Home » Jazz Musicians » Gary Clark, Jr.

Gary Clark, Jr.

To sum up Gary Clark Jr.is more challenging every day. He’s a musical universe unto himself, expanding at a nearly immeasurable rate, ever more hard to define — as a mind-blowing guitarist, a dazzling songwriter and engagingly soulful singer. With his debut album Blak And Blu he has just become the first artist ever recognized by the Recording Academy with Grammy Award nominations in both the rock and R&B categories for the same album in the same year, winning the latter: Best Traditional R&B Performance” - “Please Come Home”(from the album Blak And Blu). And the day after claiming those honors he provided one of the highlights of the highlights-filled “The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles,” with sparks flying as he dueled with Joe Walsh on an incendiary “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Dave Grohl behind them pounding the drums. But that barely scratches the surface. The album’s a rocket ride from the Mississippi Delta of a century ago to multiple points still out beyond the horizon. Rock and R&B sure, but blues, soul, pop, psychedelia, punk and hip- hop are also in Clark’s expansive musical embrace and insatiable hunger for inspiration, which he’s internalized into music all his own. And his two acoustic blues performances on the soundtrack album for the acclaimed movie 12 Years a Slave show the distinct talent and personality he brings to his music. That, in turn, has been inspirational to others — including some who inspired him. Just ask Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Jay-Z, Jimmy Page, Alicia Keys, the Roots, Buddy guy, Dave Matthews, Roger Waters, Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, Jeff Beck, among the many who hailed his arrival as a major talent and cherished chances to perform with him. It’s no accident that he was invited to make more “special guest” appearances on the Stones’ recent 50th anniversary tour than any other artist, including the concluding Hyde Park blowout in which he and band also were the opening act. Or ask President Barak Obama himself, who seeing Clark command the stage of the PBS White House concert honoring the blues — with Jagger, Beck, B.B. King and Buddy Guy among the veterans performing — declared of the young man, “He’s the future.” Rolling Stonedubbed Clark “The King of the Summer Festivals” as he captivated audiences from Coachella to Glastonbury, Lollapalooza to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, from Metallica’s Orion Festival to Jay-Z’s Made in America, and of course his hometown Austin City Limits Festival, where he his band set a daytime attendance record.

Read more

Tags

5
Album Review

Gary Clark, Jr.: JPEG RAW

Read "JPEG RAW" reviewed by Doug Collette


In contrast to Gary Clark Jr.'s thunderous stage performances, the keen impact of which permeate Live (Warner Bros., 2014) and Live in North America 2016 (Warner Bros., 2017), his studio albums, including JPEG RAW, are ambitious eclectic pieces of work the force of which grow inexorably with repeated listening. Its title an acronym for 'Jealousy, Pride, Ego & Greed / Rules, Alter Ego & Worlds,' the man's sixth full-length album is hardly an exception to that rule. In ...

6
Live Review

Gary Clark, Jr. and Jimmie Vaughan at the Iridium

Read "Gary Clark, Jr. and Jimmie Vaughan at the Iridium" reviewed by Mike Perciaccante


Gary Clark, Jr. and Jimmie Vaughan The Iridium New York, NY September 8, 2017 Speakeasy is a public television series that pairs Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famers, Grammy Award winners, Tony Award winners and iconic musicians with an interviewer of their choice. The show features conversations between the stars and stories that may not be very well-known. It often features special performances that can only take place in the show's unique environment.

6
Album Review

Gary Clark, Jr.: Live North America 2016

Read "Live North America 2016" reviewed by Doug Collette


At first glance and upon initial listen, Gary Clark Jr.'s Live North America 2016 suggests a holding pattern on his rapidly-developing career. More careful perusal, however, reveals the man's second concert release, out in fairly quick succession to both Live (Warner Bros., 2014) and his last studio album, The Story of Sunny Boy Slim (Warner Bros., 2015), is the full and complete personal artistic statement the latter title purported to be, as well as harbinger of future stylistic changes.

11
Album Review

Gary Clark, Jr.: Live

Read "Live" reviewed by Doug Collette


Anyone who's had the privilege to see Gary Clark Jr. in concert knows that his previous recordings, on his own Hotwired Records as well as the two major label titles, are but sketches of how he's progressively forging influences of rock, blues and r&b into a stirring style of his own. Live preserves for posterity a charisma that's growing in proportion to the confidence he brandishes on “Bright Lights." Recorded at various stops during tours of 2013 and ...

Read more articles

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

JPEG RAW

Warner Bros.
2024

buy

Live North America...

Warner Bros.
2017

buy

Live

Warner Bros.
2014

buy

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.