I would have to say my strongest musical influences are ! My Jazz-loving Dad the man who had ears out to here! His Father my Grandad Henry Hy Clark the trombonist and one time leader of the Alabamians who I heard for the first time today 8/29/06!! My Blues loving Mom who reminds me play for the PEOPLE...Jimi Hendrix for "Message of Love"- which drove me to obsession with a recorder, the legendary Johnny "Sean" Solomon- the first black electric bassist to break into the rock scene as a teen with a kic-azz sound whom none can emulate to this day!(RIP)
My uncles who support me and keep me in tune with the music Brett and Kevin Clark,Barry Harris for a peek into an abyssmal understanding of the elements of Jazz ,Head of Jazzmobile Dave Bailey for teling me to " stop carrying that thing ( bass around the Workshop) and play it!", the late John Stubblefield for his patience,Cobi Narita for her support, Ron Carter for his perspective, Rael Grant for that Spock approach to the bass AND my one and only son, the MATH grad/tech guy/skateboard whiz/
MIKE and all the skaters who keep it clean and aspire hard. Sharon Freeman for her introducing me to the NY Jazz Scene and the Elder Stateswomen of Jazz, the late Enos Payne for telling me about Dr Barry Harris Keeper of the BeBop Flame,Kit McCLure for years of fun and a livelihood, Joe Bowie for the same plus heavy laughs and harder work ,Kenny Kirkland, Bertha Hope,Kelvyn Bell, Marvin Horne,Buster Williams And the music of Bird,Sly,Bud Powell,PFunk,Lee Morgan, Marcus Miller,George Benson,Ledisi, Aretha, Martha and the Vandellas, Bernard Wright,George Duke,Walter Davis,Kirk Lightsey,Jaco,Patti laBelle, Chaka Khan, Eddie Harris,Eddie Gomez,Tito Puente,Steve Coleman, Graham Haynes,Cannonball Adderly, Miles Davis ,Olu Dara, Lester Bowie, Christian McBride, Ray Brown,Rosa Passos, Milton Nacimiento,Teri Thornton,The Jackson Five, DeBArge,Mothers Finest,Wayne Shorter,Stevie Wonder "Somethings gonna grab ya!
Sounds Like
Rob Scheps -sax, Tim Siciliano-guitar, Marvin "Bugalu" Smith-drums, Kim Clarke- bass playing Herbie Hancock's "One Finger Snap" and Wayne Shorter's "Yes and No" circa 2006
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BENNY GOLSONS "STABLEMATES"
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GOD BLESS OUR RECENTLY DEPARTED JAZZ SAINTS/MENTORS: MAX ROACH,EVELYN BLAKEY,MARIO RIVERA, SEKOU SUNDIATA, JON LUCIEN, BROTHER MZEE.OSCAR PETERSON ,EARL MAY R.I.P.
VIDEO:
EVELYN BLAKEY IN CELEBRATION
@ HOUSE OF TRIBES
Rest in Peace Evelyn
NEW VIDEOS- LIVE @ THE TERRACE LOUNGE-
MARVIN BUGALU SMITH MEETS DERRICK JAMES-SAX AND KC MARCH 2008
Bassolo: ALONE TOGETHER
Marvin Bugalu Smith-drums and Greg Glassman-trumpet
KIT MC CLURE BAND LIVE AT ST. PETER'S CHURCH NYC 2006 JVC JAZZ FESTIVAL featuring: Kit McClure -sax,Tanya Darby-trumpet, Charaneee Wade- vocals, Jill McCarron- piano, Bernice Brooks-drums and Kim Clarke-bass
KIM'S DISCOGRAPHY LINKS can be accessed at
http://kimclarke.8m.com/disk.html
* THERMONUCLEAR SWEAT-DEFUNKT
* THE RAZOR..S EDGE " " (Europe and US releases)
* AVOID THE FUNK " "
* IN AMERICA" " "
* HEROES " "
* LIVE AT THE KNITTING FACTORY"(
* LIVE AND REUNIFIED" "
* CRISIS " "
* THIS IS THE FUNK " "
* ON THE EDGE " "
* CLASSIC DEFUNKT "
* KNOW YOUR ENEMY "
* DEFUNKT- THE LEGEND CONTINUES "
* SEMI-PRECIOUS METAL-BIGFOOD
* SOULCIETY FUNKY FAMILY
* DESIGN FOR LIVING -NONA HENDRYX
* NIGHT SONGS - BLUE JADE TRIO
* BASS TALK-CLARKE,BICKFORD AND DITMAS
* BLACK REIGN- QUEEN LATIFAH
* BURNING -KIT McCLURE BIG BAND
* AUGURIES OF SPEED-POMORIN,JANOURE AND WHITEHEAD
* SONGS FROM POKER-KU-UMBA FRANK LACY
* SINS WINS AND FUNS- GEORGE GRUNTZ
* STRAIGHT TO BLACK-DRAZY HOOPS
* GORDON JAMES-GORDON JAMES
* THE LOUDER-JULIET DUNN
* LIVE AT THE KNITTING FACTORY:DOWNTOWN DOES THE BEATLES(*)DEFUNKT
* St.Marks Holy Church Gospel album produced by Edwin Hawkins
* MODERN AND ANCIENT MOABITES-NAPOLEON REVELS-BEY
* TURN OF THE CENTURY-GEORGE BRAITH
& THE BRAITH FAMILY SINGERS
* THE LEGEND OF DEFUNKT Vol 1
* DEFUNKT LIVE IN EUROPE
* SWEETHEARTS PROJECT KIT McCLURE BIG BAND
* JUST THE THING KIT McCLURE BIG BAND
* DEFUNKT JOURNEY
* DORAN,STUCKY,STUDER,CLARKE "JIMI"
* MAGNETS! Live at the Earshot Jazz Festival
Queens New Yorker Kim Clarke is a multifaceted bassist, composer, website developer,festival co-producer and educator. She performs alternately on the Acoustic Bass, Electric Upright and four and five-stringed Electric Bass Guitar as the situation demands.
Originally a self- taught electric bass player Kim was given a French bow by a fellow CCNY classmate Jazz guitarist Rodney Jones. She holds B.A.'s in Communications and Music from City College and Long Island University respectively, and is a 3- time recipient of the coveted N E A Jazz Study Fellowship: studying with Ron Carter , Lisle Atkinson and Buster Williams.At Jazzmobile she studied with Jimmy Heath , Jimmy Owens, Lisle Atkinson, John Stubblefield and at CCNY John Lewis , Ed Summerlin and Mauricio Smith. Ms Clarke is also a long-time student of the Barry Harris Workshop and a member of Harris' Jazz Cultural Theatre's house band for the famed Art Blakey Breakfast Jam.
Kim 's musical tour experience spans from Guyana , South America through the West and East Coasts of the United States , Canada, Japan and Pakistan. She however has traveled most extensively in Western Europe. In 1981 she embarked upon what was to become a 27 year tour affiliation with trombonist Joseph Bowie and his avant-jazz funk unit Defunkt ; .."a powerful mixed idiom group which wowed audiences from Iceland to Istanbul. "
circa 1983 Defunkt in Europe
********************NEW VIDEOS!**************************
circa 2007
DEFUNKT DOWNTOWN IN THE 80'S(ABOVE)
: FEATURING JOE BOWIE,JOHN MULKERIN, RONNY DRAYTON, BILL BICKFORD , KENNY MARTIN AND KIM CLARKE
She performed on 17 Defunkt CD's and is listed with them on Ivan Bartowski's Jazz Family Tree Map, a supreme honor.
Ms Clarke's press exposure also includes 1990 entry in the Who's Who In the Performing Arts,, Bass Player Magazine, Guitar Player Magazine, Germany's Jazzdimensions Online Magazine, a number of European magazines and several books on Women in Jazz. She also was photographed in the late 1980's historic Jazz Musicians on the Roof Project, Michael Locker's New York Jazz Musicians Project in 2002, Mintons Mentors Marathon Photo Shoot 2008 and A Great DAy in Harlem-Womens shoot 2008.
Internationally she is noted as "a dynamic Woman in Jazz who supported the intense rhythm of the Henderson group with unsuspected vitality and melodic solo passages." Over the years Kim has also toured with international artists such as : George Gruntz , Annie Whitehead, Christy Doran, Marilyn Mazur, and Ursula Dudziak. Her experiences include tours with the National Black Theatre, Yusef Lateef Quartet, Teri Thornton Trio, Bertha Hope Trio, Kit McClure Big Band, Robert Palmer , Rachel Z Trio, Bill Bickfords "Bigfood", Wallace Roney and Cindy Blackman Quartet, Oliver Lake and Jump Up, Jack Mc Duff Quartet, Charles Davis Quintet, Rodney Kendricks Quartet, and local performances with: Harold Ousley, Jimmy Heath , Steve Coleman, Lester Bowie, Andy Bey, Nona Hendryx,Louis Hayes, Gerald Hayes, the late Lionel Hampton, Candido, Patato, Mario Rivera,Arturo O'Farrill,Little Jimmy Scott, Dr. Billy Taylor, Olu Dara, Screamin Jay Hawkins, Dakota Staton , Gracian Moncur, the late Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Marylou Williams, Sharon Freeman, Sheila Jordan,Jessica Cleaves, Geri Allen, Vanessa Rubin , Cassandra Wilson, Fievre Latina, Adela Dalto, poets Ntozake Shange and Trazana Beverly, dancers Tina Pratt and Roxanne Butterfly, and rapper/actress Queen Latifah. In 1997 she and a good friend Rob Scheps formed a group MAGNETS! which began its touring life in Portland, Oregon . In 2000 the band recorded MAGNETS! Live at the Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle which Kim co-produced with long-time Defunkt bandmate, trumpeter John Mulkerin.
Ms Clarke performs also in educational workshops with The Napoleon Revels -Bey Jazz and Tap Programs as well as Miki D and Friends " Dance Rhythm Dance " Programs .These groups visit and bring Jazz to New York Area Grade and Middle Schools .
She has also taught at Boys Harbor (NY),Guitar Institute of Technology (London), Feierwerke Jazztage und Blues Workshop(Munich), Bowdoin College (Maine) Portland State University, Reed College, Columbia Basin College, Central Washington University, Cornish College for the Arts and Whitman Colleges in Washington and Oregon.
In 2003/04 /05/ 06/ 07/08 and09 Kim co-produced the LADY GOT CHOPS Women's Month Jazz Festival with the owners of The Jazz Cafe, Lillithe Myers and her daughter Tiecha Merritt. A 2004 Jimi Hendrix Tribute tour which featured Swiss nationals :guitar virtuoso Christy Doran, popular vocalist Erika Stucky ,acclaimed drummer Fredy Studer yeilded the cd:
"JIMI".
Kim had the honor to perform with the Ghetto Fighters and good friend guitarist Andre Lassalle for the 64th Birthday Celebration of the late Jimi Hendrix at BB Kings Restaurant. Among the performers were harmonica legend Paul Caruso,guitarists: Cornell Dupree, Johnny Winter, Leon Hendrix, Larry Coryell, David Honeyboy Edwards, drummers Buddy Miles and Lenny White and bassists:Chuck Rainey, Harvey Brooks and Victor Bailey.
Hi Kim, you're just wonderful. And any time I listen to your plying or watch your videos, I love all of you ? That's why you've been among my Top Pals. Wishing you a great week. Blessings. Harold
Ciao,Kim Thank you for the add and the friendship. you are very good, I like your stupendous music a lot, compliments ..really. you are one of my prefeitis, I feel great admiration for you, I hope to listen soon to you, in italy .. all the best.. from italy..and good life.. every day neal
The introduction day of the second solo album "Balboo" by Piotr Zaczek is approaching. On October the 10th the disc will appear on sale, but one may listen to a few fragments on www.myspace.com/piotrzaczek
hi, I am glad to announce the release of my debut CD called "Interro Island". This is my first solo project, which includes original tunes composed and arranged by me. I hope you will enjoy my work!!!
