Sonny Clark


Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.

Early life

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, Emery Clark, died of a lung disease two weeks after Sonny was born. Sonny was the youngest of eight children. At the age of 12, he moved to Pittsburgh.

Later life and career

While visiting an aunt in California, aged 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, Sonny's Crib, Sonny Clark Trio, Cool Struttin', Blues in the Night, and a second piano trio album titled Sonny Clark Trio.
Clark died in New York City on January 13, 1963. The official cause was listed as a heart attack, but the likely cause was a heroin overdose.

Legacy

Clark's friend, fellow pianist Bill Evans, dedicated the composition "NYC's No Lark" to him after his death, included on Evans' Conversations with Myself. John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Ray Drummond, and Bobby Previte recorded an album of Clark's compositions, Voodoo, 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 and News for Lulu |More News for Lulu].

Discography

As leader

Compilations
With Sonny Criss
With Buddy DeFranco
With Curtis Fuller
With Dexter Gordon
With Bennie Green
With Grant Green
With Jackie McLean
With Hank Mobley
With Art Pepper
  • Straight-Ahead Jazz Volume One – rec. 1953
  • Straight Ahead Jazz Vol. Two – rec. 1953
  • Art Pepper With Sonny Clark Trio Vol. 2 – rec. 1953
With Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars
  • Mexican Passport
  • Music for Lighthousekeeping
  • Oboe/Flute
With Stanley Turrentine
With others