Gerald Cleaver

Based in Brooklyn, Detroit-bred drummer, composer, and bandleader Gerald Cleaver is among the most agile and wide-ranging first-call musicians on the 21st century jazz scene. Known in the Motor City area as both a musician and an educator from the mid-'80s onward, his national emergence at the end of the '90s was precipitated by his participation in a series of diverse recordings led by artists including <a href="spotify:artist:462arlCFMH9CgHpDXJLLgv">Rodney Whitaker</a> (Hidden Kingdom), Roscoe Mitchell's Note Factory (Nine to Get Ready), <a href="spotify:artist:1ZSjkZgcJbKs97Porpnhry">Bill McHenry</a> (Graphic), and <a href="spotify:artist:6DLquZA1fNLT5aw9o1xPV7">Joe Morris</a> (Underthru). These efforts brought his powerful, detailed drumming to worldwide attention. Cleaver's style is well-suited to inside or outside playing, his beat can range from swing time to no time; he is just as comfortable with standard forms as he is hybrid or new ones, whether it's playing in fixed or odd meters, or even in complete abstraction. Cleaver understands that in jazz it's the shared truths between styles that connect the dots between aspects of its tradition: feeling, gesture, groove, structure, harmony, tension, release, dynamics, dialogue, and common roots. As a sideman, he has worked with everyone from <a href="spotify:artist:0ie9W9nN4iPymAkS9WW8nX">Jeremy Pelt</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2RjYqvCG5Zt1DpQUPhgw77">Craig Taborn</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0ztzt6g8n0NBcnwMGwMlxD">Miroslav Vitous</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:55s215dZWZMrrd8mqYpcFg">Ivo Perelman</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:1Lw2WbL7CWZXAWSLWYXq4r">Matthew Shipp</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5r65V3tfKsDc3nHfpIl7D0">William Parker</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:65WFsTQhFYVqbovrVZAOd7">Tomasz Stanko</a>, to name a scant few. He has co-led recordings with <a href="spotify:artist:5lQJ66Sc8W6j6IqrwhmFIy">Lotte Anker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7MAExzi45zHIrvl02cV7P2">Andrew Bishop</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4dYvriqGH8gi9ft2G5QA90">Taylor Ho Bynum</a> among others. His own dates, including Adjust in 2001, Gerald Cleaver's Detroit in 2007, Be It as I See It in 2009, and Live at Firehouse 12 in 2019, reveal a drummer whose discipline is equanimous with his appetite for taking risks. Likewise, Cleaver has also explored experimental electronic music with Signs and Griots, released respectively in 2020 and 2021.

Cleaver was born and raised on Detroit's West Side and began playing drums early thanks to the inspiration of his father, drummer John Cleaver, who may have held a day job but was a regular on the city's jazz scene by night. In addition to playing the kit, the younger Cleaver received formal musical training on violin and trumpet. While still in high school, the young drummer worked with respected area musicians including bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5tFHD1Y400oLuqNwWYICkD">Ali Jackson</a>, trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:3RCx5My8byOMt36OUepQrX">Marcus Belgrave</a>, tenor saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:0L60OmEZPAVO5Wgyx0Aa8i">Donald Walden</a>, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:60mjwG2LqLKNfu49odlXAT">A. Spencer Barefield</a>, and reedsman <a href="spotify:artist:5yBslrSWPfKklWwZbzLHka">Wendell Harrison</a>, among others. An NEA Fellowship allowed him to study with drummer <a href="spotify:artist:1cF1EPqYh5bucTrzSQQr0y">Victor Lewis</a>; Cleaver then earned a music degree from the University of Michigan. During his years as a student, he met and formed a band with keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:2RjYqvCG5Zt1DpQUPhgw77">Craig Taborn</a> called the Tracey Science Quartet. Cleaver went on to become a jazz educator after graduating and taught in Detroit in the early '90s before joining the jazz faculty at the University of Michigan in 1995. In 1997 he both penned and played on the composition "Pilgrim's Progress" for bassist <a href="spotify:artist:462arlCFMH9CgHpDXJLLgv">Rodney Whitaker</a>'s debut Hidden Kingdom on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DIW%22">DIW</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:2RjYqvCG5Zt1DpQUPhgw77">Taborn</a> recommended the drummer to <a href="spotify:artist:6DR6ugRdVaVi7lyqooqJov">Roscoe Mitchell</a>, who hired him to play in a trio with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:4KVvg69UiiDqfal5jOS9Ac">Malachi Favors</a> on The Day and the Night. Two years later, he appeared with Mitchell & the Note Factory on the seminal <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a> release Nine to Get Ready. Cleaver can be heard in a number of groups and settings from this period, including recordings by the <a href="spotify:artist:68rhsXtDZDvkcMtji7IHFt">Joe Morris Quartet</a>, the <a href="spotify:artist:1iBj0pGFzWo1DPeudiGCuT">Matthew Shipp Quartet</a>, on bassist <a href="spotify:artist:41ZBQqguJTIzwRdgg82w9a">Chris Lightcap</a>'s leader debut Lay-Up, and <a href="spotify:artist:2RjYqvCG5Zt1DpQUPhgw77">Taborn</a>'s 2001 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Thirsty+Ear%22">Thirsty Ear</a> offering, Light Made Lighter. That same year, with his Veil of Names unit, Cleaver issued his own debut long-player, Adjust, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fresh+Sound+New+Talent%22">Fresh Sound New Talent</a>. His sidemen included guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:2CH9bD5RtnDcm9O23JByN7">Ben Monder</a>, violinist/violist <a href="spotify:artist:7p8pvTPkEM4Y5ZCPHEUWbf">Mat Maneri</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5Bj6U1x2ex6wcZccSxdzBB">Reid Anderson</a>, saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:7MAExzi45zHIrvl02cV7P2">Andrew Bishop</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2RjYqvCG5Zt1DpQUPhgw77">Taborn</a>.

Cleaver spent the next few years recording and/or touring with Mitchell & the Note Factory, <a href="spotify:artist:5lQJ66Sc8W6j6IqrwhmFIy">Lotte Anker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1v0DXWt73gzPZCWijo7eB3">Mario Pavone</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3LrEd7O4tB35VAR0ZKz0cH">Charles Gayle</a>, and more. 2007 proved a seminal year for the drummer. He played on no less than seven high-profile jazz recordings including <a href="spotify:artist:0ztzt6g8n0NBcnwMGwMlxD">Miroslav Vitous</a>' Universal Syncopations, and <a href="spotify:artist:3ApjZpZhqZNl21HprnmXW3">Sylvie Courvoisier</a>'s Lonelyville, and issued his sophomore leader date Gerald Cleaver's Detroit, comprised entirely of his own compositions. The following year, Cleaver's star had fully ascended: He played on no less than a dozen albums in 2008 (an annual average he has more or less maintained since). He made his first appearance with trombonist <a href="spotify:artist:6tSNZs0irdfgzczCjYrw72">Samuel Blaser</a>'s quartet on 7th Heaven, played drums in saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:5ACouApJyhZpZ3Eu2DtrlM">J.D. Allen</a>'s trio for I Am I Am, and in <a href="spotify:artist:3fMsYaF2GKRKDN3PQe2ZmG">Gebhard Ullmann's Basement Research</a> for Don't Touch My Music. In 2009, Cleaver, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5r65V3tfKsDc3nHfpIl7D0">William Parker</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2RjYqvCG5Zt1DpQUPhgw77">Taborn</a> released the acclaimed debut by their Farmers by Nature project on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Aum+Fidelity%22">Aum Fidelity</a>. He also worked with <a href="spotify:artist:0ztzt6g8n0NBcnwMGwMlxD">Vitous</a> again on the acclaimed <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a> outing Remembering Weather Report, with <a href="spotify:artist:5ElMqnHWxDT7rA7WuwDFs3">Eric Revis</a> on Laughter's Necklace of Tears, with <a href="spotify:artist:2RjYqvCG5Zt1DpQUPhgw77">Taborn</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5lQJ66Sc8W6j6IqrwhmFIy">Anker</a> on the studio outing Floating Islands, and with <a href="spotify:artist:62iyCv3YONUFiqCvN0EgfY">Michael Formanek</a> on the celebrated The Rub and Spare Change (also on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ECM%22">ECM</a>).

Cleaver issued his third album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fresh+Sound+New+Talent%22">Fresh Sound New Talent</a> in 2010: Be It as I See It featured a slew of players including <a href="spotify:artist:2RjYqvCG5Zt1DpQUPhgw77">Taborn</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7MAExzi45zHIrvl02cV7P2">Bishop</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7p8pvTPkEM4Y5ZCPHEUWbf">Maneri</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6woeo15v4gYqiegGAknRm0">Tony Malaby</a>, and singer Jean Carla Rodea; it drew positive critical notice across the globe. That same year, the drummer played in <a href="spotify:artist:69LvrpDXeYJ1jAYaZvUH5g">William Parker's Organ Quartet</a> on Uncle Joe's Spirit House, with <a href="spotify:artist:0ie9W9nN4iPymAkS9WW8nX">Pelt</a> on Men of Honor, in pianist <a href="spotify:artist:5GzYHHA4J0vlcaWrFCg4zp">John Hébert's Trio</a> for Spiritual Lover (the pair also teamed up on recordings by <a href="spotify:artist:4dYvriqGH8gi9ft2G5QA90">Taylor Ho Bynum</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7HZX0uJyDkOE2u01bID03u">Rodrigo Amado</a> that year). Farmers by Nature regrouped for Out of This World's Distortions in 2011. Cleaver began a years-long collaboration with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:55s215dZWZMrrd8mqYpcFg">Ivo Perelman</a> on The Hour of the Star, and played on recordings by <a href="spotify:artist:79CKjkgIoXOZB6Hwzg5vrz">Ellery Eskelin</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6tSNZs0irdfgzczCjYrw72">Blaser</a>, among others. The following year, Cleaver reprised his role with <a href="spotify:artist:0ie9W9nN4iPymAkS9WW8nX">Pelt</a> on the high-charting album Soul, in <a href="spotify:artist:62iyCv3YONUFiqCvN0EgfY">Formanek</a>'s studio group for Small Places, and with <a href="spotify:artist:55s215dZWZMrrd8mqYpcFg">Perelman</a> on several albums for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Leo%22">Leo</a>, including The Foreign Legion, that also included <a href="spotify:artist:1Lw2WbL7CWZXAWSLWYXq4r">Shipp</a> in the lineup.

By 2013, Cleaver had established a familiar group of players he worked with in various capacities. He continued to work with <a href="spotify:artist:55s215dZWZMrrd8mqYpcFg">Perelman</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1Lw2WbL7CWZXAWSLWYXq4r">Shipp</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:61RT2jIztpWTYHzjddb9ct">Hébert</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4dYvriqGH8gi9ft2G5QA90">Bynum</a>, but he also joined Polish trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:65WFsTQhFYVqbovrVZAOd7">Tomasz Stanko</a>'s quartet for Wisława and played on the <a href="spotify:artist:2RjYqvCG5Zt1DpQUPhgw77">Taborn</a> trio's Chants (with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:6txzCcsy6ZKKKQLHmE3Y9L">Thomas Morgan</a>). The next year kicked off with Cleaver as a member of the intrepid quintet <a href="spotify:artist:2CcKMqdDc6XLYmXKdgokwb">Plymouth</a> for their self-titled debut on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RareNoise%22">RareNoise</a>. The band's other members included <a href="spotify:artist:6DLquZA1fNLT5aw9o1xPV7">Morris</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5tCfZ8dYbzaq6auQeSAsRl">Mary Halvorson</a> on guitars, <a href="spotify:artist:41ZBQqguJTIzwRdgg82w9a">Lightcap</a> on bass, and <a href="spotify:artist:7wm1h5i4ackDo9yhGUGuqv">Jamie Saft</a> on organ and piano. Cleaver also joined <a href="spotify:artist:5r65V3tfKsDc3nHfpIl7D0">Parker</a> in playing on tenor saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:4vPE7pt5RgtB8cqDqQHhMK">James Brandon Lewis</a>' celebrated <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Okeh%22">Okeh</a> debut, Divine Travels, recorded the double-length Love and Ghosts with Farmers by Nature, and played on <a href="spotify:artist:4ZF94CF5HorLFF413uQX7x">Mark Weinstein</a>'s Latin Jazz Underground. Back in 2013, Cleaver worked in <a href="spotify:artist:0GC1oqEWpiAjfE7jm5LQO5">Charles Lloyd</a>'s group for a live date in Wroclaw, Poland. The saxophonist's resultant album, Wild Man Dance, was drawn from that date and was issued on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Note%22">Blue Note</a> in 2015. The drummer also played on <a href="spotify:artist:1Lw2WbL7CWZXAWSLWYXq4r">Shipp</a>'s Our Lady of the Flowers, with <a href="spotify:artist:41ZBQqguJTIzwRdgg82w9a">Lightcap</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:3dDa2VBz5jhBKHKNCYHbnF">Bigmouth</a> on Epicenter, and with the <a href="spotify:artist:6tSNZs0irdfgzczCjYrw72">Blaser</a> quartet for Spring Rain. Somehow, Cleaver also found time to teach master classes in New York and Ann Arbor; he traveled and recorded for the remainder of the year.

In 2016, Cleaver's partnership with <a href="spotify:artist:55s215dZWZMrrd8mqYpcFg">Perelman</a> exploded: he appeared on all six of The Art of the Improv Trio volumes that year (with different third members), and on the quartet date Breaking Point and the quintet offering Octagon. He also played on <a href="spotify:artist:0ztzt6g8n0NBcnwMGwMlxD">Vitous</a>' seminal The Music of Weather Report. The following year found Cleaver mostly touring and teaching, but he did find time to renew his partnership with <a href="spotify:artist:1sP0KjKWioXmkh9vUKb1fP">Stanko</a> on December Avenue, and to play with drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5dCBz1YSzBI2WiXnCRqtCs">Tomas Fujiwara</a> on Triple Double and the <a href="spotify:artist:7vRtxQT9nKIPHA36iDrCul">Yelena Eckemoff Quintet</a> for In the Shadow of a Cloud. In 2018, Cleaver and saxophonist Travis LaPlante formed the duo Subtle Degrees and recorded their debut album, A Dance That Empties. Back in 2016, the drummer had recorded in a French cave with <a href="spotify:artist:2zNfkima1KwM1wzTCtKEdu">Rova</a> saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:0wnIGWITikhNzd3kP4xqpo">Larry Ochs</a>; their collaboration was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rogue+Art%22">Rogue Art</a> as Songs of the Wild Cave in October of 2018.

In 2019, <a href="spotify:artist:0wnIGWITikhNzd3kP4xqpo">Ochs</a> and Cleaver teamed up again, this time in a trio with guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3s6o8vxtYJ1utkWl8EXxUp">Nels Cline</a> for What Is to Be Done on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Clean+Feed%22">Clean Feed</a>. Before the decade ended, Cleaver played with <a href="spotify:artist:41ZBQqguJTIzwRdgg82w9a">Lightcap</a> on SuperBigMouth, and in a quartet co-led by <a href="spotify:artist:0NLlZlYs28ClkYXasvqmjy">Enrico Rava</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:36YE6h8aN09ZKG4EhneDSf">Joe Lovano</a> for the album Roma. In November, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sunnyside%22">Sunnyside</a> issued the archival date Violet Hour. The personnel in the freewheeling program, recorded in 2006, included saxophonists <a href="spotify:artist:5ACouApJyhZpZ3Eu2DtrlM">J.D. Allen</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7MAExzi45zHIrvl02cV7P2">Bishop</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0ie9W9nN4iPymAkS9WW8nX">Pelt</a> on trumpet, <a href="spotify:artist:4CPMkyRDmgsWlR9SkMsWAp">Ben Waltzer</a> on piano, and <a href="spotify:artist:41ZBQqguJTIzwRdgg82w9a">Lightcap</a> on bass. Inspired since the '80s by innovations in electronic music made by his fellow Detroit natives, Cleaver entered the 2020s with Signs, a strictly electronic work, and Griots, which synthesized his machines with contributions from trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:4ai53dgSBGhQwcFtGyY1bF">Ambrose Akinmusire</a> and pianist <a href="spotify:artist:2yHMWN7OFCTJ9ZiGSVU0F8">David Virelles</a>. The <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22577%22">577</a> label released the former in 2020, and in 2021 jointly issued the latter on Positive Elevation and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Meakusma%22">Meakusma</a>. Between the two albums, Cleaver was heard on <a href="spotify:artist:5r65V3tfKsDc3nHfpIl7D0">William Parker</a>'s Mayan Space Station and on the collaborative Welcome Adventure, Vol. 1, with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:783kRxpzUwR6w8ggk2vUE4">Daniel Carter</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5r65V3tfKsDc3nHfpIl7D0">Parker</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1Lw2WbL7CWZXAWSLWYXq4r">Shipp</a>. Cut on a single October day in 2019, it also produced 2022's Welcome to Adventure, Vol. 2; both were issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22577+Records%22">577 Records</a>. ~ Thom Jurek & Andy Kellman, Rovi