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.

This event is part of USC Thornton’s 2026–27 Stevie Wonder: Beyond Category series. 

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 of intensive study with Kenny Barron at The Manhattan School of Music. Clayton’s creative spirit honors the legacy of his father, bassist-composer John Clayton. In 2016, he received a Duke University commission to render the Piedmont Blues experience in early 20th Century Durham; Piedmont Blues features a mixed media performance of critical acclaim. In 2019, he received a commission from LACMA to compose a musical pendant for artist Charles White’s “Five Great American Negroes” mural; Clayton titled the project “White Cities: A Musical Tribute to Charles White.” In January 2020, he began work on the critically acclaimed score for Sam Pollard’s award-winning documentary MLK/FBI. The emotional resonance of Clayton’s score imbues the film with subtle, lingering moments of struggle and humanity, and helps capture a complex arc of an enduring subject.

--

Admission is free and open to the public with an RSVP. All Thornton Signature Series Events have a standby line for fully booked events. Seating is first-come, first-served. Please arrive early to claim your ticket and allow enough time for parking, locating the venue, and checking in. If you arrive less than five minutes before the start time, you will forfeit your spot to the waitlist/standby line.

This program is open to all eligible individuals. USC operates all of its programs and activities consistent with the university’s Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other prohibited factor.