Winter, 1999 Clark Terry - The Magic, Alive and Well! In November, I had the pleasure and honor to share the stage with Clark Terry in concert with the Illinois Philharmonic. I performed on the first half of the program, and Clark took the stage on the second half. We had the excellent rhythm team of pianist Bill Cunliffe, basist Larry Gray and drummer Ernie Adams.  Larry and Ernie work out of Chicago and play with the Ramsey Lewis Trio while Bill is a resident of Los Angeles and performs with many of the great Jazz musicians in that area. This excellent orchestra, which resides in the Chicago area, was conducted by the excellent Carmen DeLeonne. Performing with orchestras is a relatively new venture for me though I performed with the Memphis Symphony four years ago. I have three other orchestra concerts this season and eagerly anticipate them as it is an opportunity to bring real Jazz to a genre which utilizes the "Pops" series mostly to bring in performers in the "pop/rock" or "entertainment" fields. Getting orchestras to do a sincere Jazz program is difficult because they depend so much on the "pops" series to support their subscription series, and they fear that jazz may not be "accessible" to their audiences. This is an entirely mistaken notion as this concert, played to an audience not known to be a Jazz audience, so soundly  proved. From the inception, this audience loved the program which included a composition by Bill Cunliffe that was beautiful, exciting and enthusiastically applauded. I entered onto the stage next performing an arrangement of the standard, Lover Man, followed by the twenty minute Ellington Fantasy both of which were arranged by producer/ arranger Jack Cortner. Again the audience was extremely enthusiastic responding with a standing ovation for this music. The stage set, Clark Terry entered making his way slowly to his seat next to the podium. As most of us know, Clark has had problems with his back in recent years and moves a bit slower than in earlier years. As he got seated, he leaned to the microphone and quipped, "Don't believe what they tell you about the Golden Years!" This had everyone laughing, and, from that point on, Clark had everyone in the palm of his hand! Clark performed music written and arranged by John Dankworth, Peter Herbolzhiemer, Ernie Wilkins and others, all beautifully tailored to his gorgeous style. Clark's sound, so warm and vibrant on the ballads, reaches out and touches you to the heart; on the medium and up-tempo pieces, his ideas and creativity so solidly swing that you can't help but feel it all through your body. And when he performs his great scat vehicle, Mumbles or any of its derivations, you feel the magic of his power to reach everyone. This is the Master at work, the legend showing you why he is designated as such. Many times, when one is called a "legend", it seems to connotate that the artist is no longer able to perform as he or she used to. But this is not at all true as evidenced by the abilities of  Clark, Benny Carter, Marian McPartland, James Moody, Billy Taylor, Dick Hyman, J. J. Johnson, Doc Cheatham before his passing, and many others. It is so important that we avail ourselves of their talents and music now because this era will never pass this way again, and these people, among others, are the foundation of all the eras that will come afterwards. Not only do they need us as their audience, but we need them in order to put our own efforts in perspective in relation to all the great ones who have come before. We can define our future only if we know our past.  Being on that stage with this man who I have known and listened to for many years was a thrill, an experience that again left my soul touched for now and all time. Clark can do that to you! I wish everyone this experience; I urge you to go see what he can do to you!

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