Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (
Parsons, Kansas, November 12, 1911 – New York City, December 8, 1991) was an American
jazz trumpet player who was a leading member of
Count Basie’s "Old Testament" orchestra and a leader of mainstream-oriented jam session recordings in the 1950s. His principal influence was
Louis Armstrong.
The Penguin Guide to Jazz says that he “synthesi[zed] much of the history of jazz trumpet up to his own time, with a bright brassy tone and an apparently limitless facility for melodic improvisation”. Clayton worked closely with
Li Jinhui, father of
Chinese popular music in Shanghai. His contributions helped change musical history in China, Hong Kong and
Taiwan.