Michael Charles Clark

A fine bassist whose budding career was cut short by his premature death at 24, Curtis Clark studied bass with Wilbur Ware and turned professional in 1963. He joined Muhal Richard Abrams' Experimental Band and was a founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Clark worked with Abrams from 1966 to 1968, and played cello, koto, and percussion in addition to bass on recordings and in concert with Joseph Jarman. His influence led Jarman to join the AACM. Clark’s death greatly affected many AACM members, and both Jarman and the Art Ensemble of Chicago have recorded compositions in his memory. Clark can be heard on Jarman’s 1968 recording As If It Were the Seasons, reissued on CD by Delmark in 1996. ~ Ron Wynn