Listening Contest Winner

The winner of the first installment of the Outside Pants Guess The Trumpet Player contest is……..”D. N.” of Chicago, IL.  And the correct answer is…….Clark Terry.

The tune is called “Swahili” and it is the first tune off of Clark’s first album as a leader, “Swahili” (1955; EmArcy).  The album features arrangements by another trumpet player – someone you may have heard of: Quincy Jones.  The musicians on this album: Horace Silver (p), Art Blakey (d), Oscar Pettiford (b) Cecil Payne (bs) and Jimmy Cleveland (tb). 

The reason I picked this tune is that it’s kinda tricky.  To my ears, Clark sounds like he is still heavily under the influence of Dizzy Gillespie on this track.  But there are still some “give-it-away” licks and tricks that would become part of the Clark Terry sound, a sound which is so unique and personal that Terry is almost instantly identifiable on anything that he plays.  To hear him at this critical juncture of his development – still forging an identity – is so cool, I think.  And when you listen to the other tunes on this record, Clark really does sound like Clark.  But on this title track he still sounds in debt to Diz. The record as a whole is pretty good.  Not mind-blowing, but pretty good.  Worth buying if you are a Clark Terry fan, if only to trace his development as an artist.

So, nice work D.N. – there’s a copy of Outside Pants Vol. 1 – Old School Players coming your way!

And there will be another installment of Guess The Trumpet Player coming up on Thursday so stay tuned, Readers!

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