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Colleen Clark
Drummer, composer and educator Colleen Clark is vibrant on the scenes in NYC and the southeastern United States. Clark has guest performed with the 8G Band on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers and can most recently be heard playing on her co-led project ALLIANCE (4-star Downbeat review), Michael Dease’s “The Other Shoe” (Origin) and "Found in Space" (Origin - releasing September 2024), and upcoming releases by CC + The Adelitas, The Southern Pines, and Matt White. She has shared the stage with jazz luminaries including: Branford Marsalis, Rodney Whitaker, Catherine Russell, Camille Thurman, Rudresh Mahanthappa, and Mimi Jones. Clark has been featured in DOWNBEAT magazine and is also an ASCAP winning composer. Clark was invited by the ASCAP Foundation to lead her band at the Kennedy Center. She is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the University of South Carolina’s Jazz Girls Day®. Dr. Clark is the only woman and drummer to earn a doctoral degree in jazz from the University of North Texas.
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Eli Howell: Steps Taken
by Jack Bowers
Picture this: Having assembled a supporting cast, finalized the playlist and booked a studio, you are ready to make the debut recording as leader of your own ensemble, only to learn that, hours earlier, said studio in East Lansing, Michigan, had been devastated by a tornado. That is exactly what happened to trombonist Eli Howell in May 2025. Fortunately, thanks to some quick thinking and deft maneuvering by album producer Michael Dease and others, a room was found at Howell's ...
Continue ReadingMatt White: Matt White's Dolly
by Katchie Cartwright
A miniature doll-like effigy of the great country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton adorns the cover of trumpeter-composer Matt White's Dolly. How did the Queen of Country become the subject of this fascinating (if awkwardly-branded) mainstream jazz album? Happenstance. White was researching Gullah songs for his 2023 album, Lowcountry (Ropeadope), when YouTube “Pandorized" him into a video of a young Parton, guitar in hand, performing “The Bridge," solo, on the Porter Wagoner television show in the '60s. He made ...
Continue ReadingAlliance: Alliance
by Jack Bowers
Alliance is an impressive all-female co-op quartet whose self-titled debut album, recorded in 2023, offers a luminous snapshot of their remarkable talent and versatility. Reed virtuoso Sharel Cassity, an alumna of New York City's world-class DIVA Jazz Orchestra, oversees the front line, while pianist Hannah Meyer provides an eloquent reciprocal perspective and shares the essential rhythmic duties with bassist Carmani Edwards and drummer Colleen Clark. Up-and-coming trumpeter Kellin Hanas makes a guest appearance on the session's closing number, Harold Mabern's ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Jack Bowers
Even though all but unsung outside his customary locale, Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill has drawn into his orbit a small but well-respected circle of jazz artists including bassist Rodney Whitaker, guitarist Randy Napoleon and trombonist Michael Dease, all of whom have recorded albums dedicated to Hill's diverse and sophisticated music. Found in Space is Dease's second homage to Hill, with a third one in the planning stages. Hill's compositions, which traverse the spectrum from straight-on jazz to ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Found in Space: The Music of Gregg Hill
by Paul Rauch
Leaving a legacy in this life is a subject that holds different meanings for people. For some, it involves building a structure of permanence that will stand up to the test of time after one's entrance into eternity. For others, it is more fleeting, something that can be shaped and reshaped, and if desired, completely torn down. For some it is a function of building a monument to oneself. For others, like Central Michigan composer/arranger Gregg Hill, it is a ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: Found in Space - The Music of Gregg Hill
by Bill Milkowski
The title itself is revealing. A clever play on words of the old '60s sci-fi show Lost in Space, it immediately suggests an irreverent wit and slightly twisted perspective; qualities that also permeate the unique music of prolific Michigan-based composer Gregg Hill. How this fairly obscure presence on the national music scene has managed to garner such a fervent following remains a mystery to those of us outside the Great Lakes State. Converts include bassist-educator Rodney Whitaker, Director ...
Continue ReadingAlliance: Alliance
by Dan Bilawsky
The eponymous debut from Alliance--a collective quartet spearheaded by saxophonist Sharel Cassity and drummer Colleen Clark, and harmonically hinged on pianist Hannah Mayer and bassist Carmani Edwards-- is a shining example of the strength behind a pact in play. A sorority built on substantial musical prowess and possibilities, this is a band that's locked and loaded for action. Mixing carefully-chosen covers with winning originals, Alliance confidently endears itself to ears across this nine-song program. Opening on Mulgrew ...
Continue ReadingMusic
One For Steve
From: Steps TakenBy Colleen Clark
The Last Pop Tune
From: Found in Space: The Music of...By Colleen Clark
Wake Up Call
From: The Other Shoe: The Music of...By Colleen Clark
Samba de Beach
From: Lose My NumberBy Colleen Clark
