Clark Virgil Terry

Clark Virgil Terry was an american swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, composer, educator, and NEA Jazz Masters inductee. He played many greats such as Charlie Barnet, Count Basie, , Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, and Oscar Peterson.

He played with the tonight show band from 1962 to 1972. Terry’s career in jazz spanned more than 70 years, during which he became one of the most recorded jazz musicians ever. He appeared in over 900 recordings. Clark Terry mentored many musicians such as Quincy jones, Miles Davis,Wynton Marsalis, and more. Clark Terry was born December 14th, 1920 and Died February 21st, 2015 at the age of 94.

In Terry’s Career he earned over 250 awards, medals and honors. Terry was the first African American to become a regular in a band on a major US television network. He served as a bandsman in the United States Navy during World War II. His first instrument was valve trombone. From the 1970s through the 1990s, Terry performed at Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, and Lincoln Center, toured with the Newport Jazz All Stars and Jazz at the Philharmonic, and was featured with Skitch Henderson’s New York Pops Orchestra. In 1998, Terry recorded George Gershwin’s “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” for the Red Hot Organization’s compilation album Red Hot + Rhapsody, a tribute to George Gershwin, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.

In 2001, he again recorded for the Red Hot Organization with artist Amel Larrieux for the compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Ellington. Terry composed more than two hundred jazz songs and performed for sevenU.S. Presidents.