Clark Terry Tribute

In recent years, Clark Terry (pictured left) has become as well-known for his unflagging commitment to jazz education as for his exceptional career playing scintillating trumpet as a soloist and in the bands of Count Basie, Duke Ellington and the Tonight Show. Now the Riverside Church in New York City has chosen to honor Terry and his exceptional pedagogy with a benefit concert called “Jazz Rhythms, New Visions” that will establish the Riverside Youth Jazz Scholarship Project on Nov. 18. Best of all, standout trumpeters Arturo Sandoval, John Faddis and Nicholas Payton will be among those paying tribute, and Ossie Davis will serve as master of ceremonies.

Terry once said that “the time with Ellington was like college,” and he has made it his mission to bring a similar education to jazz students. Besides playing on numerous recordings, Terry has found the time to compose such manuals as Let’s Talk Trumpet: From Legit to Jazz, Interpretation of the Jazz Language, and Clark Terry’s System of Circular Breathing for Woodwind and Brass Instruments. He has received three honorary doctorates from various impressed universities, and remains an active performer and educator despite the fact that he will be 81 in December.

It takes a substantial scholarship fund to honor such a man, and the tickets are not cheap: $150 for admission to a 4 p.m. champagne reception and the subsequent 6 p.m. concert, $100 if you skip the bubbly. But if you have the scrap, the music-making and the cause should be worth it. For more information, call the Riverside Church at (212) 870-6784.

Originally Published November 14, 2001