Clark Terry was many things. He was a superb trumpeter and flugelhornist, he was an elegant gentleman, he was a mentor to many musicians and he was as comfortable in a big band as he was in a small group. Clark was also an excellent composer, as baritone saxophonist Adam Schroeder and arranger Mark Masters know well. [Photo above of Clark Terry courtesy of the Terry family]
The pair have just released CT!: Adam Schroeder & Mark Masters Celebrate Clark Terry (Capri), the finest album I've heard this year, and it's only weeks old! Adam and Mark assembled a group of 12 crack jazz musicians to record 13 of Clark's compositions. The band features Dan Fornero (lead trumpet); James Ford and Aaron Janik (tp); Francisco Torres (lead tb); Ido Meshulam, Lemar Guillary (tb); Sal Lozano (as), Bob Sheppard (ts,ss), Kirsten Edkins (ts) and Adam Schroeder (bs); Edwin Livingston (b); Peter Erskine (d) and Mark Masters (arr).
The Clark compositions are Serenade to a Bus Seat, Ground Hog, Ode to Pres, Daylight Express, Boardwalk, Argentia, Perdido Line, Slow Boat, Swingin' on the Cusp, Michelle, Top and Bottom, Boomerang and In Orbit.
As Adam writes in the album liner notes, "From the middle of my high school career until his passing in 2015, Clark's mentorship and musicianship made a lasting impression within my life. I feel his spirit everywhere and think about him daily."
Born in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1978, Adam was in high school, between his junior and senior year, when he was asked to fill the baritone sax chair in the student big band at Clark Terry’s International Institute of Jazz Studies at Westmar University in LeMars, Iowa. His acceptance started a relationship between Adam and the famed Clark Terry, who visited often.
As for Mark's arrangements, they are top notch and in the spirit of Clark. [Photo above of Mark Masters]
For more on Adam, go here; for more on Mark, go here.
To read my multipart interview with Clark in 2010, go here.
To read my remembrance after Clark passed, go here,
JazzWax tracks: You'll find CT!: Adam Schroeder & Mark Masters Celebrate Clark Terry (Capri) here.
JazzWax clips: Here's In Orbit...
Here's Boardwalk...
And here's Argentia...
