Clark: The Autobiography of Clark Terry

Clark Terry, Gwen Terry

Univ of California Press, Jun 12, 2015 - Biography & Autobiography - 322 pages

Compelling from cover to cover, this is the story of one of the most recorded and beloved jazz trumpeters of all time. With unsparing honesty and a superb eye for detail, Clark Terry, born in 1920, takes us from his impoverished childhood in St. Louis, Missouri, where jazz could be heard everywhere, to the smoke-filled small clubs and carnivals across the Jim Crow South where he got his start, and on to worldwide acclaim. Terry takes us behind the scenes of jazz history as he introduces scores of legendary greats—Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington, Doc Severinsen, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims, and Dianne Reeves, among many others. Terry also reveals much about his own personal life, his experiences with racism, how he helped break the color barrier in 1960 when he joined the Tonight Show band on NBC, and why—at ninety years old—his students from around the world still call and visit him for lessons.

Contents

• Big Dreams: 1
• First Instruments: 2
• Kicked Out: 8
• The Vashon High Swingsters: 11
• First Road Gig: 22
• Nigga: 28
• Ida Cox: 33
• Stranded: 39
• Lincoln Inn: 42
• On the Road Again: 48
• Tennis Shoe Pimp: 56
• Jailed: 58
• Len Bowden: 62
• Navy Days: 64
• Gray Clouds: 69
• The Big Apple: 73
• George Hudson: 75
• The Club Plantation: 80
• Galloping Dominoes: 85
• Tempting Offers: 87
• Lionel Hampton: 90
• Road Lessons: 94
• Pauline: 96
• Charlie Barnet: 102
• Count Basie: 110
• Big Debt: 115
• Duke Ellington: 122
• Leaving Basie: 126
• The University of Ellingtonia: 128
• Working with Duke: 132
• Dukes Team: 136
• Dukes Management Arts: 142
• Miles and Bird: 143
• Billy Strayhorn: 146
• Endurances: 148
• Flugelhorn: 152
• Europe: 155
• Norman Granz: 158
• Normans Battles: 160
• Q: 165
• NBC: 170
• Jim and Andys: 173
• Johnny and Ed: 174
• Mumbles: 176
• First House: 179
• Big Bad Band: 182
• Carnegie Hall: 187
• Etoile: 188
• Jazz Education Arena: 191
• Those NBC Years: 198
• Storms: 202
• Black Clouds: 205
• Keep on Keepin On: 212
• New Love: 220
• Whirlwinds: 224
• Through the Storm: 230
• Second Chance: 239
• The Biggest Surprise: 250
• Acknowledgments: 259
• Honors and Awards: 269
• Original Compositions: 279
• Selected Discography: 283
• Index: 303

About the author

Clark Terry (1920-2015) had an illustrious career--as an innovative trumpeter and flugelhornist, horn designer, leading jazz educator, and composer--that covered an epic span of jazz history. Winner of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and an NEA Jazz Master, in addition to many other accolades and awards, Terry was the author of Let's Talk Trumpet: From Legit to Jazz and The Interpretation of the Jazz Language, both with Phil Rizzo.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Clark: The Autobiography of Clark Terry
• Authors: Clark Terry, Gwen Terry
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Univ of California Press, 2015
• ISBN: 0520287517, 9780520287518
• Length: 322 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Cultural & Regional; Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts; Biography & Autobiography / Memoirs; Biography & Autobiography / Music; History / African American & Black; Music / General; Music / Genres & Styles / Jazz; Music / History & Criticism