- John Clark (musician)
Infobox Musical artist
Name = John Clark
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Birth_name = John Trevor Clark
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Born = birth date and age|1944|9|21Brooklyn ,New York ,USA
Died =
Origin =Rochester ,New York
Instrument =French horn
Genre =Jazz
Occupation = Musician, Composer, Teacher
Years_active =
Label = Hidden Meaning Music
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URL = http://www.hmmusic.comJohn Clark is an American
jazz horn player and composer.Biography
John Clark was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Rochester, New York. His father was William H. Clark, a professor of German and dean of education at the University of Rochester, and his mother was Margaret Garmey. He and his four brothers graduated from
Brighton High School (Rochester, New York) . In 1966 he received a B.A. in Spanish from theUniversity of Rochester , where he also studied horn with Verne Reynolds at theEastman School of Music . From 1967 until 1971 he played in theUnited States Coast Guard Band . On 13 Sep 1967 he married Nancy Puls; they have two children. Clark received an M.M. degree (with honors) from theNew England Conservatory of Music in 1973. He studied composition and improvisation withJaki Byard ,Ran Blake , andGeorge Russell ; and horn with James Stagliano, Thomas Newell, and Paul Ingraham. In 1991 he received a patent for the "hornette," an instrument with the same range as a French Horn but with a forward facing bell for greater projection. He taught at theState University of New York at Purchase from 2001 until 2008.Performance work
As one of only a handful of horn players proficient in non-classical genres, Clark has performed or recorded with a wide variety of musicians. These include
Glen Velez , Jerome Harris,Anthony Jackson ,Linda Ronstadt ,B. B. King ,Oliver Lake ,Ornette Coleman ,McCoy Tyner , Sting,Lew Soloff ,David Taylor ,Joni Mitchell ,Akiko Yano , Leroy Jenkins,Gerry Mulligan ,Isaac Hayes ,Mike Richmond ,Howard Johnson ,Carla Bley ,Grachan Moncur ,Ashford and Simpson , theBrooklyn Philharmonic ,Pat Metheny ,Frank Sinatra ,Dave Grusin ,John Scofield ,Spyro Gyra ,Diana Ross ,Carly Simon ,LL Cool J ,Gil Evans and the Gil Evans Orchestra,Joe Lovano ,Jaco Pastorius ,Paquito D'Rivera ,Jim Hall ,Rachel Z ,Jimmy Heath ,Johnny Griffin ,Toots Thielemans ,John Faddis ,Gary Bartz ,Billy Joel , theFugees , theTrans-Siberian Orchestra , theTurtle Island String Quartet , the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra,Speculum Musicae , the Aspen Wind Quintet, and thePaul Winter Consort . He has performed as a studio musician for many films, including "Mission to Mars ", "Fargo", and "Pocahontas ".Clark plays the
Conn-Selmer 12D and 8D French Horns and uses the AMT (Applied Microphone Technology) microphone systems.Awards
* 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1982 - "
Downbeat " Critics' Poll winner
* 1986 -National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Award for Most Valuable Player in Recording Field.
* 1989 - "Bud & Bird" by Gil Evans & the Monday Night Orchestra won theGrammy for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band" - John wrote two numbers and played on the albumPublished works
Recordings as leader
*1980 - "Song of Light" (Hidden Meaning Music HMM 001)
*1981 - "Faces" (ECM Records 1-1176)
*1992 - "Il Suono" (CMP CD 59)
*1997 - "I Will" (Postcard Records CD 1016)
*2003 - "Confluence" (Hidden Meaning Music HMM 002)Books
*1993 - "Exercises for Jazz French Horn" (Hidden Meaning Music)
References
* [http://www.jazz.com/encyclopedia/clark-john-trevor Bio page at Jazz.com Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians]
* [http://www.appliedmicrophone.com/endorsers/profile/JohnClark Bio page at AMT]
* [http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/4993303.html Hornette patent information]
*Review of "I Will" by Carlo Wolf in "JAZZIZ", September 1997 V.1, N.9ee also
*
List of horn players External links
* [http://www.purchase.edu/departments/AcademicPrograms/Arts/music/faculty/clark/default.aspx SUNY Purchase biography]
* [http://www.conn-selmer.com/ Conn-Selmer] - musical instrument maker
* [http://www.hmmusic.com/ Hidden Meaning Music] - John Clark's label
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