Wilbur “Buck” Clayton

An accomplished jazz trumpeter, band leader, composer, arranger, and educator, Wilbur “Buck” Clayton started teaching at Hunter College in 1975. 

His career as a professional musician began as a member of Duke Ellington’s Orchestra, then Clayton joined Count Basie’s band in Kansas City in 1936, playing his first prominent solo on the iconic “Fiesta in Blue.” He wrote several arrangements for Basie, including “Taps Miller” and “Red Bank Boogie,” before being drafted to join the Army in 1943. After his discharge he performed at venues around New York throughout the 1950s. He went on tour overseas with “Jazz at the Philharmonic,” and recorded sessions with artists like Jimmy Rushing and Lester Young, and wrote charts for Duke Ellington and Harry James. In the early 1950s, he partnered with pianist Joe Bushkin in the first of the influential Embers Quartets. Other artists he worked with include Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Eddie Condon, Sidney Bechet, and Humphrey Littleton. His ability to improvise in a variety of styles made him a popular and in demand artist for sessions, especially with vocalists such as Billie Holiday. 

An injury in 1972 caused him to step back from playing the trumpet, and he shifted his focus to composing and arranging music for others. A gifted educator, he began teaching as a full-time faculty member at Hunter College in 1975, and spent his last years as an adjunct professor. By the mid-1980s he had formed his own big band, playing almost exclusively his original compositions and arrangements. Some of his recordings include, The Classic Swing of Buck Clayton (1946), Buck Special (1949-53), Jam Sessions from the Vaults (1953-56), Buck and Buddy (1960), and A Swingin' Dream (1988).