Results for "Kenny Clarke"

Kenny Clarke

Born: January 9, 1914

Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940's, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz.

He is credited with creating the modern role of the ride cymbal as the primary timekeeper. Before, drummers kept time on the high-hat and snare drum ("digging coal", Clarke called it) with heavy support from the bass drum. With Clarke time was played on the cymbal and the bass and snare were used more for punctuation. This led to a much more relaxed style of drumming. From this point more and more rhythms and poly-rhythms are made possible. For this, "every drummer" Ed Thigpen said, "owes him a debt of gratitude." Clarke was nicknamed "Klook" or "Klook-mop" for the style he innovated.

Ascenseur pour l'Échafaud

By Miles Davis

Label: Decca Records France
Released: 2026
Track listing: CD1 Générique; L’Assassinat de Carala; Sur l’autoroute; Julien dans l’ascenseur; Florence sur les Champs-Elysées; Dîner au motel; Evasion de Julien; Visite du vigile; Au Bar du Petit Bac; Chez le photographe du motel; CD2 Nuit sur les Champs-Elysées; Nuit sur les Champs-Elysées – take 3; Nuit sur les Champs-Elysées – take 3 (Générique); Nuit sur les Champs-Elysées – take 4; (Florence sur les Champs-Elysées); Assassinat – take 1 (Visite du vigile); Assassinat – take 2 (Julien dans l’ascenseur); Assassinat – take 3 (L’assassinat de Carala); Motel (Dîner au motel); Final – take 1; Final – take 2; Final – take 3; (Chez le photographe du motel); L’Interrogatoire de Julien; Ascenseur (Evasion de Julien); Petit Bac – take 1; Petit Bac – take 2 (Au bar du Petit Bac); Voiture – take 1; Voiture – take 2 (Sur l’autoroute);

Cosmic Music: The Life, Art And Transcendence Of Alice Coltrane

by Ian Patterson
June 24, 2026

Cosmic Music: The Life, Art and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane Andy Beta 452 PagesISBN: 978 1 3996 2621 7 White Rabbit2026 As is often the case with marginalized, controversial or divisive figures in jazz, recognition of their achievements tends to come in a rush only after they have passed. Alice ...

Lucy Yeghiazaryan: Hey Love!

by Katchie Cartwright
June 19, 2026

The excellent New York-based singer Lucy Yeghiazaryan and her stellar band may have you thinking back to Carmen McRae in the 1950s as you listen to Hey Love!--groups with Wendell Marshall, Kenny Clarke, and other hard bop-era musicians. On her 2026 release, Yeghiazaryan has the ubiquitous Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums, with ...

Richard Baratta: Another Kind of Bird

by Jack Bowers
June 14, 2026

Even today, more than seventy years after his death at the young age of thirty-four, the legendary alto saxophonist Charlie “Yardbird" Parker remains incomparable, as a player and composer who almost singlehandedly changed the vocabulary of jazz, introducing revisions and concepts that have never worn thin or gone out of style. Simply put, no one had ...

Miles Davis: Ascenseur pour l'Échafaud

by Jack Kenny
May 27, 2026

A legend has grown up around the music Miles Davis created for Louis Malle's debut film Lift to the Scaffold (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud). The story goes that Davis arrived at the Paris studio having never seen the film. He watched the rushes once, then improvised as the footage rolled with his European quintet--René Urtreger on piano, ...

Neal Miner: Invisibility

by Jack Bowers
April 27, 2026

Here is a jazz trio with a twist: instead of the usual piano, bass and drums--or guitar, bass and drums--Neal Miner's threesome on Invisibility consists of tenor saxophone, bass and drums. While bassist Miner is the nominal leader, the New York City-based trio is a true co-op in which Miner, drummer Jason Tiemann and saxophonist Chris ...

Listening to Prestige: Chronicling Its Classic Jazz Recordings, 1949–1972

by Mike Jurkovic
March 21, 2026

Listening To Prestige Tad Richards 278 Pages ISBN: # 9798855804959 Excelsior Editions/State University of New York 2026 Hubris and romanticism are the clashing hallmarks of history and jazz, like all human endeavors, is no exception. A sinuous, serpentine, and often torturous road through the American landscape: Slavery, poverty, migration, ...

Philly Joe Jones Biography: The Life and Legacy of a Drummer Who Transformed Modern Jazz

by David A. Orthmann
February 16, 2026

Philly Joe Jones Biography: The Life and Legacy of a Drummer Who Transformed Modern JazzMichael C. Davis140 pagesISBN: #9798269455297Self Published2025 Anyone who is seeking out anecdotes about Philly Joe Jones's relationships with a veritable who's who of jazz greats, or particulars of his life off the bandstand, might want to steer clear of Michael ...

Thelonious Monk: Bremen 1965

by Pierre Giroux
December 5, 2025

The first official release of the Bremen concert, carefully remastered from the original tapes, is more than just an archival curiosity; it is a revelation. Recorded on an evening characterized by generous tempos and a relaxed exchange, Bremen 1965 reaffirms Thelonious Monk and his experienced quartet as they pay their most fundamental tributes: the uneven poetry ...