Throughout the extensive history of Jazz music, many performers have come and gone. However, trumpet-playing legend Clark Terry occupies prime real-estate within the pantheon of the music’s most influential ambassadors.
Although his contributions to America’s original art form won’t soon be forgotten, Terry’s extraordinary career recently expired. He was pronounced dead on Feb. 21 at the age of 94.
After decades of entertaining crowds across the globe, Terry took up a permanent residence in Pine Bluff, Ark. He spent the remainder of his golden years nestled in the tranquility of rural southern living—a complete turnaround from his earlier excursions as a touring musician.
Terry’s widow, Gwen, announced his death on his website late Saturday night. She did not provide further details.
The music veteran had been in failing health in recent years after suffering from extreme complications of diabetes. He entered into hospice care earlier this month.
“Our beloved Clark Terry has joined the big band in heaven where he’ll be singing and playing with the angels,” Gwen wrote on the musician’s official Facebook page.
Terry’s achievements span more than a half-century, including his barrier-breaking induction in 1960 as NBC’s first African American staff musician (performing as a member of “The Tonight Show” band).
In addition, and perhaps even more impressive, Clark served as a band-mate for such iconic instrumentalists as Count Basie, Duke Ellington and a multitude of others. After paying his proverbial dues on stage, he eventually switched roles and provided mentorship to many young talents, including highly exalted trumpeter Miles Davis and famed record producer Quincy Jones.
“When [Terry] left the Basie and Ellington bands, also two of my idols, to join mine, it was one of the most humbling moments in my life,” Jones wrote on his Facebook page. “[He] was my first trumpet teacher as a teen in Seattle, my idol, and my brother.”
Jones honored his mentor by co-producing the documentary “Keep on Keepin’ On,” which premiered last September and focused on the relationship between Terry and his young protege, blind jazz pianist Justin Kauflin.
In 1991, Terry was named an National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, the nation’s highest jazz honor, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
The esteem his fellow musicians felt for Terry was reflected in December when the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis took a detour to Pine Bluff, during a day off on their tour to play an impromptu concert for Terry at his hospital.
“Even before we started playing, many of us were full of emotion,” Marsalis wrote at the time. “He was the first great jazz trumpeter I had ever heard actually playing live. His spectacular playing made me want to practice (of course) but his warmth and optimism made me want to be a part of the world of Jazz.”
