Spencer Clark (musician)

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Spencer Clark (born March 15, 1908 ; † May 27, 1998 ) was an American jazz musician ( bass saxophone , also clarinet , double bass , cornet , alto saxophone , guitar , piano , trumpet , xylophone ) of Chicago jazz and the swing era.

Live and act

From the mid-1920s, Clark played bass saxophone with the California Ramblers and other studio formations around Tommy Dorsey and Adrian Rollini , such as the University Six, The Vagabonds or the Goofus Five . During this time, recordings with Jack Pettis and Ted Wallace were made . From 1929/30 he worked in Berlin with Lud Gluskin , in Paris with Ray Ventura and, after his return to the United States, from 1931 with Bert Lown , then with Vic Berton (1935) and Dick Stabile (1938).

In the following years he was only active as a part-time musician. After the war he played with Squirrel Ashcraft in Chicago and then joined in the 1970s a. a. with Dill Jones , Ernie Carson , Smokey Stover , Doc Evans , Tom Saunders , Billy Butterfield and Max Kaminsky at the Manassas Jazz Festival. There he made guest appearances in 1973 with the all-star formation Master Of The Bass Saxophone , in which Clarke alongside Johnny Wiggs , Bill Rank (tb), Herb Hall (cl), Claude Hopkins (p), Butch Hall (git) Red Balaban (el-b) and Cliff Leeman (dr). In 1978 he was at the Manassas Festival as a member of the revival band The Sons of Bix .

In 1974 Clarke took part in Joe Venuti's album Blue Four ; In 1978 he recorded his first album under his own name, Spencer Clark and His Bass Sax Play "Sweet & Hot" (Audiophile), on which John Everett Morris (piano), John Adams (guitar), Paul Burgess (bass) and Mike Bodolosky (Drums) participated. In the early 1980s he was still working with Bob Haggart ( Makes a Sentimental Journey ); In 1983 he made guest appearances at festivals in the Netherlands. The last recordings were made in 1986 with Bob Haggart and Tom Pletcher in Atlanta. In the field of jazz , he was involved in 135 recording sessions between 1926 and 1986.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed May 30, 2017)
personal data
SURNAME Clark, Spencer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH around March 15, 1908
DATE OF DEATH May 27, 1998