Dial “P” for Piano: Larry Vuckovich Quintet plays Sonny Clark

Sonny Clark was one of the great jazz pianists of the late ’50s and early ’60s, being a prolific sideman for John Coltrane, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, Stanley Turrentine, and others on Blue Note, and leading his own trio for a number of under-rated but brilliant recordings. His music is a true hidden gem of jazz, and in this special concert, piano giant Larry Vuckovich performs his arrangements of a number of Sonny’s rarely heard but exquisite masterpieces of bebop. Cited by another keyboard legend, Barry Harris, as one of the “premier west coast pianists,” Vuckovich has appeared at many of the major jazz venues and festivals throughout Europe and North America. Along the way, he has played with jazz greats including Mel Lewis, Tom Harrell, Philly Joe Jones, Billy Higgins and many more. Larry was honored as a “Jazz Legend” by the Fillmore Jazz Heritage Center, along with Bobby Hutcherson, Cal Tjader and others who have contributed to San Francisco’s vital jazz scene. Vuckovich’s band features some of the top players on the West Coast, including saxophonist Noel Jewkes, with whom he shares half a century of bandstand experience. They both toured in vocalist Jon Hendricks’ popular revue The Evolution of the Blues in the mid-1960s, and have performed and recorded in an array of settings over the years, including Vuckovich’s 2000 tribute to Lester “Prez” Young, Young At Heart (Robbins Music).