Il Suono

In the early '90s, John Clark ranked as possibly the most fluent jazz French horn soloist since the great Julius Watkins in the 1950s. On this spirited set, Clark often solos with the fluency and sound of a valve trombonist. His band consists of the rockish guitar playing of Jerome Harris, electric bassist Anthony Jackson, and drummer Kenwood Dennard, with the addition of tenor saxophonist Alex Foster, trumpeter Lew Soloff, and bass trombonist Dave Taylor on some numbers. Clark wrote or co-composed all of the songs on the date other than "Mustang Sally" and Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance" (which receives a memorable rendition). Clark's playing seems so effortless throughout the CD that it makes one wonder why there are not more French horn soloists in jazz. Recommended.