No doubt you’ve heard that St. Louis-born jazz virtuoso Clark Terry passed away on Saturday at the age of 94. The news has been reported by TIME, NPR, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal—the biggies. Because Terry was one of the biggies, too. These media outlets have all noted Terry’s seven decades of superlative music-making, as well as his mentorship of younger musicians, including a young Miles Davis and a young Quincy Jones. Terry played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie; he was member of The Tonight Show house band for nearly a decade. He was inducted into the Lincoln Center Jazz Hall of Fame, and was knighted in Germany. He was a superhero, and he was one of ours.
The story is that as a little kid in St. Louis, he was so in love with jazz (Louis Armstrong was his favorite) he built himself a trumpet from a garden hose, a lead pipe, and a funnel. The noise it made was terrible, and the neighborhood pooled funds to get him his first pawn-shop trumpet. It’s no surprise that Terry would go on to play with the greats, and innovate, too—no one really played flugelhorn as a jazz instrument until Terry did. After Terry’s passing this weekend, his former pupil Quincy Jones stated that the world “had lost one of the greatest trumpeters to ever grace the planet.”
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Here is the poignant note that Terry’s widow, Gwen, posted on his official Facebook page:
Our beloved Clark Terry has joined the big band in heaven where he’ll be singing and playing with the angels. He left us peacefully, surrounded by his family, students and friends. Clark has known and played with so many amazing people in his life. He has found great joy in his friendships and his greatest passion was spending time with his students. We will miss him every minute of every day, but he will live on through the beautiful music and positivity that he gave to the world. Clark will live in our hearts forever.
Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra visited Terry on his 94th birthday this past December, and performing for him in his hospital room:
We could go on and on about Terry’s greatness—but the best way to really understand his brilliance is to listen to him play. Check out this 1967 performance of “Stardust,” recorded during a Jazz at the Philharmonic performance in London:
And a clip of a performance with The Tonight Show house band:
Also check out the documentary Keep On Keepin’ On, which was shot over five years and tells the story of the friendship between Terry and one of his last students, Justin Kauflin, a piano prodigy who is blind, and suffers from terrible stage fright. During the shooting of the film, Terry (who Kauflin affectionately calls “CT”) suffers a decline in health, and begins losing his eyesight as well, which further strengthens their bond. It’s not just a testament to Terry’s greatness as a musician, but portrays his greatness as a human being. Here’s the trailer:
Once you’ve dabbed the tears out of your eyes—we know they are there—we’ll also suggest this New York Times obituary, which includes some interesting stories about early career in St. Louis, including a stint with a band called Dollar Bill and His Small Change, and more importantly a front-and-center role in George Hudson’s Big Band, which was the gig that got him noticed in New York City. Once the cold lifts, we suggest a visit to Clark Terry’s star on the Delmar Walk of Fame, not to mention the spinning of some of his tunes—considering he played on more than 900 jazz recordings, there are a lot to choose from.
