Blue Note Records is set to release Sonny Clark: The Art Of The Trio on September 25 as a premium 2-LP Tone Poet Vinyl Edition, offering jazz collectors and audiophiles a definitive presentation of these remarkable trio recordings.
Produced by Joe Harley and mastered in all-analog (AAA) by Kevin Gray directly from the original analog master tapes, the set is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI and housed in a deluxe tip-on gatefold jacket complete with an accompanying booklet. This beautifully crafted edition celebrates one of hard bop's most lyrical and sophisticated pianists in exceptional sound quality.
Often regarded as the quintessential hard bop pianist, Sonny Clark possessed an effortlessly swinging style defined by elegance, warmth, and remarkable musical sensitivity. While he is best known for his landmark Blue Note albums—including Dial "S" For Sonny, Sonny's Crib, and Cool Struttin'—Clark's trio recordings reveal another side of his artistry. Centered on timeless standards from the Great American Songbook and compositions by leading jazz writers of the era, these intimate performances showcase his extraordinary interpretive gifts.
The journey began in October 1957 when Clark entered Rudy Van Gelder's legendary Hackensack studio alongside bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones to record Sonny Clark Trio, originally released in the spring of 1958 as BLP 1569. Later that year, Clark returned to the trio format twice more—first in November with bassist Jymie Merritt and drummer Wes Landers, and again in December with Chambers and Landers.
Those later sessions, together with alternate takes from the original Sonny Clark Trio recording, were eventually released only in Japan as Blues In The Night and The Art Of The Trio. For the first time, all of this extraordinary music has been brought together in a single vinyl collection.
The deluxe package also includes newly commissioned liner notes by Syd Schwartz, the original notes by Ben Sidran and Bob Porter, and a collection of never-before-seen photographs by legendary Blue Note photographer Francis Wolff, making this release as visually compelling as it is musically significant.
Producer Joe Harley has long championed these overlooked recordings.
"Many people are completely unaware of these recordings by Sonny Clark. I picked them up on Japanese-only editions back in the '70s and found myself returning to them repeatedly over the years. Sonny transforms these beloved standards into intimate conversations that tell their stories with uncommon honesty, lyricism, and swing."
For longtime Blue Note enthusiasts and newcomers alike, The Art Of The Trio is an essential release that highlights Sonny Clark's brilliance in one of jazz's most intimate settings while giving these treasured recordings the deluxe presentation they have long deserved.
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