Features: Kim Clarke by Rob Schepsd

Hailing from Queens, NY, Kim Clarke has played acoustic bass with many jazz greats including Joe Henderson, Junior Cook, Rachel Z, Bertha Hope, Geri Allen, and Cindy Blackman. She has played electric bass for over thirty years with the legendary downtown funk band Defunkt, led by trombonist/ singer Joe Bowie. Kim has been the bassists with the Kit McClure Big Band for 34 years. She has a wealth of experience, having toured internationally for many years, in Europe, Russia, and Asia. She is singular among bassists and well-respected in the field. She is an original composer and a stylistic innovator on electric bass with Defunkt. In 2003, Kim founded the Lady Got Chops Annual Jazz Festival in New York City and surrounding areas. RS: How did you come to music as a child? Did you study music theory? KC: I came to music as an only child, genetically and environmentally. My paternal Granddad was a Vaudevillian trombonist turned bassist. He toured with Cab Calloway- was on some of the first phonograph recordings, toured with his own band The Alabamians and played in some early Jazz films. He kept his acoustic bass on a stairway landing in his Brownstone. He let me pluck as a tiny child. I think that gave me the bug because I went on to stretch with rubber bands, over a small empty cardboard box to get a plucked tone. My Caribbean Father always told me stories of his Brooklyn childhood with friends in jazz such as Cecil Payne, Tommy Potter and dances at Putnam Central. He tuned in to the big band station on the radio before going to work daily. My Southern Mom listened to Southern blues called gut bucket. Both used to swing dance. In my teens, I got a clock radio and remember being inspired by two artists - Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsies and Charlie Parker’s Just Friends from the Bird with Strings album.

At a local school, I took a few music lessons on a plastic recorder. I tried to copy what I heard Jimi doing. Later, my babysitter dug out an old guitar from her garage, whichIcouldneverfigureout.Then,afriendfromthe neighborhood sold me a no-name electric bass for $15. I learned bass playing along with my babysitterinspired record collection. I was about 17 or 18 years old. I took the bass away to college along with my records and record player. I studied music theory at the Jazzmobile Workshop with Barry Harris in NYC and briefly in college when I changed my major to music. RS: Do you compose? If so, how many songs have you composed? KC: I have composed music in the past - about 25 so far - I have not recorded all yet. RS: Do you have a publishing company with ASCAP or BMI? KC: With BMI. RS: Are you aware of the challenges that women face in the male-dominated field of music? KC: Women face challenges in most fields when judged upon their physical externals as opposed to the value of their contributions. For example, in the past, female writers used a male nom de plume as a strategy to avert negativity and prejudice. Neither prejudice nor nepotism is solely gender-based. RS: What advice do you have for younger women entering theworldofliteratureormusicperformance?Know thyself. Study to improve. Be kind, courteous, knowledgeable, watchful. Be on time, better, early, and quiet. The business is competitive but the architects and the true art are about love. RS: You were a student of Ron Carter? KC: Yes, I studied with Ron with an NEA grant. He was kind but stern. Blunt. He gave me a definite way to practice- 4 hours a day, in the mirror, watching postures. I was in a rough period and Ron gave me an anchor to straighten me out. All my lessons with him were on Fender; I got an upright bass after studying with Ron. Two other NEA grants helped me to study with Buster Williams and Lisle Atkinson too. Buster & Ron had a two bass band at the time, which is how I became aware of Buster. I liked his triplets and his walking. Lisle’s lessons were more about scales and bowing. RS: How was working with Joe Henderson? KC: Joe heard me as the house bassist at Barry Harris’s jam sessions and then hired me. Right place, right time. Joe had a conservative but funny character. He was very colorful, creative, inspiring. It was the pinnacle of jazz touring for me - it was my first time playing small jazz clubs in Europe. I worked with pianists Joanne Brackeen, Renee Rosnes, and Jim McNeely with Joe. It was awesome. Joe taught me to be in the moment while playing; he felt that the bandstand was a sacred place. RS: Tell us about Defunkt. KC: I met Kelvyn Bell at a jam session in NY. He told me Joe Bowie was looking for a bassist. I started in 1981. (con’t on page 59)