Sonny Clark

Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.^[1]

Sonny Clark
Background information
Birth name	Conrad Yeatis Clark
Born	(1931-07-21)July 21, 1931 Herminie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	January 13, 1963(1963-01-13) (aged 31) New York City, U.S.
Genres	Jazz hard bop
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Piano
Years active	1953–1963
Labels	Blue Note

Early life

Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town east of Pittsburgh.^[2] His parents were originally from Stone Mountain, Georgia.^[2] His miner father, Emery Clark, died of a lung disease two weeks after Sonny was born.^[2] Sonny was the youngest of eight children.^[2] At age 12, he moved to Pittsburgh.

Later life and career

While 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 as one of their house musicians, 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 leader, Clark recorded albums Dial "S" for Sonny (1957, Blue Note), Sonny's Crib (1957, Blue Note), Sonny Clark Trio (1957, Blue Note), Cool Struttin' (1958, Blue Note), Blues in the Night (1979, Blue Note, also released on Standards), and a second piano trio album titled Sonny Clark Trio (1960, Time Records).

Clark died in New York City on January 13, 1963 (aged 31). The official cause was listed as a heart attack, but the likely cause was a heroin overdose.^[3][4][5][6]

Legacy

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 E. Lewis on News for Lulu (1988) and More News for Lulu (1992).

Discography

As leader

Recording date	Title	Label	Year released	Notes
1954-01	The Sonny Clark Memorial Album	Xanadu	1976	Most tracks solo piano; some tracks trio, with Simon Brehm (bass), Bobby White (drums); trio tracks in concert
1955-01	Oakland, 1955	Uptown	1995	Trio, with Jerry Good (bass), Al Randall (drums); concert
1957-07	Dial "S" for Sonny	Blue Note	1957	One track trio, with Wilbur Ware (bass), Louis Hayes (drums); most tracks sextet, with Art Farmer (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Hank Mobley (tenor sax) added
1957-09	Sonny's Crib	Blue Note	1958	Sextet, with Donald Byrd (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), John Coltrane (tenor sax), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums)
1957-10	Sonny Clark Trio	Blue Note	1958	One track solo piano; most tracks trio, with Paul Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums)
1957-12, 1958-01	Sonny Clark Quintets	Blue Note	1976	Quintet with either Clifford Jordan (tenor sax), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Paul Chambers (bass), Pete LaRoca (drums) or Art Farmer (trumpet), Jackie McLean (alto sax), Paul Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums)
1958-01	Cool Struttin'	Blue Note	1958	Quintet, with Art Farmer (trumpet), Jackie McLean (alto sax), Paul Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums)
1957-10, 1958-11	The Art of The Trio	Blue Note	1980	Some tracks trio with Jymie Merritt (bass), Wes Landers (drums); some tracks trio with Paul Chambers (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums)
1958-11, 1958-12	Blues in the Night	Blue Note	1979	Trio, with Paul Chambers (bass), Wes Landers (drums)
1957-12, 1959-03	My Conception	Blue Note	1979	Quintet, with Donald Byrd (trumpet), Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Blakey (drums); reissue added tracks from Sonny Clark Quintets
1960-01	Sonny Clark Trio also released as The 1960 Time Sessions	Time/Bainbridge/Tompkins Square	1960	Trio with George Duvivier (bass), Max Roach (drums)
1961-11	Leapin' and Lopin'	Blue Note	1962	Five tracks quintet, with Tommy Turrentine (trumpet), Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Butch Warren (bass), Billy Higgins (drums); one track quartet, with Ike Quebec (tenor sax) in place of Turrentine and Rouse

Compilations

• Standards (Blue Note, 1998)

As sideman

With Sonny Criss Go Man! (Imperial Records, 1956) Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter (Imperial, 1956) With Buddy DeFranco In a Mellow Mood (Verve, 1954) Cooking the Blues (Verve, 1955) Autumn Leaves (Verve, 1956) Sweet and Lovely (Verve, 1956) Jazz Tones (Verve, 1956) With Curtis Fuller Bone & Bari (Blue Note, 1958) – rec. 1957 Curtis Fuller Volume 3 (Blue Note, 1961) – rec. 1957 Two Bones (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1958 With Dexter Gordon Go (Blue Note, 1962) A Swingin' Affair (Blue Note, 1962) Landslide (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1961-62 With Bennie Green Soul Stirrin' (Blue Note, 1958) Bennie Green Swings the Blues (Enrica, 1960) Bennie Green (Time, 1960) The 45 Session (Blue Note, 1975) – rec. 1958 With Grant Green Gooden's Corner (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1961 Nigeria (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1962 Oleo (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1962 Born to Be Blue (Blue Note, 1985) – rec. 1962 The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark (Blue Note, 1997) – compilation With Jackie McLean Jackie's Bag (Blue Note, 1959) A Fickle Sonance (Blue Note, 1961) Vertigo (Blue Note, 1962) Tippin' the Scales (Blue Note, 1962) With Hank Mobley Hank Mobley (Blue Note, 1958) – rec. 1957 Poppin' (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1957 Curtain Call (Blue Note, 1984) – rec. 1957 With Art Pepper Straight-Ahead Jazz Volume One (Straight Ahead Jazz, 1989) – rec. 1953 Straight Ahead Jazz Vol. Two (Straight Ahead Jazz, 1989) – rec. 1953 Art Pepper With Sonny Clark Trio Vol. 2 (Straight Ahead Jazz, 1989) – rec. 1953 With Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars Mexican Passport (Contemporary, 1956) Music for Lighthousekeeping (Contemporary, 1956) Oboe/Flute (Contemporary, 1956) With Stanley Turrentine Stan "The Man" Turrentine (Time, 1963) – rec. 1960 Jubilee Shout!!! (Blue Note, 1986) – rec. 1962

With others Tina Brooks, Minor Move (Blue Note, 1980) – rec. 1958 Serge Chaloff, Blue Serge (Capital, 1956) Teddy Charles' West Coasters, Teddy Charles' West Coasters, EP (Prestige, 1953) Lou Donaldson, Lou Takes Off (Blue Note, 1958) – rec. 1957 Johnny Griffin, The Congregation (Blue Note, 1957) John Jenkins, John Jenkins with Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1957) Philly Joe Jones, Showcase (Riverside, 1959) Clifford Jordan, Cliff Craft (Blue Note, 1957) Larance Marable, Tenorman featuring James Clay (Jazz: West, 1956) Lee Morgan, Candy (Blue Note, 1958) Ike Quebec, Easy Living (Blue Note, 1962) Sonny Rollins, The Sound of Sonny (Riverside, 1957) Frank Rosolino, I Play Trombone (Bethlehem, 1956) Louis Smith, Smithville (Blue Note, 1958) Cal Tjader, Tjader Plays Tjazz (Fantasy, 1956) Don Wilkerson, Preach Brother! (Blue Note, 1962)