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Kenny Clarke
Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940's, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz.
He is credited with creating the modern role of the ride cymbal as the primary timekeeper. Before, drummers kept time on the high-hat and snare drum ("digging coal", Clarke called it) with heavy support from the bass drum. With Clarke time was played on the cymbal and the bass and snare were used more for punctuation. This led to a much more relaxed style of drumming. From this point more and more rhythms and poly-rhythms are made possible. For this, "every drummer" Ed Thigpen said, "owes him a debt of gratitude." Clarke was nicknamed "Klook" or "Klook-mop" for the style he innovated.
Clarke was a founder member of the Modern Jazz Quartet (as the Milt Jackson Quartet) in 1951 and also participated in many recording sessions as house drummer for Savoy Records. Connie Kay took his place in the MJQ in 1955 and from 1956 Clarke was resident in France where he regularly worked with visiting American musicians in Paris, in particular forming a working trio, known as "The Bosses", with Bud Powell and Pierre Michelot.
Later in 1961, with Belgian pianist Francy Boland he formed a regular big band featuring leading European and ex- patriate American musicians, including among many others, Johnny Griffin and Ronnie Scott on tenor saxes. The big band, which had been the idea of Italian producer Gigi Campi, lasted for eleven years.
Kenny Clarke died in Paris in 1985.
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Nathan Davis Quintet: The Hip Walk
by Ken Dryden
There are numerous examples of talented American jazz musicians who had long careers but were overlooked by critics, broadcasters and much of the jazz audience, often because they spent decades as full time jazz educators, which limited their opportunities to tour in support of their recordings. Nathan Davis, primarily known as a tenor and soprano saxophonist, though he was also a fine flautist and clarinetist, falls into that category, though part of the reason he is lesser known is that ...
read moreMiles Davis Quintet: In Concert At The Olympia, Paris 1957
by Ian Patterson
Another live Miles Davis recording. Well, once the studio outtakes have dried up, this is the only seam left to mine. Happily, with advances in sound technology, old radio broadcasts are increasingly being dusted down and treated to a little digital TLC. Since 1983, Fresh Sounds Records has been a leading light in reissues and archival releases (see Fresh Sound Records and the Legacy of Recorded Jazz), in addition to producing many hundreds of contemporary artists. This one from Jordi ...
read moreMiles Davis: Miles Davis With Tadd Dameron Revisited
by Chris May
1949 was a year of massive change for Miles Davis, and not in a good way. It began, in January, with him fronting the first of the recording sessions, made with a nonet, that became generically known as The Birth Of The Cool and which, if he had achieved nothing else of note, would have secured him a lasting place in jazz history. It ended with him strung out on heroin, a habit that reversed his ascent and which took ...
read moreKenny Clarke: The Golden 8
by Greg Simmons
The first time I dropped a needle on a Music Matters 33 rpm test-pressing of Kenny Clarke and Francy Boland's The Golden 8 I was surprised to hear something quite unusual: a Blue Note record that was clearly not recorded in Hackensack. With only a few exceptions, most Blue Note records of the 1950s and 60s were recorded in Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio with a unique sound that many listeners can pick out in just a ...
read moreClarke - Boland Sextet: Swing Im Bahnhof
by Angelo Leonardi
Protagonista di questo disco da tempo introvabile, è un medio organico estratto dalla big band diretta da Kenny Clarke e Francy Boland, che dal 1961 al 1972 operò in Europa, caratterizzandosi tra le massime orchestre mainstream dell'epoca. Introdotto dal famoso attore e mimo francese Marcel Marceau, il sestetto inaugurava il 25 settembre 1965 un centro d'arte a Rolandseck, vicino Bonn, presentando un accattivante repertorio profumato di aromi centro e sudamericani, tra musiche caraibiche e bossa nova. Il percorso ...
read moreKenny Clarke: Klook's The Man
by Chris May
Kenny Clarke Klook's The Man Proper Records 2007
Of the three great African American drummers whose work in the early and mid 1940s shaped the contours of bop--Kenny Clarke, Max Roach and Art Blakey--it was “Klook" Clarke who lit the first and fattest fuse: taking timekeeping away from the bass drum and onto the ride cymbal, freeing up bass and snare drums for dialogue with soloists and establishing a paradigm which became one of ...
read moreHank Jones/Milt Hinton/Bobby Rosengarden: The Trio
by Jeff Stockton
In an article published in the Village Voice a couple of years ago Gary Giddins traced a history of recorded jazz in song, year by year, and Hank Jones’ solo “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” was pegged as the noteworthy performance of 1977. As his rhythm section lays out, Jones tinkles his piano as if prompting a dream sequence, then leaves the song behind as he performs one harmonic digression after another before returning to the tune with an almost-barrelhouse ...
read moreJazz Musician of the Day: Kenny Clarke
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Kenny Clarke's birthday today!
Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940's, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz. He ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Kenny Clarke
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Kenny Clarke's birthday today!
Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940's, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz. He ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Kenny Clarke
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Kenny Clarke's birthday today!
Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940's, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz. He ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Kenny Clarke
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Kenny Clarke's birthday today!
Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940's, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz. He ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Kenny Clarke
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Kenny Clarke's birthday today!
Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton\'s Playhouse in the early 1940\'s, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz... Read ...
read more
Electrifying Clip: Cute Tomato
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In March 1955, producer Ozzie Cadena was given the green light by Herman Lubinsky, the owner of Savoy Records, to record a session with drummer Kenny Clarke and arranger-saxophonist Ernie Wilkins. Cadena had a bit of an agenda. Three of the songs he wanted waxed were his. When he met with Clarke and Wilkins, they went over all of the songs they planned to record. In addition to Cadena's three, Wilkins brought in three gems and the seventh was Now's ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Kenny Clarke
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Kenny Clarke's birthday today!
Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton\'s Playhouse in the early 1940\'s, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz... Read ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Kenny Clarke
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Kenny Clarke's birthday today!
Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton\'s Playhouse in the early 1940\'s, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz... Read ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Kenny Clarke
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Kenny Clarke's birthday today!
Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton\'s Playhouse in the early 1940\'s, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz... Read ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Kenny Clarke
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Kenny Clarke's birthday today! Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton\'s Playhouse in the early 1940\'s, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz... Read ...
read more
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Kenny Clarke
Instrument: Drums
Born: January 9, 1914
Died: January 26, 1985
