Jazz Trumpeter Clark Terry Dead at 94
Clark Terry, the jazz trumpet and flugelhorn virtuoso, has died, Billboard reports. His health had been declining due to advanced diabetes; he entered hospice care earlier this month. He was 94.
Terry was born in St. Louis. Early in his career, he had a spot in Duke Ellington and Count Basie’s orchestras. He was an entertainer known for expressing his sense of humor, for his style of scat singing, and for his technique of alternating between playing a trumpet and flugelhorn. He spent a decade performing in “The Tonight Show” band—he was one of the first black musicians with a staff job at a television network.
He was an astoundingly prolific musician. He reportedly played on 788 recording sessions beginning in 1947, making him the most cited artist in the massive Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. He played with Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Quincy Jones, and many others.
Terry also championed jazz education. He wrote instruction books, led clinics for high school and college students, and ran a jazz summer camp. According to The New York Times, he was an adjunct professor at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. (which houses his archive of instruments, sheet music, and more). He advised the International Association of Jazz Educators and served as chairman of the academic council for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.
He was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 1991. In 2010, he received a Recording Academy lifetime achievement award. He was the subject of the recent documentary Keep On Keepin’ On. His autobiography Clark was released in 2011.
Terry’s wife Gwen shared this message:
Our beloved Clark Terry has joined the big band in heaven where he’ll be singing and playing with the angels. He left us peacefully, surrounded by his family, students and friends. Clark has known and played with so many amazing people in his life. He has found great joy in his friendships and his greatest passion was spending time with his students. We will miss him every minute of every day, but he will live on through the beautiful music and positivity that he gave to the world. Clark will live in our hearts forever.
Recent Comments