OSCAR PETERSON CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION FEAT. JOHN CLAYTON, JEFF HAMILTON & SULLIVAN FORTNER

He received eight Grammy® Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award) and numerous honors, such as Companion to the Order of Canada (his country’s highest honor), the Glenn Gould Prize, and the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. Peterson passed away in 2007 at the age of 82, leaving behind a legacy as enduring as jazz itself.



In tribute to this giant, three world-class musicians unite to form an exceptional trio:

• Sullivan Fortner - piano
  

• John Clayton - bass
  
• Jeff Hamilton - drums
  

alongside jazz veterans Jeff Hamilton and John Clayton—Peterson’s longtime collaborators in the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra—rising star pianist Sullivan Fortner steps into Peterson’s role at the keys. Expect swinging, virtuosic jazz at its finest—this is a rare musical experience not to be missed.


Sullivan Fortner is one of the most acclaimed pianists of his generation. A Grammy® Award winner with three additional nominations, the New Orleans-born pianist has worked with Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Dianne Reeves, Etienne Charles, John Scofield, Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, and the late Roy Hargrove. He is the 2024 winner of the DownBeat Critics Poll for Rising Star Jazz Group and has also received accolades including the American Pianists Association’s Cole Porter Fellowship.


John Clayton is a bassist, composer, arranger, and producer—and a protégé of the late Ray Brown. He has performed with Milt Jackson, Count Basie, Diana Krall, Monty Alexander, Regina Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gladys Knight, Queen Latifah, and McCoy Tyner. A Grammy® Award winner with nine further nominations, Clayton served as principal bassist of the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra from 1980 to 1984. Since 1986, he has been co-leader of the Grammy®-nominated Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, one of the top big bands of recent decades.


Jeff Hamilton’s illustrious career includes work with the New Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Lionel Hampton, the Monty Alexander Trio (with John Clayton), Woody Herman, The L.A.4 (with Ray Brown, Bud Shank, and Laurindo Almeida), Ella Fitzgerald, the Count Basie Orchestra, Rosemary Clooney, the Ray Brown Trio, and from 1990 to 1995, the Oscar Peterson Quartet. He also co-leads the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.