Buck Clarke


William Lewis "Buck" Clarke was an American jazz percussionist who played with Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Les McCann, Russ Freeman, Gerald Albright, Jimmy Smith and others. He also played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1968. Clarke's many musical styles include soul, funk and contemporary jazz, with an Afrocentric perspective.

Biography

Clarke was born in Washington, DC on October 2, 1933. At 15, he started working at a display sign store. The father of one of his bosses was a cousin to Duke Ellington, so Clarke began to listen to jazz records by musicians such as Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Allen Jones and Dizzy Gillespie during lunch breaks and weekends, and he became "hooked on Jazz." He eventually had a job offer at D.C. club where he learned how to play the congas. One of his very first gigs was at a show called "Jig Show", which featured dancers and comedians. Clarke would travel throughout the world, going to places such as New Orleans, where he first discovered rumba music. Many others tried to encourage young Clarke to play "real instruments," but his position was the bongo drums.
When he was 16 or 17 years old, he played with Charlie Parker. Clarke express his feelings in ever performing with Wess Anderson's band The Washingtonians which included, Eddie Jones and Charlie Parker, saying it had Clarke "shook up and mind blowing". He played with Art Blakey's and New York Jazz Messengers at 19 or 20 years old. He was also a member of eight piece band to be part of his education on learning how to play in a band.
Clarke is also an accomplished freelance painter. Some of his early artwork could be shown at his Facebook page.
Clarke suffered from diabetes that cost him his leg in 1986. He died on October 11, 1988 in Los Angeles.

Discography

As leader

With Les McCann
With Willis Jackson
With Eugene McDaniels
With Dave Hubbard
With Cannonball Adderley
With The Isley Brothers
With Nina Simone
With Jimmy Smith
With John Mayall
With Herbie Hancock
  • Sextant
With Freddie Hubbard
With Ron Escheté
'With Thelonious Monster