FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 15, 2008

Contact: K.E. Schwab  

724.738.2199

 karl.schwab@sru.edu

Jazz award winners bring tunes to SRU Thursday     

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Award-winning, jazz artist Martin Taylor and The Gerald Clayton Trio will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Slippery Rock University’s Swope Music Hall as part of their western Pennsylvania visit that includes a Pittsburgh performance.

          The campus concert marks the beginning of a yearlong collaborative in jazz studies between the Pittsburgh-based Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and its MCG Jazz recording label and the Slippery Rock University Jazz Studies Program, under the direction of Stephen Hawk, professor of music.

           The group will be joined by David Glover, assistant professor of music, on drums during its SRU concert.

           Taylor, a jazz guitarist will be joined by Clayton, a jazz pianist, who has performed around the world and across the U.S. Clayton will release his first CD on the Artist Share label in January.

            In addition to the SRU concert, the group will perform at 7 p.m. Friday at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, 1815 Metropolitan St., Pittsburgh. Tickets to the Pittsburgh concert may be ordered by calling 412.322.0800.

           Taylor is self-taught and has invented and developed a way of playing the guitar that is admired by guitarists around the world. He has recorded more than 20 albums with French jazz violinist and legend Stephane Grappelli. Their album “Together At Last” won a Grammy nomination in 1987, and last year, Taylor received the BBC Radio 2 “Heart of Jazz” award. He was also presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the North Wales Jazz Guitar Festival for his Contribution to Jazz Guitar worldwide. He was voted “Best Guitarist” in the British Jazz Awards 11 times. His autobiography “Martin Taylor – Autobiography of a Traveling Musician” and his latest CD/DVD “Freternity” are available online.

           Clayton studied classical piano, jazz piano and composition and was named the 2001 winner of the Music Center Spotlight Award. He received the “Outstanding Soloist” award at the Monterey High School Jazz Competition in 2001 and 2002, and was selected for the Grammy High School Big Band. He was a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in 2006.

           He placed second in the Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Piano Competition and has performed extensively with such jazz greats as the Henry Mancini Orchestra, Kenny Barron, Clark Terry, the Lewis Nash Quintet, Roy Hargrove and Diana Krall. 

Slippery Rock University is Pennsylvania’s premier public residential university. Slippery Rock University provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that intentionally combines academic instruction with enhanced educational and learning opportunities that make a positive difference in their lives.