Pianist and composer Gerald Clayton is gearing up for his next album. Ones & Twos, the musician’s second album for Blue Note Records, is officially available on April 11. The album’s dreamy first single, “Angels Speak,” is out now.
Described as “an experiment” born from “the art of turntablism,” Clayton’s new project will explore ideas of duality. “I set out to create a record where the A side can be played simultaneously with the B side—a nod to that moment in the club when the DJ transitions from one song to the next, when you hear two separate pieces at the same time,” the musician says in a press statement.
Clayton explains that the process of creating Ones & Twos led him to pose several questions: “Is it really possible for two separate melodies to coexist harmoniously? Does one inevitably become a counter melody to the other—a support of the more dominant melody? What does the experiment teach us about coexistence more broadly? I’m fascinated with this concept of coexistence in more than just the music. Not only the question: Can two songs coexist?… but can two people?… two cultures? One of the lessons we may gain from the music is that there will be moments of friction/tension, and there will be moments where two things fit together smoothly/peacefully.”
Featuring post-production from Kassa Overall, Ones & Twos will see Clayton team with vibraphonist Joel Ross, flutist Elena Pinderhughes, trumpeter Marquis Hill, and drummer Kendrick Scott. Clayton has been nominated for six Grammys, including three nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Album in 2011, 2013, and 2020. Clayton’s previous album, Bells On Sand, was released in 2022. That album was inspired by sands, both of time and otherwise. “To look at things from this zoomed-out perspective might allow for a union between past, present, and future,” he told Blue Note of his hopes for that album’s reception. “It might allow us to embrace the totality of our life experience.” If “Angels Speak” is any indication, Ones & Twos could pull off a similarly transcendent experience.
Order Gerald Clatyon’s Ones & Twos now.
