John Clayton

But there was a, a fella who he hired who also arranged Whitney Houston's version of the, um, national anthem that she is so famous for having done at the, um, Super Bowl.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna guess that that was John Clayton.

Okay.

I think that's right.

But yeah, you got to have that internalized.

I mean, John Clayton appreciates this also.

I mean, many

musicians do.

I was right there, watching us, and we, well, we had a little supper time together, and that's the very same place, Montreux, Switzerland, 1976.

And by the way, John Clayton, the bassist from LA, Jack Hamilton, and we started swinging for that audience.

Must've been about 2,000 people out there, and somehow that spiritual and magical thing comes into my spirit, and next thing you know, we r- we rocked that joint like it was the Count Basie orchestra.

[laughs]

Yeah.

But I was like, John Clayton, I'd known John Clayton for a while.

His father.

It's his father.

And I was like, man, I mean, I love, my dad's great.

Yeah.

But, y- with, John Clayton's really- [laughs]

[laughs] Hey, Bill's no, Bill's no slouch, but-

He's also recorded five albums with the Cologne-based Subway Jazz Orchestra and joined the WDR Big Band as a guest musician in productions and concerts.

He's performed around the world with musicians like John Clayton, Kurt Elling, Maria Schneider, Benny Green, Jeff Hamilton, Ingrid Jensen, and Peter Evans, just to name a few.

And since 2026, Michael Kroll has been a professor of jazz trumpet at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg.

the notes for the album say it's inspired by the idea that no flower blooms without rain the music reflects the quiet strength that can emerge from difficult seasons transforming experience into sound with warmth clarity and lyrical depth The lineup here, Michael Kroll on trumpet, Konstantin Kromer on piano, Jakob Kuhnermann on bass, Fabian Roche on drums, and we've got a guest vocalist on a couple of tracks, Tamara Lukasheva, and she's originally from Odessa.