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Clark Tracey

Clark Tracey BEM grew up in a jazz environment as the son of Stan Tracey OBE, CBE, the UK's multi award winning legendary jazz pianist, and Jackie Tracey, a former head of A&R at Decca Records and pioneer of British jazz recordings in the 1950s, as well as jazz club owner in the 1970s. From an early age Clark took to the piano and vibraphones. At 13 he started playing the drums and turned professional at 17 in 1978 by joining his father's various ensembles, from trio to orchestra for the next 35 years, up until Stan's death in 2013. Within that context he toured worldwide and recorded extensively. In 2001 Clark began his own record company, Tentoten Records and in 2007 he formed Resteamed Records, a label dedicated to his father's works. In 2017 he wrote a biography of Stan entitled "The Godfather of British Jazz", released on Equinox Publishing.

As a Leader

In 1981 he formed the first of his own groups with Django Bates & Iain Ballamy. Later groups have included Guy Barker, Nigel Hitchcock, Dave O'Higgins, Mark Nightingale, Mornington Lockett, Julian Arguelles, Gerard Presencer, Alec Dankworth, Simon Allen, Zoe Rahman, Arnie Somogyi, Lewis Wright, Kit Downes, Alex Ridout, Sean Payne, James Wade-Sired, Tom Ridout and Chris Maddock. He currently runs a quintet with Rising Star Alex Clarke and outstanding new vocalist Emily Masser.

As a Composer

He has received commissions for his quintet, an octet called “Bootleg Eric” shared with pianist Dave Newton, "Continental Drift" (an 11 piece band co-composed with Stan Tracey and commissioned by The Arts Council), and composed for the Berkshire Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Appleby Festival big band. He has also written string quartet arrangements for his own group and vocalists Claire Martin, Tina May & Joan Viskant, also the folk group Filska. He composes & arranges for his own groups too.

As a Freelance Drummer

Clark has had 40 years' experience playing alongside some of the most important artists in jazz at home and abroad. Some of the most significant unions with American artists have been with Johnny Griffin, Pharaoh Sanders, John Hicks, George Cables, Bud Shank, Red Rodney, and Scott Hamilton. British artists include names such as Ronnie Scott, John Surman, Alan Skidmore, Kenny Wheeler, Alan Barnes, Mark Nightingale, Don Weller and Tommy Smith. He has recorded over 100 albums (15 as a leader) and performed in over 50 countries. He has been awarded "Best Drums" title six times in the British Jazz Awards (most recently in 2018) and Ronnie Scott's Award for “Best Drums” in 2007. He has endorsements with Bosphorus Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks, Remo Drumheads and Cambridge Drums.

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Introducing Emily...

Strayhorn Records
2024

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Suddenly Last Tuesday

Chesky Records
1986

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Suddenly Last Tuesday

From: Introducing Emily Masser
By Clark Tracey

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