Sonny Clark – The Art of the Trio (2xLP, Blue Note Tone Poet)

Sonny Clark’s The Art of the Trio gathers a fascinating stretch of his Blue Note piano-trio work from 1957 and 1958, bringing together material first heard across Sonny Clark Trio and later Japanese releases including Blues in the Night and The Art of the Trio. Rather than foregrounding Clark the hard-bop composer heard on albums like Dial “S” for Sonny and Cool Struttin’, this set leans into standards and trio interplay, showing how much nuance, swing, and melodic poise he could draw from familiar songbook material.

The sessions pair Clark with two first-rate rhythm teams: Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones on the October 1957 date, then Jymie Merritt and Wes Landers on later 1958 recordings, with Landers’ lighter touch and brushwork giving parts of the set a notably relaxed character. Across pieces such as “Can’t We Be Friends,” “Blues in the Night,” and “Tadd’s Delight,” Clark’s playing feels concise but never slight, balancing lyrical phrasing with the kind of rhythmic snap that made him one of Blue Note’s defining pianists of the period.

This Tone Poet edition is especially appealing because it compiles these trio recordings into a single vinyl package for the first time, adding new liner notes by Syd Schwartz, original notes by Ben Sidran and Bob Porter, and previously unseen Francis Wolff photographs. For anyone interested in the more intimate side of late-1950s Blue Note, it offers a fuller picture of Clark away from the front line and squarely at the keyboard.

Features

• 2xLP, 33RPM, 180g, Stereo, Blue Note Tone Poet
• Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original master tapes
• Produced by Joe Harley
• Pressed at RTI
• Deluxe tip-on gatefold jacket with booklet featuring new liner notes by Syd Schwartz, original notes by Ben Sidran and Bob Porter, and previously unseen Francis Wolff photos

Reviews

• beautiful chord voicings and harmonizations, and a very coherent group sound - AllMusic.com