R.I.P.: Clark Terry

R.I.P.: Clark Terry
(born on December 14, 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA;
died on February 21, 2015 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA)

"Every musician in the world who ever met Clark Terry is a better musician & person because of it. He now belongs to the ages." - Christian McBride

Services for Clark Terry will be held at the Abyssinian Baptist Church on Saturday, February 28th at 10:00 a.m., led by Dr. Calvin Butts. Clark will be laid to rest at the Woodlawn Cemetery following the service. Funeral services entrusted to P.K. Miller Mortuary, Pine Bluff, Arkansas and George H. Weldon Funeral Home, New York City.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to the Jazz Foundation of America which has helped over the years to make sure that Clark's needs were met. Please note on donations that they be made "In Honor of Clark Terry" to help them continue this work.

Randy Brecker: "This is going to be a tough day. Just heard about Clark Terry's passing. In 1965 I won a trumpet prize at the Notre Dame Jazz festival and the award was handed to me by Clark Terry a judge at the Fest. A year or so later after moving to NYC a phone rang in my apt, I picked up, and a voice on the other end said: "Hello Randy this is Clark Terry. Would you like to join my Big Band?" Thus began a life in Music... 

CT was an amazing instrumentalist just the best...his agility,tonguing,technical command of the instrument was second to none, and no one could play the blues like CT. No wonder he was idolized by Miles Davis. But beyond the music, CT's humanity was also second to none. He was LOVE personified. He mentored countless young musicians and shared his LOVE of life with everyone he came in contact with. It was real. He was the real thing....one of a kind. I'm proud to have known him and will miss him more that I can say. My heart goes out to his wife Gwen who took such great care of him for all these difficult years...LOVE wins!"

Doug Neal: "Rest in peace, Mr. Mumbles! You broke all that new ground in jazz education! You even put a little baby Miles on the right track. And you will be missed!"

My favorite Clark Terry concert ever documented on video. Originally released on vinyl as Pablo All-Stars Jam, but reissued on DVD as "Norman Granz' Jazz In Montreux Presents Clark Terry Sextet '77." Remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, it really features an all-star team: Oscar Peterson, Ronnie Scott, Joe Pass, Milt Jackson, Niels Pedersen & Bobby Durham. The "band highlight" is the dazzling up-tempo version of Luiz Bonfa's bossa nova classic "Samba de Orfeu" (from the "Black Orpheus" soundtrack), but Clark Terry steals the show on his solo number, a haunting take on "God Bless The Child," performed on the flugelhorn.

And this is my personal favorite Clark Terry album as a leader: "Clark After Dark," a lush ochestral session produced by journalist Mike Hennessey and recorded from September 9 to 12, 1977 @ Olympic Sound Studio in London, UK, engineered by Keith Grant, England's equivalent to Rudy Van Gelder in terms of bigger-than-life sonic qualities. German master Peter Herbolzheimer did most of the arrangements, but a couple of songs ("November Song" & "Yesterdays") were scored by Horst Muhlbradt, and a third one ("Georgia On My Mind") by Jerry van Rooyeb. The original LP came out on the MPS label in 1978, and has been reissued on CD multiple times. My first vinyl copy was the one issued in my native Brazil by the Copacabana label, with a bad quality pressing; so, the one I listen to often nowadays is the CD reissue released in 1995 by Motor Music in Germany, with nice new liner notes by Hans Thomas. Top tracks: "Girl Talk," "Misty," "Emily," "November Song" and "Clark After Dark." Terry plays flugelhorn exclusively, and it's a document that his skills on this instrument were matched only by Art Farmer, Kenny Wheeler, Freddie Hubard and Chuck Mangione.

RIP: Clark Terry

Clark TerryIst am 21. Februar gestorben: Clark Terry

Sein persönliches Archiv übergab er bereits vor zehn Jahren der William Paterson University in New York. Er wollte damit seinen Beitrag zur Erweiterung der Jazzausbildung leisten. Das Archiv dokumentiert seine bis dahin 60-jährige Karriere als Musiker - neben Manuskripten und Arrangements enthält es auch eigens für ihn gebaute Instrumente und natrlich zahlreiche Schallplatten. Der Trompeter und Flgelhornist Clark Terry wurde am 14. Dezember 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri, geboren. Da seine Eltern sich den Kauf einer Trompete nicht leisten konnten, soll er sich seine ersten Instrumente selbst gebaut haben, indem er einen Trichter auf ein altes Stck Gartenschlauch setzte. Mit dem „Doodle-Tonguing” gelang es ihm später, durch einen speziellen Lippenansatz neue Klangnuancen auf seinem Instrument zu entwickeln. Terry trat in den 1940er-Jahren mit dem Count Basie Orchestra auf und war in den 1950er-Jahren einer der gefeierten Solisten in den Bands von Duke Ellington. 1957 glänzte er als herausragender Virtuose in Ellingtons und Billy Strayhorns Suite Such Sweet Thunder”, Entertainment-Qualitäten als Scat-Sänger zeigte er später in seinem erfolgreichsten Stück „Mumbles“.

Terry war Mentor und lebenslanger Freund von Miles Davis, auch Quincy Jones, mit dessen Band er 1960 durch Europa tourte, nahm einst Stunden bei Terry. Im selben Jahr wurde Terry der erste afroamerikanische, festangestellte Musiker beim Sender NBC, in dessen Tonight Show er auftrat. Danach grndete er seine eigene Big BAD Band, arbeitete als Studiomusiker und international gefeierter Solist. Der Trompeter wurde zu einem Wegbereiter der universitären Jazzausbildung und machte Workshops zu einer regelmäßigen Einkommensquelle fr tourende Musiker. Unter den zahlreichen Talenten, die Terry für eine Jazzkarriere entdeckte und förderte, ist auch die Sängerin Dianne Reeves. Auf Benefizveranstaltungen engagierte er sich fr die Jazz Foundation Of America's Musicians Emergency Fund, die in Not geratenen Jazzmusikern helfen soll. Neben Miles Davis galt Terry als einer der einflussreichsten Trompeter nach Louis Armstrong. Der mit allen bedeutenden Preisen ausgezeichnete Musiker litt seit vielen Jahren an Diabetis. Am 21. Februar ist Clark Terry nach langer, schwerer Krankheit in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, gestorben. Er wurde 94 Jahre alt. Seine Autobiografie erschien 2011 unter dem Titel The Autobiography Of Clark Terry.