Sonny Clark

Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an American jazz pianist who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.

Early life

Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town east of Pittsburgh. His parents were originally from Stone Mountain, Georgia. His miner father, Emory Clark, died of a lung disease two weeks after Sonny was born. Sonny was the youngest of eight children. At age 12, he moved to Pittsburgh.

Later life and career

When visiting an aunt in California at age 20, Clark decided to stay and began working with saxophonist Wardell Gray. Clark went to San Francisco with Oscar Pettiford and after a couple months, was working with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco in 1953. Clark toured the United States and Europe with DeFranco until January 1956, when he joined The Lighthouse All-Stars, led by bassist Howard Rumsey.

Wishing to return to the east coast, Clark served as accompanist for singer Dinah Washington in February 1957 in order to relocate to New York City. In New York, Clark was often requested as a sideman by many musicians, partly because of his rhythmic comping. He frequently recorded for Blue Note Records, playing as a sideman with many hard bop players, including Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, Grant Green, Philly Joe Jones, Clifford Jordan, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Art Taylor, and Wilbur Ware. He also recorded sessions with Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Billie Holiday, Stanley Turrentine, and Lee Morgan.

Clark

Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin clericus meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated. Clark evolved from "clerk". First records of the name are found in 12th century England. The name has many variants.

Clark is the twenty-seventh most common surname in the United Kingdom, including placing fourteenth in Scotland. Clark is also an occasional given name, as in the case of Clark Gable.

According to the 1990 United States Census, Clark was the twenty-first most frequently encountered surname, accounting for 0.23% of the population. Notable people with the surname include:

Clark (mascot)

Clark is the official team mascot of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs. He was announced on January 13, 2014 as the first official mascot in the modern history of the Cubs franchise. He was introduced that day at the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center's pediatric developmental center along with some of the Cubs' top prospects such as number one draft pick Kris Bryant and Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, Mike Olt and Eric Jokisch. Over a dozen Cubs prospects were attending the Cubs' Rookie Development Program that week. The Cubs become the 27th team in Major League Baseball to have a mascot, leaving the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees as the remaining franchises without mascots. According to the Cubs' press release, Clark is a response to fan demands (expressed via surveys and interviews) for more kid-friendly elements at Wrigley Field Cubs games to keep pace with games in other cities that have more to offer youth fans.

Description

He is a "young, friendly Cub" who will wear a backwards baseball cap and greet fans entering Wrigley Field, which is located at the corner of Clark Street (for which he is named) and Addison Street. North Clark Street borders the third base side of Wrigley Field. According to the Cubs, the fictional character Clark is descended from Joa, the franchise's original live Bears mascot in 1916.

Clark (disambiguation)

Clark is a common surname.

Clark may also refer to:

Places

Antarctica

Philippines

United States

Education

Other uses