Sonny Clark: Cool Struttin’– UHQ-CD Blue Note 85th Anniversary Reissue Series

Contents

1. Cool Struttin’
2. Blue Minor
3. Sippin’ At Bells
4. Deep Night

Conrad Yeatis Clark, otherwise known as Sonny Clark, was in many ways the quintessential hard bop pianist. Possessed of an enviable lyrical flow and a wealth of inventive melodic ideas that unfurled with clarity and without fuss, Clark had a deeply rooted feeling for the blues.

After moving from his hometown of Pittsburgh to New York, Clark emerged as a ubiquitous presence on Blue Note starting in 1957. It was on his fifth Blue Note date as a leader that Clark arrived at his masterwork, Cool Struttin’, recorded in January 1958 with a top-shelf quintet featuring Art Farmer on trumpet, Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Paul Chambers on bass, and ‘Philly’ Joe Jones on drums. The album has only grown in stature as a timeless hard bop classic since Clark’s premature death at age 31 in 1963.

UHQ-CD’s reproduce the sound of original master tapes as faithfully as possible by utilizing new transfer technologies and improved materials to produce high-quality sound with a better representation of the whole stage. UHQ-CDs comply with CD standards and can be played on existing players. Each title is presented in a UHQ-CD jewel case with an obi-strip and the original sleeve notes reproduced on the back inlay.