Clark Gayton Recovery Fund

Hello Friends,

Our dear friend and musical colleague, Clark Gayton, has suffered a very serious stroke and we are raising money for his rehabilitation. Clark’s community is worldwide, so we have created this GoFundMe page as a way to connect the dots. If 1000 people gave $50, that’s all it would take to reach our $50K goal. Perhaps some of you can donate more. Or perhaps less. But anything you can give - even prayers - to help Clark will be a well-spent investment. All proceeds will go to Clark's sister, Cynthia, who is managing his recovery.

We are calling on the community of musicians, club-goers, carousers, and all who have been graced by Clark and his music in the four decades he has roamed, with horn in hand, through New York City dives, esteemed venues, street parades, and beyond.

Perhaps you don’t realize that you’re one of those people, but let us assure you:

If you’ve gone to any NYC music club since 1986…

Or attended big-name stadium concerts…

Or discovered an unusually excellent ensemble in some shithole on the Bowery

Or at a loose jam on a front stoop in the Bronx…

Or you name it...

You have undoubtedly been serenaded at some point by Clark Gayton’s fearless energy and virtuosity. He is omnipresent!

Or maybe you were riding the subway at 2am and noticed a lone musician practicing his trombone at the end of the car? That was Clark just trying to make sure he didn’t wake up his next-door neighbors.

Perhaps the very next night you spotted him on stage at Madison Square Garden with Bruce Springsteen and thought - was that the same guy? - well it was!

And yup that was also him after the MSG show playing sousaphone with a reggae band on the lower-east side until the club rolled down the gate.

This man is the Zelig of all forms of music, namable and unnamable. And what he has given to those of us who love the nightlife and call live music our religion cannot be quantified. If you have the means, please consider a donation for Clark's recovery and thank you for reading.

~ LunÁtico

(Clark Gayton has toured and recorded with Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Rihanna, Brazilian Girls, Steel Pulse, Wyclef Jean, Queen Latifah, Quincy Jones, Sting, Sturgill Simpson, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Bruno Mars, Bette Midler, Norah Jones, Usher, Steve Van Zandt, Beyoncé, Santana, Maxwell, The Skatalites, Bad Brains, Charles Tolliver, Lionel Hampton, Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, Ted Nash, Clark Terry, Nancy Wilson, and Ray Charles, to name a few - and still - makes it for a 9pm downbeat at LunÁtico!)