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Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture > Video Oral History Gallery Video Gallery Cataloging Data: Clark TerryLocation Schomburg-MIRS Call # Sc Visual VRA-194 Service copy. Sc Visual VRB-2027 Original of: Sc Visual VRA-194. Author Terry, Clark, interviewee. Title Oral history interview with Clark Terry, 15 September 1993 [videorecording] / interviewer, Jimmy Owens. Imprint 1993 Description 2 videocassettes (2 hr., 5 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. 020500 Note Title supplied; duration: 2 hr., 5 min. Credits Produced and directed by James Briggs Murray. Note Terry performs brief excerpts on trumpet to demonstrate technique. Recorded on September 15, 1993 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project. Summary The oral history interview with Clark Terry, jazz trumpeter, begins with his brief description of St. Louis during his childhood; an important place for music and the development of jazz. Clark Terry was born in 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri, a city he says lured musicians travelling along the Mississippi River with its gorgeous women, good food and good clubs. From a family of eleven children, Clark's oldest sister married a top St. Louis tuba player, Cy MacField. He was exposed to jazz by attending band rehearsals (Dewey Jackson's Music Ambassadors) with Cy; a prominent trumpet player in the area also encouraged Terry's interest in music. Terry tells about a homemade trumpet he constructed as a youngster and how the neighbors chipped in to buy him his first real trumpet from a pawn shop. He never received any formal or private music lessons. At age 14 or 15, Terry got involved in the [Town Powell] drum and bugle corps, and played bugle in the school concert band. Terry recalls the big bands and musicians in St. Louis around 1935 and what a huge star Louis Armstrong had become, influencing all musicians and singers alike. At 15 or 16, Terry describes what he was practicing, and demonstrates his "doodle" method of teaching vowels on trumpet. While still a teenager Terry left St. Louis to go on the road with the Rubin and Cherry Carnival, this was followed by work with small bands in locales such as Peoria and Danville, Illinois (1941). From 1942-45, Terry entered the Navy and got involved in the Great Lakes Naval Training Station Band which consisted of a marching, concert and jazz band. Terry was now reading music and practicing profusely. At age 25, Terry returned to St. Louis and joined George Hudson's Band. From 1946-47, Terry played with Charlie Barnet's Band in California and was its first Black musician. The distinct qualities of Terry's style at this point were his articulation, elongation of passages and bent notes. Terry then explains his circular breathing method he learned as a teen which enables him to play longer. In 1948, Terry joined Count Basie and later (1951-59) Duke Ellington's Band, after which he joined Quincy Jones in Europe (1960). He tells how his leaving Basie to join Ellington transpired and describes his experiences playing with both bands. After playing with Quincy Jones, Terry joined the NBC Orchestra for 14 years. Terry then demonstrates the various techniques of using the plunger in trumpet playing. Terry briefly talks about marriage and his family. He responds to the question of how he came to be called "Mumbles", and elaborates upon how he came to play and record with the fluegelhorn. Terry mentions some trumpet players who really impressd him: George Hudson, Levi Madison, Shorty Baker, Ham Davis (all from St. Louis), along with Dud Bascomb; and he gives credit to the obscure yet phenomenal players everywhere. Terry concludes the interview by talking about his involvement in the jazz education scene, his work at the University of Iowa in LeMars with the inception of the Clark Terry Jazz Institute for which he will devise the curriculum . He is still performing in jazz festivals and in clubs occasionally with his quintet, and also with Lionel Hampton and the Golden Men. Note Reproduction. Originally produced: New York, N.Y. :Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, 1993. 2 videocassettes (MII) ; 1/2 in. VHS. Use terms Permission required to cite, quote and reproduce; contact repository for information. Biography/History Clark Terry is a jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player and teacher of jazz. Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1920, Terry began playing trumpet at an early age, was self-taught and has played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones and the NBC Orchestra. He is known for his articulation, elongation of passages and bent notes. Terry is currently teaching at the Clark Terry Institute of Jazz at the University of Iowa in LeMars, Iowa; performing in jazz festivals, clubs, and occasionally with his quintet and Lionel Hampton and the Golden Men. Note Forms part of: Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project. In Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project. Subject Armstrong, Louis, 1970-1971 -- Influence. Barnet, Charlie. Basie, Count, 1904- Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974. Hudson, George. Jones, Quincy, 1933. MacField, Cy. Terry, Clark -- Childhood and youth. Terry, Clark -- Interviews. Clark Terry Quintet. Clark Terry Jazz Institute (University of Iowa, LeMars) Dewey Jackson's Music Ambassadors (Musical group) Great Lakes Naval Training Center (Great Lakes, Ill.) Lionel Hampton and the Golden Men (Musical group) Afro-American college teachers. Afro-American musicians. Fluegelhorn. Jazz -- History. Jazz musicians -- United States -- Interviews. Trumpet -- Methods (Jazz). Trumpet -- Studies and Exercises (Jazz). Trumpet players -- United States -- Interviews. St. Louis (Missouri) -- History. Form/genre Biographies. Interviews. Additional name Owens, Jimmy, interviewer. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Donor The Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project was funded by the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc. |