Sonny Clark
Piano Solo on
Laconia

About

Sonny Clark contributes a single chorus on piano, the second of 3 solos on the recording. Taken at a medium-up swing tempo of 151 BPM over the 44-bar AABA in E♭, the improvisation flows with assured, relaxed momentum. Sonny Clark follows with a piano chorus that showcases his sophisticated harmonic sense and rhythmic drive, his playing anchored in bebop tradition but touched with a lyrical quality all his own. Recorded for the album Cliff Craft in 1957, the performance captures Sonny Clark at 25 to 26 years old. "Laconia" is a hard bop composition by tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, first recorded for his 1957 Blue Note album Cliff Craft.

Sonny Clark was 25 to 26 years old at the time.