Clark Terry was born in St. Louis, Missouri on December 14th, 1920. A
classic freelance musician who is a welcome and distinctive addition to
whatever band or jam session is fortunate enough to be graced by his presence.
His earliest band experience was on the bugle with the Tom Powell Drum and
Bugle Corps. In high school he took up the valve trombone. Prior to entering
the service he played riverboat jobs in St. Louis. After induction he was
stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station from 1942-1945 where he developed
his remarkable technique practicing from a clarinet book. Upon his discharge he
found work with Lionel Hampton’s band and rounded out the 40s playing with
bands led by Charlie Barnet, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Charlie Ventura, and
George Hudson. Clark worked with Count Basie's big band and small groups from
1948 thru 1951.
His breakthrough job was with Duke Ellington, with whom he worked from
1951-1959. During this period Terry took part in many of Ellington's suites and
acquired a lasting reputation for his wide range of styles (from swing to hard
bop), technical proficiency, and infectious good humor. After working with
Quincy Jones in ‘59, he found steady work as a freelance studio artist in New
York City, becoming the first black musician on the NBC payroll.
For a dozen years he was featured in the Doc Severinsen band, which played on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show. During this time, Clark worked and recorded with artists like J.J. Johnson, Oscar Peterson, and Ella Fitzgerald, then co-led a quintet with Bob Brookmeyer that achieved some popularity in the early 1960s. When the Tonight Show moved west to Los Angeles, Clark made the decision to remain in New York to pursue a busy schedule as a studio musician and as a jazz star in demand not only in the States, but throughout the world. He also became part of Norman Granz’ traveling all-stars Jazz at the Philharmonic, and began playing flügelhorn, eventually making this his principal instrument.
The 70s and 80s found him touring extensively, playing concerts, clubs and
festivals around the world, usually as leader but ably blending in with almost
any background from late swing style to post-bop. Terry's remarkable technical
accomplishment has never overwhelmed the depth of emotion that imbues his
playing, and neither of these characteristics has ever dampened his infectious
humor. This quality is most readily apparent on his singing of "Mumbles", for
which he created a unique variation on scat. His duets with himself, during
which he plays flügelhorn and trumpet, are remarkable displays of his
astonishing skills yet never degenerate into mere bravura exercises. Terry
remained a major figure in the history of jazz trumpet into the beginning of
the new century, after a lifetime as one of the music's most respected and
widely admired ambassadors.
1955 Clark Terry with Quentin Jackson/Martial... {Disques Swing}
1955 Introducing Clark Terry {EmArcy}
1955 Swahili {EmArcy}
1957 Serenade to a Bus Seat {Riverside/OJC}
1957 Duke with a Difference {Riverside/OJC}
1958 In Orbit {Riverside/OJC}
1958 Out on a Limb with Clark Terry {Argo}
1959 Top and Bottom Brass [Riverside] {Riverside/OJC}
1960 Paris (1960) {Swing}
1960 Color Changes {Candid}
1961 Everything's Mellow {Prestige}
1961 Mellow Moods {Prestige}
1962 All American {Prestige}
1962 Plays the Jazz Version of "All American" {Moodsville}
1962 The Night Life {Mood}
1962 Clark Terry & Bob Brookmeyer {Verve}
1963 More {Cameo}
1963 Tread Ye Lightly {Cameo}
1963 What Makes Sammy Swing {20th Century}
1964 The Happy Horns of Clark Terry {GRP/Impulse!}
1964 The Power of Positive Swinging {Mainstream}
1964 Live 1964 {Emerald}
1964 Quintet {Mainstream}
1964 Tonight {Mainstream}
1964 Clark Terry Tonight {Mainstream}
1964 Oscar Peterson Trio with Clark Terry {Mercury}
1966 Spanish Rice {Impulse!}
1966 Gingerbread Men {Mainstream}
1966 Mumbles {Mainstream}
1966 Angyumaluma Bongliddleany Nannyany Awhan Yi! {Mainstream}
1967 It's What's Happenin' {Impulse!}
1968 Music in the Garden [live] Jazz Heritage
1969 At the Montreux Jazz Festival {Polydor}
196 Live on 57th Street Big Bear
1970 Big B-A-D Band In Concert, Live 1970... {EToile}
1974 Live at the Wichita Jazz Festival {Vanguard}
1975 Clark Terry and His Jolly Giants {Vanguard}
1975 Live at the Wichita Jazz Festival {Vanguard}
1976 Clark Terry's Big B-A-D Band Live at Buddy's... {Vanguard}
1976 Clark Terry's Big B-A-D Band Live at Buddy's... {Vanguard}
1976 Live at the Jazz House {Pausa}
1976 Wham [live] {BASF}
1976 Squeeze Me {Chiaroscuro}
1977 The Globetrotter {Vanguard}
1978 Out of Nowhere {Bingow}
1978 Brahms Lullabye {Amplitude}
1978 Funk Dumplin's Matrix
1979 Mother...! Mother...! {Pablo}
1979 Ain't Misbehavin' {Pablo}
1979 Live in Chicago, Vol. 1 {Monad}
1979 Live in Chicago, Vol. 2 {Monad}
1980 Memories of Duke {Pablo}
1981 Yes, the Blues {Pablo/OJC}
1986 To Duke and Basie {Rhino}
1986 Jive at Five {Enja}
1988 Metropole Orchestra {Mons}
1988 Portraits {Chesky}
1989 The Clark Terry Spacemen {Chiaroscuro}
1989 Locksmith Blues {Concord Jazz}
1990 Having Fun {Delos}
1990 Live at the Village Gate {Chesky}
1990 Live at the Village Gate: Second Set {Chesky}
1993 What a Wonderful World: For Lou {Red Baron}
1994 Shades of Blues Challenge
1994 Remember the Time {Mons}
1995 With Pee Wee Claybrook & Swing Fever D' Note
1995 Top and Bottom Brass [Chiaroscuro] [live] {Chiaroscuro}
1995 Reunion {D'Note}
1995 Express {Reference}
1996 Good Things in Life [live] {Mons}
1996 Alternate Blues {Analogue}
1998 Daylight Express {GRP}
1999 Living Worship Let's Worship {Newport}
2000 One on One {Chesky}
2000 A Jazz Symphony {Centaur}
2001 Herr Ober: Live at Birdland Neuburg {Nagel-Heyer}
???? Gingerbread {Mainstream}
???? Clark Terry Quartet with Thelonious Monk {Jazzland}
???? Ow E.J.