| Gerald Cleaver | |
| Birth Date: | 4 May 1963 |
| Birth Place: | Detroit, Michigan |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Occupation: | Musician |
| Instrument: | Drums |
Gerald Cleaver (born May 4, 1963[1]) is a jazz drummer from Detroit, Michigan.[2]
Cleaver's father is drummer John Cleaver Jr., originally from Springfield, Ohio, and his mother was from Greenwood, Mississippi. Gerald had six older siblings.
Cleaver joined the jazz faculty at the University of Michigan in 1995. He has performed or recorded with Joe Morris, Mat Maneri, Roscoe Mitchell, Miroslav Vitouš, Michael Formanek, Tomasz Stańko, Franck Amsallem and others.
Under the name Veil of Names, Cleaver released an album called Adjust on the Fresh Sound New Talent label in 2001. It featured Maneri, Ben Monder, Andrew Bishop, Craig Taborn and Reid Anderson and was a Best Debut Recording Nominee by the Jazz Journalists Association.
Cleaver currently leads the groups Uncle June, Black Host, Violet Hour and NiMbNl as well as working as a sideman with many different artists.
An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.
| Year recorded | Title | Label | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Adjust | Fresh Sound | Sextet, with Andrew Bishop (clarinet, soprano sax, tenor sax), Mat Maneri (violin), Craig Taborn (piano), Ben Monder (guitar), Reid Anderson (electric bass, acoustic bass) | |
| 2007 | Gerald Cleaver's Detroit | Fresh Sound | Sextet, with Ben Waltzer (piano), Andrew Bishop (soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone), J. D. Allen (tenor saxophone), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Chris Lightcap (bass) | |
| 2008 | Farmers by Nature | AUM Fidelity | As the band "Farmers by Nature," with Craig Taborn (piano), William Parker (bass) | |
| 2009 | Be It as I See It | Fresh Sound | Sextet, with Craig Taborn (piano), Andrew Bishop (flue, soprano and bass clarinet, soprano and tenor saxophone), Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone), Mat Maneri (viola), Drew Gress (bass) | |
| 2010 | Out of This World's Distortions | AUM Fidelity | As the band "Farmers by Nature," with Craig Taborn (piano), William Parker (bass) | |
| 2010 | Tivoli Trio | Red Piano Records | As the band "Tivoli Trio," with Frank Calberg (piano), John Hebert (bass) | |
| 2011 | Love and Ghosts | AUM Fidelity | As the band "Farmers by Nature," with Craig Taborn (piano), William Parker (bass); in concert | |
| 2013* | Life in the Sugar Candle Mines | Northern Spy | Quintet, As the band "Black Host," with Darius Jones (alto sax), Brandon Seabrook (guitar), Cooper-Moore (piano), Pascal Niggenkemper (bass) | |
| 2016* | Our Earth / Our World | pfMENTUM | Leaderless quartet, with Peter Kuhn and Dave Sewelson (reeds) and Larry Roland (bass) | |
| 2016* | An Air of Unreality | RogueArt | As the band "Judson Trio," with Joëlle Léandre (bass) and Mat Maneri (viola) | |
| 2016* | Ida Lupino | ECM | Leaderless quartet, with Giovanni Guidi (piano), Gianluca Petrella (trombone), and Louis Sclavis (clarinet) | |
| 2018* | The Industry of Entropy | Relative Pitch Records | Leaderless quartet, with Brandon Lopez (bass), Andria Nicodemou (vibraphone), Matt Nelson (tenor saxophone) | |
| 2018* | Songs of the Wild Cave | RogueArt | duo with Larry Ochs (tenor and sopranino saxophones) | |
| 2019* | What Is to Be Done | Clean Feed Records | Leaderless trio, with Nels Cline (guitar), Larry Ochs (tenor and sopranino saxophones) | |
| 2019* | Live at Firehouse 12 | Sunnyside Records | As "Gerald Cleaver & Violet Hour" with J.D. Allen (tenor saxophone), Andrew Bishop (bass clarinet, soprano & tenor saxophone), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Ben Waltzer (piano), Chris Lightcap (bass) | |
| 2020* | Signs | 577 Records | Solo electronic album | |
| 2020* | Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1 | 577 Records | Leaderless quartet, with Daniel Carter (tenor saxophone, trumpet, flute), Matthew Shipp (piano), William Parker (bass) | |
| 2021* | Griots[3] | Positive Elevation / 577 Records / Meakusma | Solo electronic album |
With Lotte Anker
With Samuel Blaser
With Ellery Eskelin
With Chris Lightcap
With Roscoe Mitchell
With Joe Morris
With Ivo Perelman
With Matthew Shipp
With Miroslav Vitous
With others