About

The members of Trio East met on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in 2001 and have been continuously active as a group and as the nucleus of several other projects, including the Eastman Jazz Quartet led by Harold Danko and others led by Richard Perry and Bill Dobbins.

“The clarity of their ideas is a complete pleasure to listen to, and results in a truly wonderful horn trio. I’m knocked out by their playing, and the group is a most welcome addition to the jazz scene.” -- Peter Erskine

Biographies

Clay JENKINS moved to Los Angeles in 1978, where he affiliated with The Stan Kenton Orchestra, The Buddy Rich Big Band, and The Count Basie Orchestra. Since joining the Eastman faculty in 2000, Clay continues to perform and record with the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, of which he is a charter member. Clay has recorded with Milt Jackson, Diana Krall, Billy Harper, Lyle Mays, Peter Erskine, Rufus Reid, Ray Brown, Kurt Elling, Dr. John, Eric Reed, Rich Perry, Ernestine Anderson, and Karrin Allyson, among others.

Jeff CAMPBELL has performed with Marian McPartland, Gene Bertoncini, Rich Perry, Harold Jones, and the Eastman Jazz Quartet at festivals throughout Europe, the former Soviet Union, and the Baltic Republics. Additionally, Jeff is a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and has appeared on McPartland’s Piano Jazz program on NPR. A professor at Eastman since 1997, his teaching duties include jazz bass, jazz history, jazz theory and aural skills, and small group performance. He is also the author of a book on the famous Duke Ellington-Jimmy Blanton duets.

Rich THOMPSON has been in demand as a top call drummer in Rochester for the past 25 years. At the Eastman School of Music he’s served as an Associate Professor of drum set since 1996 and as the Jazz Lab Band director since 2008. Rich has toured with jazz greats including James Williams, Tito Puente, Marion McPartland, Gene Bertoncini, Byron Stripling, and Terell Stafford. As a member of The Count Basie Orchestra he was cited by The Boston Globe as “the drummer who drove the Basie sound.” Rich has also performed with numerous symphonies in the U.S. and Canada. An active clinician, he has written four books on drum set technique.