Leapin' & Lopin' [Original recording remastered]

Sonny Clark | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 16, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B001CARI7U
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,281 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #69 in Music > Jazz > Bebop > Hard Bop

Editorial Reviews

Sonny Clark, Leapin' and Lopin'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sonny's swan song., March 1, 2001

By 

"jazzfanmn" (St Cloud, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leapin & Lopin (Audio CD)

Cut in 1961, this is Sonny Clark's last session as a leader. The all too familiar story of a promising young jazzman falling to the cycle of addiction claimed Sonny in 1963 at the age of 31. His playing gives no indication of his personal condition, however. Backed by Tommy Turrentine on trumpet, Charlie Rouse on tenor, with Ike Quebec taking Rouse's chair for "Deep In A Dream", Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums, Clark's bop based piano is at full strength and swings throughout. Every musician featured on this date is in top form. It is especially refreshing to hear Rouse on a rare outing from his usual gig with the Thelonious Monk quintet. Rouse sounds inspired and blows hard swinging solos on "Somethin' Special" and "Eric Walks". Another underrated musician, Ike Qubec takes the tenor role for the tender take on "Deep In A Dream", providing a smooth silky solo. Clark is equally at home deep in a groove like "Voodoo", high flying bop like "Melody For C", or a tender slow number like "Deep In A Dream". This cd is one of Clark's greatest achievements, and sadly one of his last. This cd is a must for all jazz collections as well as Sonny Clark fans.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sonny's last, February 8, 2003

By 

N. Dorward "obsessive reviewer" (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leapin & Lopin (Audio CD)

Sonny Clark has been a cult pianist for many years, in part because Blue Note failed to keep his discs consistently in print. He was prized among Japanese hard bop enthusiasts & also was a favourite of the avantgardist John Zorn's circle (there's a nice tribute disc, _Voodoo_, by "The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet": Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Ray Drummond & Bobby Previte). But Clark's star's risen a lot in the past decade, as his work's finally gotten properly reissued: I suspect one key moment was Blue Note's putting together all three Clark/Grant Green quartet sessions on an unbeatable low-priced twofer in the mid-1990s. Anyway, _Leapin' and Lopin'_ is one of the few Clark discs to have been around on CD for a while, along with the perennial _Cool Strutting_. _Leapin' and Lopin'_ is also Clark's last date as a leader (from November 1961), though it wasn't his last recording session by any means (he died in 1963, a victim of the jazz life--alcohol & drugs). The rhythm section here--Clark, bassist Butch Warren & drummer Billy Higgins--became something of a house rhythm section at Blue Note at this period: in addition to this album, they formed the rhythm section to a number of albums by Jackie McLean & Dexter Gordon (including the popular _Go_). Despite the brilliance of the Chamber-Philly Joe Jones rhythm section on _Cool Strutting_, I'd actually recommend listening to this disc to hear Clark at his best as an accompanist, simply because these guys have clearly established a very close relation. (One sign of this is that Butch Warren contributes a tune to the album, "Eric Walks"--it's a nice swinger, a close cousin of Gillespie's "Woody'n You".) The band is completed by Warren's pal from the Monk band, Charlie Rouse, & the trumpeter Tommy Turrentine. Rouse is in absolutely terrific form throughout--arguably better than on most of the albums he cut with Monk, in fact (& fans of Rouse should investigate this album for this reason).

Much of the material here is deliberately minimalist, & one suspects that if Clark had lived he would have moved strongly in the direction of modal jazz. "Melody for C" is mentioned in Ira Gitler's liner notes as being Clark's essay in modal jazz, but actually "Voodoo" & "Midnight Mambo" are also in a similar vein, pursuing a stripped-down blues-minimalism which obviously is indebted to _Kind of Blue_ but is already moving off in a different direction from Miles. "Voodoo" is especially remarkable, not least for Clark's comping. For each soloist he devises a distinctive, complementary pattern & works variations on it for the duration of the solo (in tandem with bassist & drummer)--it gives the piece a sense of almost compositional development.

One track on the album stands at something of a distance from the rest. "Deep in a Dream" is a ballad feature for Clark and the tenorist Ike Quebec (who worked for Blue Note as an A&R man & was presumably simply around the studio that day & dropped in to play). Unlike the contemporary blues-drenched feel of the rest of the session, this ballad is deliberately old-fashioned in feel, a little sentimental, stated caressingly by Clark in the intro (over bowed bass) & then given a tough/tender reading by Quebec in the best tradition of Hawkins & Webster. A nice track. Those who wish to pursue this side of Clark's work should check out Quebec's _Blue & Sentimental_ & Grant Green's _Born to Be Blue_, both of which feature Clark on piano.

_Leapin' and Lopin'_ comes highly recommended: for anyone interested in Clark's work, it's essential listening.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Premiere Sonny Clark Rhythm Section, March 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Leapin & Lopin (Audio CD)

The marvelous rapport between Clark, Warren and Higgins shouldn't be underestimated. From a rhythmic standpoint, the performances here are more than enough to place the late, great pianist in the Jazz pantheon. Unlike many of today's pianists, including the vastly overrated Brad Mehldau, Sonny swings effortlessly, just slightly behind the beat, and is not hung up on overly complex arrangements which are designed to showcase a virtuoso skill level. The music here speaks to a level of intellectual sophistication which is rarely seen in Jazz today. And it is no coincidence that Herbie Hancock employed the same bassist and percussionist in his first Blue Note session, "Takin' Off".

This Brother made the Steinway sing. Grab this CD--especially you aspiring piano players!