RealTracks Artist Bio: Don Clark

Don Clark has enjoyed a long career as one of Canada′s leading trumpet and flugelhorn players. As a player, arranger, and composer on the West Coast since the early 1960′s, he has been leader of the Donnie Clark Quartet and Quintet and the Don Clark Ragtime Band as well as a member of leading Jazz ensembles such as the Bobby Hales Orchestra, the West Coast Jazz Orchestra, and a regular on CBC radio and television. He was a founding member of the legendary Vancouver all-star Jazz sextet Pacific Salt, touring throughout North America and Europe in the 1970s.

The list of artists that Don Clark has performed and recorded with includes Bob Hales, Dave Robbins, Pacific Salt, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Lance Harrison, Fraser McPherson, Doug Parker, New Orleans Connection, and the Chicago Six. His most recent CD release with the Donnie Clark Quintet, To Swing or not To Swing, features nine original compositions and classic Jazz ballads.

Donny Clark plays ballad Jazz Trumpet, with very melodic phrasing that can be suitable for many styles like Jazz, Easy Listening or Country. His playing is in a traditional style, similar to Chet Baker or Louis Armstrong.