William Lewis "Buck" Clarke (October 2, 1933 – October 11, 1988) was an American jazz

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

who played with

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives f ...

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

Les McCann Leslie Coleman McCann (born September 23, 1935) is an American jazz pianist and vocalist. Feather, Leonard, and Ira Gitler (2007), ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 448. Oxford University Press. Early life Les McCann was born in ...

, Russ Freeman,

Gerald Albright Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and has been nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Albright grew up in its ...

, Jimmy Smith and others. Clarke's many musical styles include

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

, funk and contemporary jazz, with an Afrocentric perspective.

Early life

Clarke was born in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

on October 2, 1933. At 15, he started working at a display sign store. The father of one of his bosses was a cousin to

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

, so Clarke began to listen to jazz records by musicians such as

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

, Allen Jones and Dizzy Gillespie during lunch breaks and weekends, and he became "hooked on jazz." He eventually had a job offer at a D.C. club where he learned to play the congas.

Career

One of his very first gigs was at a show called "Jig Show", which featured dancers and comedians. Clarke would travel throughout the world, going to places such as

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

rumba music. Many others tried to encourage young Clarke to play "real instruments," but his position was the bongo drums. When he was 16 or 17 years old, he played with

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

. Clarke expressed his feelings about performing with Wess Anderson's band The Washingtonians which included

Eddie Jones Edward, Eddie, or Ed Jones may refer to: Architecture * Edward Vason Jones (1909–1980), American neoclassical architect * Edward Jones (English architect) (born 1939), English architect who designed the Saïd Business School * Edward Jones (Wel ...

and

, saying it had him "shook up" and describing it as "mind blowing". He played with

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the ...

The Jazz Messengers The Jazz Messengers were a jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the o ...

at the age of 19 or 20. He was a member of an eight-piece band which furthered his musical education. He also played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1968. Clarke was an accomplished

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

. Some of his early artwork is displaye
here
on his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

page. Clarke suffered from diabetes that cost him his leg in 1986. He died on October 11, 1988 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

Discography

As leader

* 1960: ''

Cool Hands ''Cool Hands'' is an album by jazz percussionist Buck Clarke. It was recorded in Washington, D.C., on December 2–3, 1959, and released by Washington Records. It features Charles Hampton, Don McKenzie, Fred Williams and Roscoe Hunter. Reception ...

'' (Offbeat) * 1961: ''

Drum Sum ''Drum Sum'' is the second album by American jazz percussionist Buck Clarke. The album was released in 1961. Recorded November 8, 1960 at Bell Sound Studios, New York on Argo Records. The album features Fred Williams, Don McKenzie, Clement Wells, ...

'' ( Argo) * 1963: ''

The Buck Clarke Sound ''The Buck Clarke Sound'' is the third album by American jazz percussionist Buck Clarke. The album was released in 1963. Reception AllMusic rated the album 2 stars.

'' ( Argo) * 1988: ''Hot Stuff'' (Full Circle)

As sideman

With

*''

Second Movement ''Second Movement'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris and pianist/vocalist Les McCann recorded in 1971 and released on the Atlantic label.

'' (Atlantic, 1971) - with Eddie Harris *''

Invitation to Openness ''Invitation to Openness'' is an album by pianist Les McCann recorded in 1971 and released on the Atlantic label.Freed., RLes McCann Discographyaccessed March 8, 2016 Reception Allmusic gives the album 4 stars stating "Every nuance of McCann's st ...

'' (Atlantic, 1972) *''

Talk to the People ''Talk to the People'' is an album by pianist Les McCann recorded in 1972 and released on the Atlantic label.Freed., RLes McCann Discography Retrieved March 8, 2016. Reception Allmusic gives the album 4 stars, stating: "Although there are some ...

'' (Atlantic, 1972) *'' Live at Montreux'' (Atlantic, 1972) *'' Layers'' (Atlantic, 1972) *''

Another Beginning ''Another Beginning'' is an album by pianist Les McCann recorded in 1974 and released on the Atlantic label.Freed., RLes McCann Discographyaccessed March 22, 2016 Reception Allmusic gives the album 2 stars. Track listing ''All compositions b ...

'' (Atlantic, 1974) With Willis Jackson *'' Blue Gator'' (Prestige, 1960) *'' Cookin' Sherry'' (Prestige, 1961) *'' Together Again!'' (Prestige, 1965) - "This'll Get To Ya'" & "It Might As Well Be Spring" *'' Together Again, Again'' (Prestige, 1967) With

Eugene McDaniels Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, reaching number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart with "A Hund ...

*''Outlaw'' (Prestige, 1960) With Dave Hubbard *''Dave Hubbard'' (Mainstream, 1971) With

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", wh ...

*'' Black Messiah'' (Capitol, 1971) With

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decade ...

*'' Givin' It Back'' - "Love The One You're With" (T-Neck, 1971) With

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blue ...

*''

The Great Show Live in Paris ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

'' (Disques Festival, 1975) With Jimmy Smith *'' Root Down - Jimmy Smith Live!'' (Verve, 1972) *''Paid In Full'' (Mojo, 1974) *''Jimmy Smith '75'' (Mojo, 1975) *''It's Necessary'' (Mercury, 1977) With

John Mayall John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its ...

*''A Banquet In Blues'' (ABC, 1976) With

*''

Sextant A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects. The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of cel ...

'' (Columbia, 1973) With

*'' Liquid Love'' (Columbia, 1975) *'' Gleam'' (CBS/Sony, 1975) *'' Splash'' (Fantasy, 1981) *'' Born to Be Blue'' (Pablo, 1982) With Ron Escheté *''Stump Jumper'' (Bainbridge, 1986) With Thelonious Monster *'' Stormy Weather'' (Relativity, 1989)

Gallery

Image:Buck Clarke playing the drums.jpg

References

External links

Buck Clarke
discography at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Buck Clarke
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

*
Buck Clarke
(Biography from NightJourneyRewind.com)
Many Buck's Earliest Recordings
(Discography from JazzDiscography.com)
Buck Clarke interview in 1988 in his Los Angeles home before his death

Buck Clarke discography at Jazzdisco.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Buck 1933 births 1988 deaths African-American painters Jazz fusion percussionists Jazz-funk percussionists Jazz percussionists Conga players People from Washington, D.C. Deaths from diabetes African-American jazz musicians 20th-century African-American people