Kenny Clarke (January 9, 1914 – January 26, 1985), born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a major innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940s, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn led to modern jazz. While in New York, he played with the major innovators of the emerging bop style, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Curly Russell and others, as well as musicians of the prior generation, including Sidney Bechet. He spent his later life in Paris.
Read more about Kenny Clarke: Early Career, Bebop and The Ride Cymbal, Modern Jazz Quartet and Move To Paris, Later Life, Personal Life, Quotation
Famous quotes containing the word clarke:
“He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,”
—Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863)