Clayton began his bass career in elementary school playing in strings class, junior orchestra, high school jazz band, orchestra, and soul/R&B groups. In 1969, at the age of 16, he enrolled in
Ray Brown’s jazz class at
UCLA, beginning a close relationship that lasted more than three decades. Three years later, he was bassist on the
Henry Mancini's television series
The Mancini Generation. and Vail Jazz Workshop. From 1999 to 2001, he was the Artistic Director of Jazz for the
Los Angeles Philharmonic program at the
Hollywood Bowl. He conducted the
All-Alaska Jazz Band. He has taught at the University of Southern California
Thornton School of Music and has served as president of the
International Society of Bassists. He has composed and arranged for
the Count Basie Orchestra,
Diana Krall,
Whitney Houston,
Carmen McRae,
Nancy Wilson,
Joe Williams,
Ernestine Anderson,
Quincy Jones,
Dee Dee Bridgewater,
Natalie Cole,
Till Bronner, and
the Tonight Show Band. In 2006, his son
Gerald Clayton came in second at the
Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. ==Awards==