Leapin' and Lopin' — Sonny Clark (Blue Note, 1961)

By nineteen sixty-one, Clark had been a Blue Note fixture for years -- Cool Struttin' had made his name, and sideman dates with everyone from Dexter Gordon to Jackie McLean cemented his reputation. But this session shows a different pianist. Featured tracks: Voodoo, Midnight Mambo Deep in the Stacks is a daily jazz podcast from Kissa Kissa in Brooklyn.

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Sonny Clark spent his final years absorbing everything he could from Thelonious Monk. Sitting in on sessions, studying the architecture of Monk's compositions. Then he went into the studio one November afternoon in 1961 and recorded the album that would become his last statement as a leader. He was 31. He'd be dead 14 months later. This is Deep in the Stacks, today's album, Leapin' and Lopin by Sonny Clark. By 1961, Clark had been a blue note fixture for years. Cool Strutton had made his name, and Sideman dates with everyone from Dexter Gordon to Jackie McLean cemented his reputation. But this session shows a different pianist. He'd been spending time around Monk, and it changed his playing. The angles got sharper, the rhythm got more unpredictable. He hired Monk's own saxophonist Charlie Rouse for the date, along with trumpeter Tommy Turrentine, bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Billy Higgins. On one track, Deep in a Dream, he brought in Ike Quebec on second tenor. Quebec was in the middle of his own unlikely comeback after nearly a decade away from recording, and his presence adds a burnished warmth to that performance. The whole session was cut in a single day at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Every original on the album is Clark's own. Something special Melody for C, Voodoo, plus one composition each from Warren and Turrentine. Blue Note released it in May of 1962. Clark died of an overdose in New York City on January 13, 1963 at age 31. What makes Liepen and Lopen remarkable is how fully formed it sounds. Not like a final album, but like a beginning. Clark was clearly heading somewhere new. Try Voodoo first. It's the longest track on the record, and the one where Clark's monk influence comes through most clearly. His comping is spare and percussive, leaving room for Rouse and Turrentine to stretch out. Billy Higgins is the engine underneath. His touch is light, but the time never wavers. For something completely different, try Midnight Mambo, Tarantine's composition. It's the most joyful thing on the record, and Clark's solo on it is full of surprises. It moves between moods without ever losing its center. Clark's touch stayed elegant, even when the ideas got naughty. And Warren's bass lines anchor everything with deep authority. If you only know Cool Strutton, this one will rearrange your picture of who Sonny Clark was becoming. Leapin' and Lopin by Sonny Clark, the final chapter from a pianist who was still finding new rooms in the music. I'm Danny from Kissakissa in Brooklyn. Go put on a record. We'll see you tomorrow.