) and Charles Aznavour (2009’s Charles Aznavour & The Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra). They were also featured on Michael Bublé’s album Call Me Irresponsible, performing on the track “The Best Is Yet to Come”. In 2014, they released their own album The L.A. Treasures Project and appeared on Leon Russell’s album Life Journey. Founding member Jeff Clayton died on December 16, 2020 of kidney cancer.
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