Sonny Clark: The Complete Sonny Clark Blue Note Sessions

  In the mid-Eighties, Giovanni Bonandrini of Black Saint Records prodded pianist Wayne Horvitz into recording an album dedicated to the music of pianist and composer Sonny Clark. With John Zorn on alto saxophone, Ray Drummond on bass, and Bobby Previte on drums, The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet recorded seven of Clark’s distinctive originals as Voodoo. Most of them first appeared on albums that were out-of-print at the time (1987). The release somehow made Clark’s music hip for a new generation of jazz fans. Zorn, in a trio with trombonist George Lewis and guitarist Bill Frisell, went on to record News For Lulu and More News For Lulu (both on hat Art) with songs by Clark, Kenny Dorham, and Hank Mobley, among others. Now comes what seems like the ultimate accolade for the undeservedly obscure pianist, a Mosaic boxed set. The Complete Sonny Clark Blue Note Sessions compiles nine albums, including a few that were first issued in Japan, as well as all the bonus tracks and alternates that have appeared on CD reissues of this material over the years. The big attraction here, besides the sheer pleasure of having it all in one place, is the phenomenal sound quality of this collection. Every session was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, with all but the final date done at his original studio in Hackensack. (The 1961 album Leapin’ And Lopin’ was made in Englewood Cliffs.) As earlier Blue Note reissues have noted, “No multitrack recording was used and consequently no mixing was required.” In other words, the session tapes became the masters with no intermediary steps. New high-resolution transfers of the original analog tapes were mastered with 24-bit technology. The results are stunning, and since the stereo spread reproduces the actual spatial orientation of the performers, listening to these CDs puts you right into the room with the musicians. As Bob Blumenthal, tells us in his typically fine and informative liner notes, Clark arrived in New York with Dinah Washington’s group after a few years of work on the West Coast. Clark’s first appearance on Blue Note was on a Hank Mobley sextet date, recorded on June 23, 1957. An impressed Alfred Lion of Blue Note signed him to a contract, and just a month later, on July 21, Clark did his own first date as a leader for any label with Dial “S” For Sonny. While this box is devoted to Clark’s sessions as a leader, he also appeared regularly in this period as a sideman with the likes of Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Stanley Turrentine, Jackie McLean, Curtis Fuller and Dexter Gordon. He’s also been featured on previous Mosaic collections, including The Complete Recordings Of The Buddy DeFranco Quartet/Quintet With Sonny Clark and The Complete Blue Note Recordings Of Grant Green With Sonny Clark. What distinguishes Clark’s music is the “sustained level of melodic invention” (Blumenthal), his “bright, irresistible swing” (Michael Cuscuna) and his “finesse and an exceptional technique, too” (tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin).  What’s sad about it is that as busy as he was playing music, he was also, like so many of his contemporaries, a heroin addict who overdosed at the age of 32. Clark himself was quite self-aware. ''Your soul is your conception,” he said to Nat Hentoff, “and you begin to have it in your playing when the way you strike a note, the sound you get and your phrasing come out of you yourself, and no one else.'' Sonny Clark always sounded like himself, and this marvelous anthology is his enduring testament. Absolutely recommended.

Mosaic MR6-276; Disc 1 (78:28) Dial “S” For Sonny + Sonny’s Crib; Disc 2 (77:34) Sonny’s Crib concluded + My Conception; Disc 3 (49:06) Sonny Clark Trio; Disc 4 (75:26) Sonny Clark quintet + Cool Struttin’; Disc 5 (62:38) singles session + Blues In The Night; Disc 6 (55:37) Leapin’ And Lopin’. For complete discographical details, go here. Limited edition available from mosaicrecords.com