CiTR

Legendary pianist Sonny Clark was a known entity on the Jazz scene for about 9 years. His life was snuffed out by drug addiction and he died in January 1963 at age 31. Originally from a small town near Pittsburg, Clark moved to Los Angeles for a few years and began recording in early 1953. In L.A. he joined clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and toured the US and Europe and became better known. Returning to his base in LA, Clark began to get restless and wanted to return to New York where the action was happening. He took a gig with singer Dinah Washington and got back to The Big Apple. He left Dinah and immediately began working with Sonny Rollins and also signed with Blue Note records. Despite his drug problems, Alfred Lion, the head of Blue note, loved Sonny Clark and gave him many opportunities to record as a sideman and leader.

The Feature album is one of Sonny's classics in that it has such a stellar cast: John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Paul Chambers on bass and Arthur Taylor on drums. This recording was done a few weeks after Coltrane's famous "Blue Train" date and three of the participants are here with Clark. Three great standards, arranged by Clark are presented and two distinctive Clark originals. I think you'll agree that "Sonny's Crib" is a classic and typifies the best of New York Jazz from the mid-50's.