jazz musician; trumpet player; ambassador
Personal Information
Born on December 14, 1920, in St. Louis, MO; married Gwendolyn Paris, 1992; children: Gary Paris (stepson).
Career
Played with Dollar Bill and Small Change, Rueben & Cherry Carnival, and Ida Cox's Darktown Scandals, late 1930s and early 1940s; performed with United States Navy Band, 1942-45; played with Lionel Hampton, George Hudson, Charlie Barnet, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and Charlie Ventura, mid-1940s; joined Count Basie's band, 1948-51; joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra, 1951-59; worked as a NBC staff musician, including the Tonight Show, 1960-72; formed big band, 1973; promoted music education in high school and colleges, and served as a goodwill ambassador for the State Department.
Life's Work
When readers inducted Clark Terry into Down Beat's Hall of Fame in 2000, the 80-year-old trumpeter told the magazine's John McDonough, "I never would have believed that. I'm flabbergasted." Fans, however, knew the trumpeter had earned his place among the greats. Terry's career encompassed more than 60 years of performing, from the small clubs of St. Louis during the 1930s, to a long run on the Tonight Show during the 1960s, to becoming a goodwill ambassador for the State Department in the 1970s. He re-introduced the flugelhorn to jazz, and took an active interest in the education of young musicians. Despite his many achievements, Terry is best known for his performance style, which is filled with humor and good taste. Scott Yanow noted in All Music Guide to Jazz: "Possessor of the happiest sound in jazz, fluegelhornist Clark Terry always plays music that is exuberant, swinging and fun."
Joined Count Basie Band
Terry was born in St. Louis on December 14, 1920, and grew up in poor circumstances. As many Chicago blues guitarists would craft their first instruments out of brooms and wire, Terry built his first trumpet from a piece of hose, a funnel, and a mouthpiece made of pipe. "It made a lot of noise," he told Mitchell Seidel in another article in Down Beat. "There must have been a method to my madness, because the neighbors got sick of me blowing that horrendous noise on that gadget, so they chipped in and collected the $12.50 and bought me a trumpet from a pawn shop." Terry told John McDonough in Down Beat, "I never really had a teacher. I was hard-headed, stubborn, asked a lot of questions and got a lot of wrong answers." Terry preferred practicing to the usual teenage activities, and dedicated so much time to playing the trumpet that he eventually gave up boxing, his other favorite pastime.
After high school Terry joined a series of bands, including Dollar Bill and the Small Change, Rueben and Cherry Carnival, and Ida Cox's Darktown Scandals. He even worked for a short time on Mississippi River boats with pianist Fate Marable. Beginning in 1942 he served three years in the United States Navy, where he joined an elite band led by saxophonist Willie Smith. After his stint in the Navy he played for a brief period with Lionel Hampton in Chicago and then with George Hudson in St. Louis. The 27-year-old trumpeter realized his potential, however, when he joined Charlie Barnet's band in the summer of 1947. McDonough wrote of an early recording, "Terry's voice is instantly obvious from the beginning on 'Sleep,' his first feature with Barnet, which he also arranged." Terry's work with Barnet also prepared him to join the legendary Count Basie in 1948, where he remained for the next two years.
In 1951, while still playing for Basie, Terry received another offer he couldn't refuse: Duke Ellington liked Terry's horn work and wanted him to join his new band. There was hitch, though. Ellington wanted the transfer to take place without Basie realizing he was stealing one of Basie's band members. It was decided that Ellington would put the trumpeter on his payroll, and then Terry, feigning sickness, would return to St. Louis for three months before joining the band. Basie let Terry go and paid him for his last two weeks, but withdrew an earlier $15 raise from the check. Terry told Downbeat's Seidel that when he confessed the whole scheme years later, Basie wasn't surprised: "'Why the hell do you think I took the raise back?'"
Rejuvenated Ellington Group's Sound
Terry's sound was more modern than many of his contemporaries, leading critics to wonder if he would fit into a more old-fashioned band. The blend of old and new, however, rejuvenated the Ellington group's sound and helped to make it relevant after the revolution of bop. Terry told Seidel, "I usually refer to my stint with the Ellington band as the period during which I attended the University of Ellingtonia." He would remain with the band for nine years, sharing in such artistic highlights as the band's appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956. "By the time the band hit its stride at Newport in 1956," wrote McDonough, "Terry had become an integral, even seminal part of Ellington's sound."
In 1959 Terry joined Quincy Jones's orchestra to play Free and Easy, an opera by Harold Arlen, and in 1960 he received an offer to join the Tonight Show band. The offer was unusual at the time: few African Americans worked for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). When the Urban League complained to the network that it employed too few black musicians, NBC replied that blacks lacked the qualities required of professional studio musicians, such as reading music charts. The Urban League then sent out a survey to find musicians who met NBC's qualifications, and when Terry's name turned up on every list, NBC offered him the job.
Terry remained at NBC for 12 years. His parody of scat singing became a regular feature on the Tonight Show and earned him the nickname of "Mumbles." He maintained a busy schedule throughout the 1960s, working on a variety of commercial radio and television programs for NBC, and co-leading a band with trombonist Bob Brookmeyer at the Half Note. When the Tonight Show relocated to the West Coast in 1972, he remained on the East Coast and began freelancing. In the 1970s Terry also started working for the State Department, carrying American jazz to Africa, the Middle East, and Pakistan. "It was fun, really," he told McDonough. "You felt like you were doing something important for your country."
Became Advocate for Music Education
Terry also became an advocate for music education, both as a mentor and teacher. He received honorary doctorates from the University of New Hampshire and Southeast Missouri State University, and was named director of the Clark Terry International Institute for Jazz Studies at Teikyo International University's Westmar campus in Iowa. He served as a mentor to a number of young musicians, including Wynton and Bradford Marsalis, and founded a summer band camp at Teikyo-Westmar. "I made a vow years ago that if I ever got into a situation where I could impart knowledge to youth," he told Seidel, "I would go about it as diligently as I possibly can."
During the 1980s and 1990s, Terry maintained an active touring and recording schedule. In 1993 he recorded What a Wonderful World: For Louis. Yanow noted in All Music Guide to Jazz that "72-year-old Clark Terry is in exuberant form throughout this very enjoyable disc." In 1995 the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band held a "Tribute to Trumpets" to commemorate Terry's seventy-fifth birthday. When asked by Gene Seymour in Newsday how he felt about turning 75, Terry said: "Well ... you feel ... old. Mostly. Though I guess I'm feeling more like a classic automobile that's weathered the storm, proved to be of more of value." Fans and jazz critics concur. "It is tempting to call every jazz musician who reaches age 70 a legend," wrote Tim Blangger in the Allentown, Pennsylvania, Morning Call, "although few jazz veterans wear the title as well as trumpeter Clark Terry."
Awards
Inducted into National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Hall of Fame, 1991; Beacon in Jazz Award, New School of Music, New York, 1991; inducted into Down Beat Hall of Fame, 2000.
Works
Selected discography
- Clark Terry, EmArcy, 1955.
- Duke with a Difference, Original Jazz Classic, 1957.
- Color Changes, Candid, 1960.
- Oscar Peterson Trio with Clark Terry, Mercury, 1964.
- Yes, the Blues, Pablo, 1981.
- To Duke and Basie, Enja, 1986.
- Portraits, Chesky, 1988.
- The Clark Terry Spacemen, Chiaroscuro, 1989.
- What a Wonderful World: For Louis, Red Baron, 1993.
Further Reading
Books
- Erlewine, Michael, ed., All Music Guide to Jazz, Miller Freeman, 1998, pp. 1084, 1086.
- Down Beat, October 1994, p. 22; June 1996, p. 15; December 2000, pp. 34, 36, 38.
- Morning Call (Allentown, PA), July 16, 1998, p. B2.
- Newsday, February 22, 1995, p. B7.
- "Clark Terry," All Music Guide to Jazz, www.allmusic.com (March 3, 2003).
- "Clark Terry," Biography Resource Center, www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC (May 5, 2003).
— Ronnie D. Lankford Jr
