Sonny Clark - Sonny's Crib

Sonny Clark - Sonny's CribBy the time that Clark went back into Rudy Van Gelders Hackensack studio to record his second album for Blue Note on September 1, 1957, when he laid down the tracks for what became Sonnys Crib the pianist had racked up several other sideman sessions for the label, including another one for Hank Mobley. Three of the albums five tracks are standards. The opener is a swinging take on Rodgers & Harts With A Song In My Heart, while a jaunty reading of Kurt

By the time that Clark went back into Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack studio to record his second album for Blue Note – on September 1, 1957, when he laid down the tracks for what became Sonny’s Crib – the pianist had racked up several other sideman sessions for the label, including another one for Hank Mobley.

Three of the album’s five tracks are standards. The opener is a swinging take on Rodgers & Hart’s “With A Song In My Heart,” while a jaunty reading of Kurt Weill’s “Speak Low” is propelled by an infectious Latin groove, with Coltrane taking the first solo and displaying his absolute mastery of the tenor saxophone. A wistful take on Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer’s mournful ballad “Come Rain Or Come Shine” shows the sextet in a reflective mood, with Fuller’s resonant trombone particularly effective.

For side two of Sonny’s Crib, Clark reserved two long self-penned tunes. The first is the title song, a classic piece of unadulterated hard bop where the “head” theme draws on “amen” cadences from African-American church music. It then eases into a midtempo swing groove which allows the soloists to stretch out. First in line is Coltrane, who delivers a typically robust but fluid “sheets of sound”-style solo.

Though diminutive in terms of his height (he stood only five foot, five inches), Sonny Clark was undoubtedly a man of substantial stature in the jazz world. He might have achieved even greater things had he lived longer, but as it is, Sonny’s Crib is a classic album that ensures that both his music and talent can be appreciated by future generations.

SONNY'S CRIP - SONNY CLARK - VINYL LP