Conrad Yeatis Clark, Otherwise Known As Sonny Clark, Was In Many Ways The Quintessential Hard Bop Pianist. Possessed Of An Enviable Lyrical Flow And A Wealth Of Inventive Melodic Ideas That Unfurled With Clarity And Without Fuss, Clark Had A Deeply Rooted Feeling For The Blues.
After Moving From His Hometown Of Pittsburgh To New York, Clark Emerged As A Ubiquitous Presence On Blue Note Starting In 1957. It Was On His Fifth Blue Note Date As A Leader That Clark Arrived At His Masterwork, Cool Struttin’, Recorded In January 1958 With A Top-Shelf Quintet Featuring Art Farmer On Trumpet, Jackie McLean On Alto Saxophone, Paul Chambers On Bass, And ‘Philly’ Joe Jones On Drums. The Album Has Only Grown In Stature As A Timeless Hard Bop Classic Since Clark’s Premature Death At Age 31 In 1963.
This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition Is All-Analog, Mastered By Kevin Gray From The Original Master Tapes, And Pressed On 180g Vinyl At Optimal