Sonny's Conception

2011 four CD box set from the Jazz/Hard Bop pianist. Sonny Clark's playing oozed a sense of effortless ease. Many pianists of the Hard Bop era sound like they are trying hard to swing, not Sonny, as Art Farmer once commented, 'A primary quality in Sonny Clark's playing is that there is no strain in it'. Original melodies and variations on standards seemed to flow from his fingers. An essential element of Clark's style was his use of stealthy melodic lines that could extend to several bars at the time and built through surprisingly accentuated melodic turns. Proper Box.