Sonny Clark Quintets

Sonny Clark Quintets is an album by jazz pianist Sonny Clark, recorded for the Blue Note label, featuring performances by Clark with Clifford Jordan, Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers, and Pete LaRoca and two with Art Farmer, Jackie McLean, and Philly Joe Jones replacing Jordan, Burrell and LaRoca. In 1957, Clark and his quintet recorded three pieces for a scheduled album (BLP 1592): "Minor Meeting", "Eastern Incident" and "Little Sonny" (said tracks would be later issued on the CD release of My Conception). Said album, however, never saw the light of the day in its complete form. Said tracks, in fact, would remain the only recorded material which could be used; not enough for an LP. So, Blue Note decided to put these tracks together with two compositions already featured on Cool Struttin' (BLP 1588) and title the project Sonny Clark Quintets, released only in Japan as LNJ 70093.

Contents

• Track listing
• Personnel
• Production
• Songs
• References

The album was awarded 4 stars by Lee Bloom in an Allmusic review which stated "Of interest to fans of the superb hard bop pianist, this recording combines material from two separate dates. "Royal Flush" and "Lover" are from the January 1958 Cool Struttin' session and are available domestically on the CD release of the same name. The remaining tunes, "Minor Meeting," "Eastern Incident" and "Little Sonny," were never released during Clark's short life — they are special for fans of Sonny, as they include guitarist Kenny Burrell. Clark rarely worked with a guitarist, although he recorded some wonderful material with Grant Green, Tal Farlow, and Jimmy Raney, three masterful players. His playing here never clashes harmonically or rhythmically with the guitar, a challenging feat for any jazz pianist. These three original tunes are also welcome additions to the consistently excellent body of work which Sonny Clark composed".