Kenny Clare

Kenny Clare ( born June 8, 1929 in London, † 21 December 1984) was a British jazz drummer.

Life and work

Clare joined in 1949 the radio - dance band from Oscar Rabin, changed in 1954 to Jack Parnell and finally for five years to the band by Johnny Dankworth, with which he also played at the Newport Jazz Festival. As Dankworth had to dissolve his band for a short time, he turned to studio work. In the early 1960s Clare went to Ted Heath and led a band with drummer Ronnie Stephenson colleagues, with whom he recorded also. From 1967 he was in the Kenny Clarke / Francy Boland Big Band, initially as a temp for Kenny Clarke, as the was in Spain. Then the band played with two drummers, which resulted due to their different temperament to more dynamism and drive. Furthermore, he was a member of the octet of Ronnie Scott. From the early 1970s he worked mostly as a freelancer; eg with Peter Herbolzheimer, as a studio musician to Knut Kiesewetter, Henry Mancini, Michel Legrand ) and toured with Tom Jones. Kenny Clare also took as a companion to Ella Fitzgerald ( the LP " Can not Buy Me Love" 1964), with Joe Pass and Stéphane Grappelli on and accompanied Judy Garland, Peggy Lee, Mel Torme and Cleo Laine.

Kenny Clarke said of him: "As for the two of us, I think that I just can play anything with Kenny. Because he thinks like me. He is one of the smartest drummer, I know. I think we are soul mates. "