Jazz Articles about John Clark
About John Clark
Instrument: French horn
Article Coverage | Calendar | Albums | Photos | Similar ArtistsBobby Kapp: Synergy
by Jack Bowers
The subtitle of Synergy is “Bobby Kapp plays the music of Richard Sussman," which is true to some extent. To be more precise, drummer Kapp is at the heart of a septet, conducted by Scott Reeves, that features composer Sussman at the piano. So, while “Bobby Kapp plays" is technically correct, it does not represent the whole picture. What is more, this is a group with a rather unusual front line of violin, clarinet, tenor sax and French ...
read moreRamana Vieira: Tudo de Mim (All of Me)
by Richard J Salvucci
No doubt it has been some time since a listener of a pop-fado recording has been treated to a rendition of Franz Schubert's “Ave Maria" complete with lyrics based on the prayer. The singer is Ramana Vieira, a product of San Leandro, CA, of a family of Portuguese origins. Paired with “Trago Fado Nos Sentidos," a song one easily imagined coming from a night spot in Lisbon or Madrid, the remarkable plasticity of the culture that produced such music, blending ...
read moreFranz Koglmann Septet: Fruits Of Solitude
by Mark Corroto
Franz Koglmann must be a connoisseur of vinification, i.e. winemaking, because his Fruits Of Solitude has the feel of a master vintner at work. Specifically, wine blends like Super Tuscans or Côtes du Rhônes mark his amalgam of European chamber music and American jazz. Koglmann is a true polymath in that he hears all and rejects any codifications, much like Duke Ellington did throughout his long career. As for Ellington, his classic “Solitude" is the inspiration for the ...
read moreNine Live Plays the Music of John Clark: Sonus Inenarrabilis
by Alberto Bazzurro
Inciso nel febbraio 2014 e pubblicato a fine 2016, questo singolare album raccoglie sei pagine (tutte di durata media: dai cinque ai sette minuti) a firma del cornista John Clark, oggi settantaduenne, interpretate da un nonetto (Clark compreso) di stampo eminentemente cameristico (nello specifico third stream, se preferite). L'impianto compositivo svaria da situazioni più rigorose, contemporanee (e citeremmo qui i tre pezzi pari, “Die Kreuzotter," “Eviter les contrefaçons," e soprattutto il conclusivo “Outage," che accoglie anche lievi ...
read moreJohn Clark: The Odd Couple Quintet +1
by Angelo Leonardi
John Clark ha acquisito notorietà negli anni settanta, quando fu tra i principali strumentisti dell'orchestra di Gil Evans. Si sa che l'arrangiatore canadese aveva un debole per il corno francese e non se ne privò al varo della big-band “elettrica." Con John Clark lo strumento è uscito dal ruolo di strumento occasionale che aveva avuto nel jazz per entrare in front line al pari degli altri solisti. Ricordiamo il suo intervento nei massimi ensemble del jazz contemporaneo: quelli guidati ...
read moreJohn Clark: The Odd Couple Quintet +1
by Budd Kopman
Yes, it is true that French horn and bassoon are not commonplace instruments in jazz. Attempts have been made to use them, of course, most recently by Julian Schneemann on Roundabout, but in that work, they were used more as colors in the mix.What is unusual is for these instruments to be in the front line and soloing as if to say, “Why not?." This, however is exactly what John Clark and Michael Rabinowitz, both virtuosos on French ...
read moreJohn Clark: The Odd Couple Quintet +1
by Jack Bowers
"And now," as John Cleese used to intone on the Monty Python television series, “for something completely different." In this case, a jazz quintet (+1) sporting a front line of French horn and bassoon and performing, among other things, two horn concertos by Mozart. An odd coupling? At first blush, it would seem so. Far less eccentric, however, once one apprehends the remarkable interplay between John Clark's French horn and Michael Rabinowitz's bassoon, enhanced by Clark's impressive charts and the ...
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