Buck Clayton
b. Wilbur Dorsey Clayton, 12 November 1911, Parsons, Kansas, USA, d. 8 December 1991. By his late teens Clayton was already an accomplished trumpeter, having worked locally in Kansas and briefly in California. He returned to the west coast, playing in several Los Angeles-based bands including that led by Charlie Echols. He also formed his own unit, which he took to China for two years. Back in California he found that his reputation had spread and in 1936 he was invited to join Count Basie. He remained with Basie until drafted for military service in 1943, by which time his fame was guaranteed thanks to a succession of fine solos on many of the Basie band's best recordings. After the war he worked mostly with small bands and also appeared as a member of Jazz At The Philharmonic. He worked, too, with a former Basie colleague Jimmy Rushing and occasionally formed bands, big and small, under his own leadership. He toured extensively and made numerous records, including a series of very highly-regarded jam sessions in the early and mid-'50s which brought together several major mainstream musicians. These sessions used Clayton's marvellously loose arrangements and became exemplars of their kind. He had begun arranging with Basie, and other bandleaders who used his charts included Benny Goodman and Harry James. In the '50s he toured with Mezz Mezzrow, Eddie Condon and Sidney Bechet. A gifted soloist with a clean, mellow tone, his arranging skills stood him in good stead when, in the late '60s, he began to suffer from severe lip problems. Extensive surgery failed to improve matters and he eventually abandoned playing in favour of arranging. In the late '70s he led a number of bands on international tours under the auspices of the US State Department and occasionally played a little. His activities as bandleader, lecturer and, especially, arranger continued into the late '80s. A major figure in the establishment of mainstream jazz, Clayton became one of the most respected musicians in jazz. 
Selected albums: BUCK CLAYTON JAM SESSIONS (1953), BUCK CLAYTON IN PARIS (1953), BUCK ‘N’ THE BLUES (1957), with Sidney Bechet CONCERT AT THE WORLD'S FAIR, BRUSSELS (1958), LITTLE JIMMY RUSHING AND THE BIG BRASS (1958), TENDERLY (1959), COPENHAGEN CONCERT (1959), with Buddy Tate BUCK AND BUDDY (1960), OLYMPIA CONCERT/LIVE IN PARIS (1961), PASSPORT TO PARADISE (1961), A LA BUCK (1961), with Tate, Buck And Buddy BLOW THE BLUES (1961), LE VRAI BUCK CLAYTON (1964), FEEL SO FINE (1965), SWINGIN’ THE BLUES (1966), LE VRAI BUCK CLAYTON, VOLUME 2 (1966), TRUMPET SUMMI (1967); all following as arranger only A BUCK CLAYTON JAM SESSION (1974), JAY HAWK (1974), JAM SESSION (1975), JAM SESSION VOLUME 3 (1976), BADEN SWITZERLAND 1966 (1993), BUCK SPECIAL (1993). 
Further reading: Buck Clayton's Jazz World, Buck Clayton with Nancy Miller Elliott.