John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Bruce Forman: The Poll Winners Revisited
Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 8pm
presented by Irvine Barclay Theatre

This performance is presented without an intermission.

John Clayton: Bass
Jeff Hamilton: Drums
Bruce Forman: Guitar

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When Barney Kessel, Ray Brown, and Shelly Manne created their trio, the name was a natural: they were The Poll Winners. All three musicians were routinely on the top of DownBeat’s polls for their respective instrument: Barney Kessel – guitar, Ray Brown – bass, and Shelly Manne – drums. The five albums they recorded on the legendary Los Angeles-based jazz label — Contemporary Records — are classics that set the standard for all guitar trio projects that followed.

Now, three contemporary jazz masters, embracing the actual instruments of their
predecessors, revisit that musical legacy. The empathetic connection between these two generations of musicians is organic and profound. Ray Brown was John Clayton’s most significant teacher and mentor; additionally, Clayton performed and recorded with both Kessel and Manne. Jeff Hamilton replaced Shelly Manne in the LA4, performed and recorded with Kessel, played with Brown in the LA4, with Oscar Peterson, and was the drummer in the Ray Brown Trio for seven years. Bruce Forman performed often with Brown and was directly mentored by Kessel, performing and touring with him widely.

In this project, Bruce Forman playing Barney Kessel’s guitar, John Clayton playing Ray Brown’s bass, and Jeff Hamilton playing Shelly Manne’s drums, pay homage to the swinging grace and lasting beauty of the original trio. They do so in their own voices, inspired by the extraordinary artists who were their mentors and their friends.

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