Performance · Other credits

Kenny Clarke

real name Kenneth Clarke Spearman

Pittsburgh, United States · 1914-01-09 – 1985-01-26

Kenny Clarke is credited on 5,159 releases across 1,160 albums tracked on Gatefold, active 1950–2026 — the collector-built map of who actually made the music.

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5,159

Credits

1,160

Albums

Decades active

706

In collections

Biography

source

American jazz drummer and vibraphonist (born January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France, aged 71)
Clarke was an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming and a founder member of the jazz group, The Modern Jazz Quartet. A regular sideman for in the mid-1950s, he lived and worked in Paris from 1956.
Clarke converted to Islam in the late 1940s and used the name Liaquat Ali Salaam on Boplicity / Israel and possibly other sessions at the time. However, from the 1950s onward, he returned to being billed as "Kenny Clarke" professionally, including on his 1950s Savoy Records albums, in the Clarke-Boland Big Band during the 1960s, and up through his final albums in the 1980s, such as Pieces Of Time (Italy 1984) (opens in a new tab).

Bio from Discogs