Albums » Sonny Clark Trio - The 45 Sessions (1996)

Sonny Clark Trio - The 45 Sessions (1996)

Album review ~cduniverse.com
This recording is the result of two sessions from late 1958 (the other was released in Japan as Blues in the Night). The 45 Sessions CD also includes three alternate takes from the 1957 Sonny Clark Trio date (BN 1579) with Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. The remaining tunes feature Sonny with drummer Wes Landers and bassist Jymie Merritt (who went on to join Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers). In contrast to the hard-driving bebop approach of the 1957 session, this material is very relaxed.

Intended for release as 45 singles, the tunes are generally short interpretations of popular standards. Clark's left hand comping is informed more by Ahmad Jamal than Bud Powell. Landers primarily uses brushes and has a less aggressive approach than Philly Joe. The result is some of Sonny's most accessible piano trio work, with beautiful chord voicings and harmonizations and a very coherent group sound. Note that this material is also included in Blue Note's 1998 domestic Sonny Clark release entitled Standards.

Articles: Heart of Darkness "Sonny Clark Remembers April"

~all·About·Jazz
By ALEXANDER M. STERN
Published: October 16, 2003

Pianist Sonny Clark was a consummate hard-bopper who made only a handful of recordings as a leader, but appears on literally dozens of albums as a sideman. His impressive list of credits includes sessions with Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Billie Holiday, Grant Green, Stanley Turrentine, Lee Morgan, and Jackie McLean. His style was largely informed by that of Bud Powell, yet showed a great deal of originality. Clark was a close friend of fellow pianist Bill Evans, who dedicated a composition (“NYC’s No Lark”) to him following Clark’s sudden, unexpected drug related death at the age of thirty-one. Clark’s death, like the passing of trumpeters Clifford Brown and Booker Little, and that of alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy, left a void in the jazz scene that was difficult to fill. His playing, which was both lyrical and complex, had been much in demand. Clark was a remarkably adaptable musician, able to work in any number of settings. During his short career, which lasted less than a decade, Clark made a significant contribution to the New York City jazz scene. And although he was not recognized outside of a small circle of knowledgeable jazz listeners at the time, his fame and his influence have spread considerably in the CD era.