The Jazz Drummer Clark Tracey was born in London in 1961. Clark was thrown straight into the major league of Jazz at 17 when he became the drummer for various groups led by his father, Stan Tracey CBE, the legendary British jazz pianist. Thirty years on and Clark Tracey still performs and records alongside Stan Tracey, as well as leading, composing and arranging for his own bands.
Since the early 1980’s Clark Tracey has released 11 albums under his own name and played in well over 100 recordings as a sideman. As a freelance drummer Clark has had 30 years' experience playing alongside some of the most important artists in jazz at home and abroad. Some of the most significant unions with American artists have been with Johnny Griffin, Pharaoh Sanders, John Hicks, George Cables, Bud Shank, Red Rodney, and Scott Hamilton. British artists include names such as Ronnie Scott, John Surman, Alan Skidmore, Kenny Wheeler, Alan Barnes, Don Weller, Claire Martin and Tommy Smith.
Clark has performed in around 50 countries. He has been awarded the "Best Drums" title three times in the British Jazz Awards and Ronnie Scott's Award for “Best Drums” in 2007. He has received endorsements from Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Remo Drumheads.
Clark Tracey’s current projects include playing in the jazz quartet alongside saxophonist Brandon Allen, pianist Gareth Williams and bassist Arnie Somogyi. The quartet focuses on British compositions that have become standard jazz repertoire, and have released two albums, ‘British Standard Time’ and ‘Given Time’. Clark Tracey also has a quintet with saxophonist Simon Allen, trumpeter Mark Armstrong, award winning pianist Zoe Rahman and bassist Peter Billington.
As a leader In 1981 he formed the first of his own groups with Django Bates, Iain Ballamy and Andrew Cleyndert. Later groups included Guy Barker, Jamie Talbot, Nigel Hitchcock, Dave O'Higgins, Mark Nightingale, Mornington Lockett, Julian Arguelles, Gerard Presencer, Alec Dankworth and Steve Melling, Simon Allen and Zoe Rahman.
As a composer Clark Tracey has received commissions for his quintet, an octet called “Bootleg Eric” shared with pianist Dave Newton, "Continental Drift" (an 11 piece band co-composed with Stan Tracey and commissioned by The Arts Council), and composed for the Berkshire Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Appleby Festival big band. He has also written string quartet arrangements for his own group and vocalists Claire Martin & Joan Viskant, also the folk group Filska. He composes regularly for his own groups.
As an educator Clark also teaches privately and for the Hertfordshire Music Services and has given masterclasses at Leeds College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Musicians' Institute of London, Bracknell jazz weekends courses, the Southport and Cheltenham festivals as well as numerous workshops around the UK and overseas, attached to British Council tours.
TV - Film - Radio - Stage Clark has appeared on tv and radio all over the world, but key moments include "Omnibus" (BBC) with his quintet, "Mercury Music Awards" (BBC) with Sting, "Father & Son" (ITV) with own group and Stan Tracey, "The Paradise Club" (ITV), "Ellington's" (ITV), "Call Me Mister" (ITV), "Blue Note's 50th Anniversary Concert" with Tommy Smith at the Montreux Jazz Festival, plus numerous radio broadcasts with his own groups on Radios 2 & 3. In 1999 Clark Tracey was featured in the motion picture "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and recently was involved in the soundtrack of motion picture "Alfie" starring Jude Law.
International Artists Accompanied
Reeds Harry Allen, Benny Bailey, Dale Barlow, Joshua Breakstone, Jesse Davis, Nathan Davis, Teddy Edwards, Herb Geller, Johnny Griffin, Scott Hamilton, Michael Hashim, Benjamin Herman, Red Holloway, Plas Johnson, Harold Land, Yank Lawson, Brad Leali,Charles McPherson, Turk Mauro, Lanny Morgan, Bob Mover, Jack Nimitz, Sal Nistico, Ken Peplowski, Jerome Richardson, Charlie Rouse, Pharoah Sanders, Tad Schull, Roman Schwaller, Gary Scott, Bud Shank, Lew Tabackin, Mike Tracy, Pietro Tonolo, Norris Turney, Benny Waters, Bobby Watson, Bob Wilbur, Rickey Woodard
Trumpet
Bill Berry, Randy Brecker, Conte Candoli, Pete Candoli, Harry Sweets Edison, Art Farmer, Dusko Goycovich, Tony Lujan, Don Menza, Valery Ponomarev, Red Rodney, Shorty Rogers, Bobby Shew, Warren Vache
Trombone - Buster Cooper, Steve Davis, Joel Helleny, Conrad Herwig, Frank Lacy, George Masso, Bart Van Lier, Jiggs Whiggam
Guitar - Ron Affif, Howard Alden, Al Casey, Tal Farlow, Vic Juris, Barney Kessell, Bireli Lagrene, Mundell Lowe, Babik Reinhardt, Herb Ellis
Piano/Organ - George Cables, Phil DeGregg, Garry Dial, John Hicks, Per Husby, Roger Kellaway, Keiko Lee, Romano Mussolini, Walter Norris, Herve Sellin, Jimmy Smith, James Williams
Vocals - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Lea Delaria, Billy Eckstine, Slim Gaillard, Adelaide Hall, Karin Krog, Mark Murphy, Marlene Verplank
Bass - Arild Andersen, Pierre Boussanger, Furio Di Castri, Neil Swainson, Jimmy Woode
Miscellaneous - Peter Appleyard, Ray Alexander, Kenny Daverne, Buddy DeFranco, Hugh Fraser, Terry Gibbs, Peanuts Hucko, Howard Johnson, Tony Scott
UK Musicians Accompanied (selection) - Ronnie Scott, Martin Taylor, Andy Shepherd, Jason Rebello, Sting, Tommy Smith, Humphrey Lyttleton, John Surman, John Taylor, Julian Joseph, Norma Winstone, Kenny Baker, Elaine Delmar, Claire Martin, Peter King, Dick Morrissey, Don Weller, John Dankworth, Alan Skidmore, Mike Gibbs, Kenny Wheeler
Countries Performed In - Algeria, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Crete, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eire, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Rhodes, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia.
"As a soloist, Tracey is one of the most entertaining drummers to grace these shores since Akira Tana" - Sydney Morning Herald
"Clark plays with a keen-eared awareness that's rare among today's drummers"…. ”Tracey has always been a highly tasteful and thoughtful drummer" - Manchester Guardian - Pete Martin
"There is a calm authority about Clark Tracey's drumming: he appears undemonstrative, even cherubic, and scarcely seems to move, while all the time generating tremendous power" - The Guardian - Ron Atkins
"He brings the fruits of touring and recording with Buddy De Franco/Martin Taylor Quintet, Art Farmer and James Moody, amongst others, to the band; and that experience, coupled with the fact that he grew up on jazz as the son of pianist Stan Tracey gives well placed confidence" - Sunday Star - Elven Ho
"Having just finished an engagement with the legendary Art Blakey; it would not be surprising if he was still tingling from a brush with history" - Bangkok Herald - Bernie Cooper
"His drumming energised the group continuously in the ensemble work, and his solo in "Suddenly Last Tuesday" made you wish it would just continue, because of its creative ideas in rhythmic, counterpoint, attack and pulsating enthusiasm" - Hong Kong Standard - Peter Stone
"Clark Tracey is not the run-of-the-mill skin-and-sticks man who indiscriminately beats and bashes everything within arms-length. He picks the right spots for bombs and crashes and at variable levels of dynamics" - Panya Panichsmsuk, The Nation
"He is one of the sharpest jazz drummers in the country" - Birmingham Evening Post - Neville Hadsley
"If Blakey has a UK equivalent, it is fellow drummer Clark Tracey" - The Independent - Chris Parker
"An apprenticeship in the top flight has forged Clark into one of the most impressive jazz drummers in Britain today" - The Times - Richard Williams
