Clark’s Last Leap: Sonny Clark, 1961-62

Sonny Clark was a hardbop piano master who appeared on a slew of classic late-1950s and early-1960s jazz recordings. Though Clark has garnered a cult following over the years, especially on the heels of saxophonist John Zorn’s late-1980s tribute to him, his name is not often found in histories of jazz piano. Music critic Robert Palmer wrote of “the particular special aura that hovers around Mr. Clark’s music, an aura that musicians recognize but that critics have found difficult to define.”

“Clark’s Last Leap” focuses on the recordings that the pianist made in the last 15 months of his life, including selections from Clark’s final recording as a leader, the Blue Note LP Leapin’ and Lopin’–an album that Jazzwax blogger Marc Myers calls essential “because it provides us with all of Clark’s brilliant piano styles in one place—his pensive ballad work, hard bop swinging, soulful funk and Latin-tinged blues.” The program also includes music that Clark recorded as a sideman with Dexter Gordon, Stanley Turrentine, Grant Green, and Jackie McLean.

Check out Marc Myers’ full rundown on Leapin’ and Lopin’.

UPDATE: See Sam Stepheson’s Jazz Loft Project book for a harrowing account of Clark in the last year of his life.

Original air date: February 21, 2009

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