Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an
American jazz pianist who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.
Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town
east of Pittsburgh. His parents were originally from Stone Mountain,
Georgia. His miner father, Emory Clark, died of a lung disease two weeks
after Sonny was born. Sonny was the youngest of eight children. At age
12, he moved to Pittsburgh.
When visiting an aunt in California at age 20, Clark decided to stay and
began working with saxophonist Wardell Gray. Clark went to San
Francisco with Oscar Pettiford and after a couple months, was working
with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco in 1953. Clark toured the United States
and Europe with DeFranco until January 1956, when he joined The
Lighthouse All-Stars, led by bassist Howard Rumsey.
Wishing to return to the east coast, Clark served as accompanist for
singer Dinah Washington in February 1957 in order to relocate to New
York City. In New York, Clark was often requested as a sideman by many
musicians, partly because of his rhythmic comping. He frequently
recorded for Blue Note Records, playing as a sideman with many hard bop
players, including Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers, John
Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, Grant Green, Philly
Joe Jones, Clifford Jordan, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Art Taylor, and
Wilbur Ware. He also recorded sessions with Charles Mingus, Sonny
Rollins, Billie Holiday, Stanley Turrentine, and Lee Morgan.
As a band leader, Clark recorded albums Dial "S" for Sonny (1957),
Sonny's Crib (1957), Sonny Clark Trio (1957), with Paul Chambers and
Philly Joe Jones, and Cool Struttin' (1958). Sonny Clark Trio, with
George Duvivier and Max Roach was released in 1960.
Clark died in New York City; the official cause was listed as a heart attack, but the likely cause was a heroin overdose.
Close friend and fellow jazz pianist Bill Evans dedicated the
composition "NYC's No Lark" (an anagram of "Sonny Clark") to him after
his death, included on Evans' Conversations with Myself (1963). John
Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Ray Drummond, and Bobby Previte recorded an album
of Clark's compositions, Voodoo (1985), as the Sonny Clark Memorial
Quartet. Zorn also recorded several of Clark's compositions with Bill
Frisell and George Lewis on News for Lulu (1988) and More News for Lulu
(1992).
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Sonny
Clark (Conrad Yeatis Clark, Herminie, de Pensilvania, 21 de julio de
1931 – 13 de enero de 1963) fue un pianista de jazz que principalmente
desarrolló el idioma del hard bop.
Clark nació y fue criado en Herminie. A la edad de 12 años se mudó a
Pittsburgh. Cuando estaba de visita en California, a los 20 años,
decidió quedarse y comenzar a trabajar con el saxofonista Wardell Gray.
Clark fue a San Francisco con Oscar Pettiford, y, luego de un par de
meses, estaba trabajando con el clarinetista Buddy DeFranco en 1953.
Clark recorrió los Estados Unidos y Europa con DeFranco hasta enero de
1956, cuando se unió a The Lighthouse All-Stars, orquesta de The
Lighthouse Cafe de Hermosa Beach dirigida por el contrabajista Howard
Rumsey.
Deseando volver a la costa este, Clark sirvió de acompañamiento de la
cantante Dinah Washington en febrero de 1957 para reubicarse en la
ciudad de Nueva York. Allí, Clark era requerido usualmente como
acompañante por muchos músicos. Frecuentemente grabó para Blue Note
Records tocando como acompañante de muchos músicos del hard bop, entre
ellos Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, Dexter
Gordon, Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, Grant Green, Philly Joe Jones,
Clifford Jordan, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Art Taylor y Wilbur Ware.
También grabó sesiones con Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Billie
Holiday, Stanley Turrentine, y Lee Morgan.
Clark murió de un ataque al corazón en la ciudad de Nueva York.1 Algunos
comentarios atribuyen su temprana muerte al abuso de las drogas y del
alcohol.
Su amigo Bill Evans dedicó al fallecido una composición titulada con un
anagrama de su nombre: NYC's No Lark (Sin alondra en Nueva York, tomando
la alondra como símbolo del alba); la pieza se publicó en el álbum
Conversations with Myself (1963).
John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Ray Drummond y Bobby Previte, con el nombre de
The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet, grabaron un álbum de composiciones de
Clark: Voodoo (1985). Zorn también grabó varias de las composiciones de
Clark con Bill Frisell y George Lewis en los álbumes News for Lulu
(1988) y More News for Lulu (1992).
