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Home , Fats Navarro, Kenny Clarke, Roger Humphries, Sid Catlett, Zoot Sims

« Keeping Time: Klook Remembers Drummer's Place in History by PhillipDaquila Klook: The Story ofKenny Clarke Clarke, inspired by Basie's and Armstrong's , byMike Hennessey introduced a lightness to drumming by transferring the rhythmic : University ofPittsburgh Press, 1994. Pp. xiv,373. Acknowledgements, pulse from the drum heads (usually the ) to the foreword (by ), preface, bibliography, discography, sources, index, cymbals. Instead of simply keeping time witha steady fourbeats to photographs. $22.50 paperback. the measure, as had been done by swing drummers withthe responsibility of drivinga danceable sound, Klook used his right hand continuously on the top cymbal (later called the "ride THEcentral question for listeners of jazz music trying cymbal") and freed up his lefthand to prod the bop ensemble with to gain perspective on the story of an individual musician unpredictable accents on the snare and the "dropping of bombs" on is, "Who has he played with?" it is because the answer the bass drum. Hennessey illuminates the originof these improvi- simultaneously creates a mystique and helps to peel away sational developments, suggesting that Clarke had started the layers of misunderstanding. Even before hearing a process a 10 years recording by the artist, the student of jazz history who full before the welldocumented events of Minton's Playhouse inHarlem inthe early 1940s. While his own IFhas learned the familiar name of a bandmate begins to see a descriptions music theory drumming techniques are rather collaboration at work, a timeline unfolding. Notoriety for the jazz of and slim,Hennessey has the good judgment to excerpt the authorita- musician is marked as much by associations as by the style of tive Gunther Schuller. From Schuller's The , we are music or even the performer's instrument. treated to the following, which refers to Clarke's stint withthe As good an introduction as any, then, to Pittsburgh-born Edgar Hayes orchestra, with whom he firstrecorded in1937: Kenneth Clarke Spearman, is torattle off a string of luminaries Twenty-three years of age when he joinedHayes, Clarke was with whom the drummer performed: , Duke from the beginning an individual,imaginative percussionist who Ellington, , Gillespie, Parker, Dizzy Charlie saw no sense inplaying inany of the accepted drumming swing Monk, , Thelonious BillieHoliday, , styles.... Clarke remained loyalto the and bass drum, , , , , using both instruments... to evolve a new style of drumming that , , , , integrated the drums much more into the arrangements and , , , , Chet soloists' work.By participating in the orchestra's rhythmic Baker, James Moody,JJ. Johnson, , Art Tatum and figures as a full-fledged ensemble instrument..., the result was . With such a long career (55 years), both inthe suddenly a true musical dialogue between drums and orchestra, and inEurope, Kenny "Klook"Clarke, as he was a discourse liftingthe drums (at least partially)out of their known professionally, nearly stands inthe depth of his limitedrole as a mere provider of rhythmic substructures.... catalog of colleagues. MikeHennessey, a magazine writer who Clarke's drumming on almost allthe Hayes sides is exciting to hear.... Clarke's timingand sense of balance were superb, knew Clarke the last 25 years of his life,does his share of name- especially considering thathe was pioneering a whole new dropping, but fortunately makes few assumptions about the concept of big-band drumming. For here we have the beginnings jazz even are reader's knowledge: the most recognizable figures of modern drumming. Considering defined on firstreference. all the names to enjoy So not only didKenny Clarke identify the rhythmic demands of the Klook, rufflingaround for, oddly, is the first full-length account of complex, rapid-fire melodies and create a technique to meet the life and music of Clarke. Perhaps if jazz triviawere more neatly them, but he also, this book tells us, changed the language for the packaged — "Who has played withmore legends than any other — monotonous drumming style of swing orchestra music. performer?" on the reverse of Clarke's jazz trading card Klook Where did all this trail-blazing begin? Hennessey's research wouldbe a beneficiary. tells him that was probably born inMercy Hospital Clarke is more than a product of who he accompanied, of inJanuary 1914. The family home was onWylie Avenue inthe course; his technical skills were what ultimately made him integrated LowerHill.Clarke's mother, Martha Grace Scott, also Virtually bridging hireable. any jazz reference credits Clarke for born inPittsburgh, was an accomplished pianist, according to swing tobebop by remodeling rhythm the shift from the section Kenny, and he recalls sitting onher knee learning simple tunes. He (as wellas for being a founding member of the Modern Jazz may have become a professional pianist, Hennessey speculates, had Klook no Quartet). the book is different. Itreminds the reader that his mother lived to continue givingKenny lessons. But she died suddenly inher late 20s, when Kenny was about 5. Kenny's father, PhillipDaquila, a self-taught saxophonist who developed a special interest injazz history along the way, lived inPittsburgh forfour years, untillast fall. A free-lance Charles Spearman, from Georgia, played some trombone, but had writer,he now lives in Chapel Hill, N.C. deserted the family to start another one inWashington even before

46 Pittsburgh History, Spring 1995 Martha died. The author provides interesting interviewmaterial in Hennessey sometimes ringof heavy editing; the results make which Clarke gives varyingaccounts ofhis painful childhood. He Clarke sound plastic. blocked fromhis mind the difficulties ofbeing an orphan, even Hennessey's main explanation for the underassessment given going out of his way to create positive recollections of the period. Clarke by jazz writers over the years is that he spent the majority As the always protective Hennessey tells it,"Kenny tended to of his career (31years) inFrance rather than inthe United soften the harsher realities ofhis early years." But itwas at the States. Though he remained extremely busy (the fine discography Coleman Industrial Home for Negro Boys inthe HillDistrict, a included inthis volume is nearly 100 pages long), the author dilapidated house with twobedrooms for 33 boys, that Clarke, at contends that out of sight meant out of mind. Strangely, nowhere the age of 8 or 9, picked up his first drumsticks. AMr.Moore, the does he suggest that as a drummer inan area of show business orphanage's teacher, "capable of playing all the instruments," that rewarded the individualist,Clarke's glamourless role as according to Kenny,urged him to try the snare drum. He played timekeeper hurt his notoriety — drums inthe band at Herron HillJunior High School, his last That Klook is more a tribute to the late drumming great formal school. He dropped out at 15 and spent time hanging complete witha chapter of transcriptions of—45 musicians' around downtown clubs, soaking inthe show-business atmo- superlatives called, "We Remember Klook" than itis an sphere. objective biography is not the worst error, however. This book The research of the early years is surprisingly thorough: suffers most forfailing toreflect what the bebop culture held most Hennessey actually uncovered the names of two Irishmen, dear: Hennessey's telling is Hammond and Gurlock, owners of a music store on Penn Avenue, decisively unhip! Itis down- who taught Kenny to play a proper roll on the snare drum. right funny—to picture Clarke, at age 8 or 9, picked Clarke's firstprofessional drumming job was withthe Leroy Hennessey a white man n Bradley band as a substitute for a Pittsburgh fireman playing dance who describes Louis up hisfirst drumsticks at music three or four times a month. He was eventually made Armstrongs notorious tfoe Coleman Industrial full-time withthis band, one of the first to be heard over the air via appreciation of marijuana by TT /~ at r» KDKAradio. Due to Clarke's rapid development onhis instru- writingthat "Pops was a Homefor Negro Boys m ment, "the almost mandatory pilgrimage to "beckoned, prodigious smoker of un- Pittsburgh 's HillDistrict. and by the winterof 1935, Clarke had left Pittsburgh at age 21for branded cigarettes allhis life" the jazz capital of the world. Though Clarke didn't remain longin —being accepted by a clique his hometown, Hennessey takes every opportunity to provide of black musicians intent on creating a style and lingo sounique factoids relevant to the city. One of the best tidbits is that a young that itexcluded even great players likeJohnny Hodges, Roy Kenny Clarke shared altar boy duties withanother boy destined to Eldridge and Art Tatum. become a jazz legend, bandleader and singer BillyEckstine. Ifwritingabout music is compared to "dancing about Inhis preface, Mike Hennessey states that his premise for architecture," then writingabout drumming, specifically, can be completing a biography on Clarke is tohonor his oldfriend, likened to dancing about a building's framework; drums provide making good on a promise to the drummer from 1976. He even the backbone, the drivingforce ofmost modern music, yet for apologizes to Clarke's widow—and son for not finishing the book most listeners itis the hardest element to grasp. Such is the sooner. The author's belief that Clarke has not been—givenhis function of rhythm: "Iknow Ican feel it,and Iknow what sounds rightful place as a revolutionary inthe history of jazz not only is good, but don't ask me to talk about it."Inherent inwritinga stated repeatedly throughout this book, but Hennessey appears to biography of a drummer, then, Mike Hennessey has taken ona have overcompensated, as every remark about the musician's great challenge. Why, even the man's nickname (fully — attempt to elevate his character, leading the reader to reprove the "Klook-a-mop") points out the nature of discussing drumming intimacy of writerand subject. Hennessey does not reveal how people resort to onomatopeia! As mentioned, Hennessey gener- much timehe spent around Clarke as he reported on the jazz ally avoids discussions of technique or music thoery, making this scene, but his fondness for the musician harms his presentation. book less appealing to working musicians interested inhow Countless instances of Hennessey's defending ofClarke as he Clarke, Gillespie and Parker developed their methods. summarizes his subject's actions and motives grow weary for the Alistof Kenny Clarke compositions registered withthe reader. On Clarke's conversion to the Muslim religion shortly after Societe des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique in completing his army service in1946, he writes, 'Although Klook Paris, is also given. Itnumbers 27, most notably "Epistrophy" was certainly angry and bitter about the insidious racial discrimi- (withThelonious Monk) and "" (with nation that existed inthe States, it is doubtful whether his commit- Gillespie). Hennessey devotes too little space to discussing how ment toIslam extended to complete sympathy with the militant the songs came about. But the book's chronological narrative and Black Muslims.. ."and, "Itis difficult to visualize Kenny Clarke, for its direct language are plusses, which may allow greater access to allhis hatred of prejudice, as a true supporter of Malcolm X, even the material for new students ofjazz history. though he had some very positive things to say about [him]...." In Jazz has never been known for its flash orimage cultivation, addition, words attributed to Clarke from interviews with but rather for the hard work and talent of its purveyors. Pitts-

47 Reviews burgh, unlike New York, New Orleans, Chicago and Kansas City, American Revolution and of the enaction of the federal constitu- cannot claim the emergence of a jazzmovement or style, yet itis tion, Jews were granted religious liberty and citizenship rights. responsible for a list of fine jazz individualists disproportionate to There also are detailed sections about the place ofJewish business- itspopulation. The story of Kenny Clarke and the lineage of men inAmerican society during the late eighteenth and early important musicians, especially drummers, launched from nineteenth centuries. Marcus cites Samuel Myers of Norfolk and Pittsburgh is worthy of scrutinization. Now, withClarke remem- the Prager brothers of Philadelphia as merchant-shippers, the bered inKlook,musicologists need to ask, "What is the fullstory of Gratz brothers and their sons as fur and lumber merchants and as inPittsburgh?" Names such as Joe Harris, western land speculators, David Lopez,Jr., of Newport as a J. C.Moses, ArtBlakey (a certifiable legend of his own), Beaver commission merchant and auctioneer, and Harmon Hendricks of Harris and Roger Humphries, inaddition to Clarke, conjure New York as iron-monger. themes ofblue-collar work ethic, accompaniment, drivingbeat, This study also contains stimulating accounts of the religion rhythm. Is the story of the drummer consistent withthe character and philanthropy of early American Jews. Marcus extensively of this region? Singer Jimmy West, ina 1994 interview with examines the organization and leadership of synagogues in Evelynn Hawkins, music director at WDUQ-FM, Pittsburgh's jazz Philadelphia and other eastern cities; he also discusses the frequent radio station, said, "We don't like to admit it,but the steel mills disputes between Sephardic and German Jews over doctrines and gave us a beat." 0 practices, and explains the thinking of the Philadelphian Isaac Leeser, the editor of the first American Jewish journal, The United States Jewry: The Sephardic Period, 1776-1840 Occident. Leeser was both a "conforming traditionalist" and a (vol. 1) rationalist, believing on the one hand that American Jews should embrace the theology ofancient and, on the other hand, by Rader Marcus Judaism Jacob they changes customs Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1989. Pp. 820. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, that should make some in and practices. index. $49.95 Marcus also assesses the activities ofJewish charitable and educa- tional institutions, emphasizing the importance ofHebrew Marcus, of the Pittsburgh suburb of benevolent societies inNew York,Philadelphia, and Charleston, Homestead, is the dean of AmericanJewish historians. He and the significance of the creation of the Jewish Sunday school by Rabbipublished in1916 his first article about American Jewry in Rebecca Gratz of Philadelphia. theJewish Community Bulletin of Wheeling, W. Va. The volume Inaddition to their involvement inreligious institutions, some under consideration here is based, inmany regards, on hisbio- AmericanJews became involved withassimilationist and reform graphical account, Early American Jewry (1951 and 1955), and his movements; Marcus explains that some Jews participated in sociological study, The ColonialAmericanJew, 1492-1776 (1970). Freemasonry and that others endorsed in1824 the efforts of Although Marcus' book on the Sephardic period was published Charlestonians to establish Reform Judaism inAmerica. He also five years ago, recent works have not superseded his major maintains that besides experiencing assimilation, some Jews conclusions, and the book remains valuable. encountered rejection. Marcus suggests religious, social and The work contains 17 chronologically and topically organized economic reasons for anti-Semitism, however, are not as cogent as chapters. There are also extensive footnotes and an enormous those offered by a more recent work, Anti-Semitism inAmerica bibliography which is based on major primary and secondary (New York, 1994), by Leonard Dinnerstein. sources housed inthe splendid collections of the American Jewish Still,scholars are greatly indebted to Marcus for this seminal Archives inCincinnati. work, and for his earlier studies. EliFaber, inA TimeforPlanting: Marcus examines Jewish involvement innumerous facets of The FirstMigration, 1654-1802 (Baltimore, 1992), cites the works of American life. American Jewry between 1776 and 1840 is ex- Marcus. AHistory oftheJews inAmerica (New York, 1992), by plained, for the most part, from a consensual viewpoint;Marcus Howard M. Sachar, contains valuable chapters about the German- believes that prominent Jews during these years were assimilated izationof AmericanJewry and about the Americanization of and acculturated into American society. There are fine chapters Germany Jewry. TheJews inAmerica: Four Centuries ofan Uneasy about the roles ofJews during the American Revolution and early Encounter (New York, 1989), by Arthur Hertzberg, stresses the Republic, and about Jewish connections to republicanism and tensions Jews felt in the early American Republic. Both Sachar and merchant capitalism: the leadership of Francis Salvador from 1775 Hertzberg acknowledge their respect for the interpretations of to 1776 inthe first two South Carolina provincial congresses; the Marcus about issues and developments concerning early American involvement ofPhiladelphian Col. Solomon Bush during the 1777 Jewry. The authoritative works of Marcus assuredly willserve as a Battle ofBrandywine; and the activities of the Philadelphia starting point for future studies ofJewry inearly America and will merchants Barnard and Michael Gratz, who developed a vast not be easily surpassed. © commercial empire inWestern by providing food and clothes to Revolutionary armies. Willam Weisberger Marcus shows that as a result of their involvement inthe Butler County Community College

48 Pittsburgh History, Spring 1995