To those outside the jazz world, Clark Terry is perhaps not as recognizable a name as Miles Davis or Dizzy Gillespie, but his musical influence is no less important. Terry, or "C.T." as he's often called, has played trumpet and flugelhorn on hundreds of studio sessions, led his own bands, and mentored the likes of Miles Davis and Quincy Jones. He also spent a decade performing with The Tonight Show band -- becoming the first African-American musician on NBC's staff. It was there that he developed his "Mumbles" routine -- a sort of incoherent scat singing that eventually became a signature for him, particularly after he recorded a song called "Mumbles" with the Oscar Peterson Trio.
A new documentary film, Keep On Keepin’ On, focuses on the life and career of Terry, now in his early 90's and suffering from diabetes and its debilitating side effects. The film also focuses on the bond between Terry and his student Justin Kauflin, a blind piano prodigy in his mid-20's. Their late night discussions about music and mutual encouragement during difficult times make the film a particularly poignant one.
In a conversation with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, Alan Hicks -- the director of Keep On Keepin’ On -- reflects on being a student of Clark Terry, and what it was like to capture his relationship with Justin on film. Then, music historian and journalist Ashley Kahn shares Terry's must-hear tracks, as part of our How To Be Smarter About... series.
Interview Highlights:
Alan Hicks, on Clark Terry’s ability to teach musicians on a variety of instruments:
Well he is one of the masters of the craft. He’s just spreading the jazz language, essentially. It just transcends an instrument with Clark. He can teach any and every instrument purely because he is always singing to you. He’s singing the phrases he wants you to play. He’s one of the last greats and so full of history that even people who aren’t musicians can get a lot out of Clark.
On capturing the late night, intimate moments between Clark Terry and Justin:
Clark is known in the jazz world for only sleeping three hours a night for his whole life. In the middle of the night I would hear Justin sneak into Clark’s room… We got into this rhythm where I’d get Adam [the director of photography] to cradle his monopod and sleep with it and have everything ready to go and I’d hear Justin go into the room at three in the morning. I’d tap Ad on the head and say, ‘Hey mate, we’re good to go’ and he goes, ‘No worries’ and within a minute we’d be shooting again. That’s how we were able to get many of those intimate moments.
On working with Quincy Jones during the film and securing the music rights:
We did not know Quincy and he walked into Clark’s house during one of the days of our shoots. On this particular day he was meant to be doing a recording session down at Clark’s, but it got called off… and he ended up spending the day with his teacher. He saw these two surfer filmmaker guys and we were worried he wouldn’t sign a release, but Quincy saw what we were doing and liked it.
We approached him towards the end of the shooting and just asked if he’d like to come on as a producer. Part of what was going on -- because it’s my first time making a movie -- I wasn’t paying attention to any music rights or anything. I just put everything I wanted in there. Miles Davis, Duke Ellington – all of those estates. Quincy, through his relationships, was able to talk to these estates and say hey this is a great project and we were able to keep all of the music. I didn’t have to pull anything.
How To Be Smarter About... Clark Terry
Ashley Kahn's Essential Clark Terry Tracks:
Duke Ellington's Orchestra (featuring Clark Terry), "Perdido" (1954)
Clark Terry with Thelonious Monk, "In Orbit" (1958)
Ray Charles with Clark Terry, "I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town" (1960)
Clark Terry, "Return to Swahili" (1964)
Clark Terry, "Nearness Of You" (2002)