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About Clarence Becton

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Musician

Born December 16, 1933 in Mississippi, Clarence Becton moved at age twelve to Buffalo, N.Y. He worked locally with Pete Johnson, Don Menza, Don Ellis, and Wade Legge. Clarence also performed at the 'Royal Arms Club', playing for soloists like Coleman Hawkins, Clark Terry, John Hendricks. He left Buffalo with Hendricks touring the U.S. and Canada. In 1969 Clarence moved to Munich, working at the ‘Domicile Jazz Club’ and other locations with Pony Poindexter, Benny Bailey, Slide Hampton, Lucky Thompson, Mal Waldron, Dusko Goykovich and many other artists. Upon returning to the U.S

Article: Building a Jazz Library

Mal Waldron: His Journey Across 12 Albums

by Carl Medsker
February 20, 2026

Mal Waldron's life story is compelling, and to mark his 2025 centenary, this article aims to introduce his work to those less familiar with it by tracing his journey across 12 distinctive recordings. Max Roach once singled him out, along with Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols, Hasaan Ibn Ali and Randy Weston, as uniquely original ...

Article: Interview

Greg Paul: We Can Share These Commonalities

by Barbara Ina Frenz
May 18, 2023

Drummer, composer, and band leader Greg Paul--born in 1987 and raised in Buffalo, NY--remembers his home town as a place of lived community, especially among musicians. That spirit never left him. On the contrary: he took it to the metropolis of Los Angeles where he relocated in 2011 and still lives today as an internationally acknowledged ...

Article: Interview

Leonard E. Jones: Taking Control Of Destiny

by Barbara Ina Frenz
January 6, 2023

Bassist and photographer Leonard E. Jones laid the foundation of his musical and artistic ideas as an original member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. The AACM ranks as the most well-known and influential organization of the 1960s under African American leadership that created American experimental music through challenging “racialized limitations on venues ...

Article: History of Jazz

Groove Town: Buffalo Jazz And Its Legacy - Historical Insights

by Barbara Ina Frenz
April 5, 2022

From early on, Buffalo attracted musicians as a place to live and pursue their artistic endeavors—and they were excellent ones: Lil Hardin Armstrong, Jimmie Lunceford, Pete Johnson, and Stuff Smith. Dodo Greene, two masters of polyrhythm, Frankie Dunlop and Clarence Becton, as well as pianist and bassist Wade Legge grew up here. Two distinctive voices on ...

Album

Free At Last

By Mal Waldron

Label: ECM Records
Released: 1970
Track listing: Side I: Rat Now; Balladina; 1-3-234; Side II: Rock My Soul; Willow Weep For Me; Boo; Side III: 1-3-234; Balladina; Side IV: Boo; Willow Weep For Me.

Article: Album Review

Mal Waldron: Free At Last

by Karl Ackermann
December 19, 2019

The sensitivity reflected in much of Mal Waldron's music was a deep aspect of his psyche. The Harlem-born pianist, who died in Brussels, Belgium, in 2002, worked downtown with saxophonist Ike Quebec at Café Society in the early 1950s and went on to record on several Charles Mingus recordings including Pithecanthropus Erectus (Atlantic), Jazz Composers Workshop ...

Article: Interview

Clarence Becton: Straight Ahead Into Freedom

by Barbara Ina Frenz
January 19, 2017

Clarence Becton is a musicians' musician—meaning, someone well-known in musician circles. He belongs to the generation of American jazz heroes who grew up under economically and socially difficult circumstances, and for that very reason, succeeded in gaining a comprehensive education, emancipating himself, and embodying the history of jazz music by directly learning from and working with ...