Kenny Clarke

The Kenny Clarke & Francy Boland Sextet - Music For The Small Hours (1967) {Schema Records RW 120CD rel 2008}
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© 1967, 2008 Schema Records / Edizioni Ishtar | RW 120CD
Jazz / Bop / Latin Jazz / Progressive Jazz

2008 release of this '60s recording by the American Jazz drummer Kenny Clarke and Belgian pianist Francy Boland, leading one of the finest Jazz ensembles ever assembled outside of the U.S. Had it not been for the post-war migration of many top American Jazz musicians to Europe, it is quite likely that the legendary Clarke-Boland Big Band might never have come into existence. As it happened, when Gigi Campi set up the first Big Band record date in Cologne in 1961, he was able to call upon such distinguished self-exiled Jazz stars as Benny Bailey (originally from Cleveland, Ohio), Sahib Shihab (Savannah, Georgia), Jimmy Woode (Boston, Massachusetts) and, of course, Kenny Clarke (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

Kenny Clarke - Klook's The Man (2007) {4CD Box Set Properbox 120 rec 1938-1956}
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© 1938-56, 2007 Proper Records | P1577–P1580 / Properbox 120
Jazz / Bebop / Bop / Cool / Drums

Kenny Clarke 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 1940s, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of modern jazz. He is credited with creating the modern role of the ride cymbal as the primary timekeeper. Before, drummers kept time on the 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. 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.

This release contains the complete 1963 studio recordings by the celebrated Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland big band, all made during the same January 25-26, 1963 sessions and originally issued on two separate albums. As a bonus, we have added the single tune "A Ball for Othello", recorded in 1961 but originally included in one of those albums, and four tunes recorded in 1966.

Kenny Clarke & Francy Boland - The Golden Eight (1961) {Blue Note RVG 24bit Japan TOCJ-9544 rel 2003}
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© 1961, 2003 Blue Note / Toshiba-EMI Japan | RVG Mini LP | TOCJ-9544
Jazz / Bop / Progressive Jazz

Reissue of the album recorded with Dusko Goykovich, et al. 24bit digitally remastered. Cardboard sleeve (mini LP). This is one of the rarest of all Blue Note albums, and one that is a must for record collectors. The Francy Boland/Kenny Clarke big band was one of the most exciting orchestras of the 1960s and ‘70s. Much less known but also brilliant was a unique octet co-led by Boland and Clarke just prior to the big band.

Kenny Clarke & Francy Boland - Off Limits (1970) {Polydor–Rearward RW118CD rel 2004}
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© 1970, 2004 Polydor / Rearward | RW118 CD
Jazz / Modern Big Band / Progressive Jazz / Piano / Drums

The Clarke-Boland big band, always a superb group, outdoes even themselves on this outing. They always played with an infectious sass and swagger; here, they sound positively on fire. These arrangements, although filled with Francy Boland's characteristic brilliance, have more "crossover" influence, with musical shouts, squawks, snarls and some funk in the writing. At times I'm reminded of some of the 70's work of the Don Ellis band, although the CBBB is much better. This is also the last recorded performance of lead alto sax player Derek Humble. What a loss to jazz music his passing was.

The Clarke-Boland Big Band's acclaimed sequel to their "All Smiles" album features a second batch of immortal jazz standards presented in the distinctive, tight and swinging fashion of Europe's most outstanding big band of the 60s.

Don Byas - Midnight at Minton's, Original 1941 Recording (1999) {HighNote HCD7044} (featuring Thelonious Monk & Kenny Clarke}
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© 1941, 1999 HighNote Records | HCD 7044
Jazz / Bop / Swing / Bebop / Tenor Saxophone

Tenor saxophone legend Don Byas is heard with great clarity on this, a relative jam session, as is vocalist Helen Humes (the first two cuts) and ostensible leader/trumpeter Joe Guy, whose high energy solos are very good in spots. Less audible in the mix are pianist Thelonious Monk and drummer Kenny Clarke, working in this band while bebop was fermenting. These two would lead the bop charge later in the '40s at Minton's Playhouse, the bebop concubine/jazz club in N.Y.C. The music is pretty much swing material, with Humes tossing in a ballad ("Stardust") and a bluesy number ("Exactly Like You") while the instrumental "Indiana" is all fired up, and they typically chill down "Body & Soul."