Sonny Clark • These Days

 

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).

Tracks:
1 - I Didn't Know What Time It Was
2 - Until the Real Thing Comes Along
3 - Moon River
4 - Deep Night
5 - On Green Dolphin Street
6 - Ain't Nothin' but the Blues
7 - Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
8 - Black Pearl
9 - Nancy with the Laughing Face
10 - Someday My Prince Will Come
11 - I'll Remember April
12 - The Things We Did Last Summer
13 - B.G. Mambo
14 - If I Should Lose You
15 - Tadd's Delight
16 - My Favorite Things
17 - I Concentrate on You
18 - Soy Califa
19 - I Guess I'll Hang My Tears out to Dry
20 - Sippin' at Bells
21 - That's All
22 - On the Street Where You Live
23 - Outer Space
24 - Don't Explain

Nagel Heyer Records
Genre: Hard Bop
2018

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