Sonny Clark

10-30-08 Sonny Clark

CD DIAL 'S' FOR SONNY TOSHIBA JPN TOCJ-1570

1957 6 TRKS mono

CD SONNY'S CRIB BLUE NOTE US CDP 746819.2

1957 8 TRKS stereo ('87 issue) (3 x bonus tracks)

CD SONNY CLARK TRIO BLUE NOTE US CDP 746547.2

1957 9 TRKS stereo ('87 issue) (3 x bonus tracks)

CD COOL STRUTTIN' re BLUE NOTE US 95327.2

1958 6 TRKS stereo ('99 issue) (2 x bonus tracks)

CD STANDARDS BLUE NOTE US CDP 21283

1958 14 TRK collection; mono / stereo ('98 issue)

Hard bop jazz. Mr. Clark was a wonderful piano player and composer. It was really happening around the time I was born, but I didn’t get there until nearly 30 years later.

In fact, I am sure the first time I ever heard “Cool Struttin’” – it was already the CD edition (’86? ’87?). It is literally the quintessential hard bop jazz record, a favorite among Japanese fans / collectors. Perfect music for sitting in a Tokyo coffee bar, leafing through old issues of Swing Journal, as the rain pours outside. And the CD edition is groovy – it has two more songs from the original session added to the already superlative release.

Sometimes, when CD’s were made of original Blue Note releases, the compilers added relevant tracks – and sometimes, those were only alternate takes of existing tracks (which can sometime be of great interest)…but I really like the ‘extra’ tracks on “Cool Struttin’”.

I have listed Clark’s first four Blue Note releases chronologically. The “Standards” collection was assembled in the 80’s – from out-takes, single tracks etc. A neat collection. I must try and find Clark’s final release before his premature death, “Leapin’ and Lopin’”.

Some people will be most interested in “Sonny’ Crib” – as the tenor sax player is John Coltrane. But I like any album with Sonny Clark ‘originals’!

But I recommend that you try “Cool Struttin’” – like Miles Davis’ “Kind Of Blue”, it’s a one-in-a-million jazz album. Accessible, yet pushing the boundaries of the genre (hard bop jazz). Once heard, never forgotten.

Jazz time now!