Jazz / Hard bop & Blue Note · 1958
Cool Struttin'
Sonny Clark
Why listen
Four extended performances make blues and a Latin-inflected theme distinct starting points for the same five musicians.
Listen and read
Tracks · previews
English editorial edition
Album story
Looking only for Sonny Clark’s piano can obscure the design of Cool Struttin’. Trumpet and alto saxophone stand at the front, with bass and drums maintaining the group’s motion. The title may suggest an unhurried walk, but the four performances do not share a single pace or character. Begin with their different starting points rather than allowing the mood of the opening track to describe the whole album.
Recorded in January 1958, the quintet joins Clark with trumpeter Art Farmer, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones. The selected original programme contains Cool Struttin’, Blue Minor, Sippin’ at Bells and Deep Night. It excludes the additions found on a six-track edition. The remaster and later distribution information are distinct from the original recording year. With every performance exceeding eight minutes, a small number of tracks provides considerable room for development.
A different second beginning
After the title track’s blues, Blue Minor offers another rhythmic proposition. Blue Note describes its Latin inflection. Rather than memorising that label, compare the movement suggested when each theme arrives. The second piece does not merely prolong the first. Familiar instruments return under different conditions, making the contrast easier to identify because the personnel remain unchanged.
The pianist as a connection
Two horns in the foreground do not diminish the significance of a pianist’s leadership. Consider the piano as a connection between those front-line instruments and the rhythm section. Its role need not begin only when a solo starts. Farmer and McLean also play different instruments, so their partnership can be approached through the shape of the theme rather than as a contest over force or prominence.
Four extended performances
Continue through Sippin’ at Bells and Deep Night to hear the programme as four substantial journeys instead of a single background mood. Remembering each opening idea supplies a reference after the intervening solos. There is no requirement to memorise every player’s order. Letting each new track establish a fresh premise is enough to make duration a matter of development rather than simply a measure of difficulty or accomplishment.
The album through its tracks
Compare the opening blues with the Latin-inflected theme of Blue Minor, then follow each as a separate extended performance.
Cool Struttin'
Blue Note identifies the opening piece as blues. That gives a useful starting point without requiring the title’s relaxed manner to become a complete interpretation. A performance exceeding nine minutes need not begin by presenting an endless supply of complicated material. Remembering the opening idea gives the subsequent instrumental contributions a common reference. The pianist’s name on the album also makes the two horns’ prominence worth considering: leadership need not mean occupying every moment of the foreground. After this track, move directly into Blue Minor. The unchanged personnel make the new rhythmic premise easier to recognise, helping prevent the first piece from being remembered only as an agreeable general atmosphere.
Reference · Blue Note: January 1958 session and contrasting rhythmic characterBlue Minor
The label’s description draws attention to the Latin inflection of this second track. Placing it immediately after the opening blues turns the unchanged quintet into a useful comparison. Naming a precise dance is less important than noticing the motion proposed by the theme. Keep that first impression in mind as the extended performance develops. At roughly ten minutes and seventeen seconds, this is the longest track in the selected edition, but duration alone is not the point. Reconsider the roles of trumpet, alto, piano, bass and drums under its different premise. Distinguishing the two opening pieces makes the album more specific than a single description of relaxed hard bop can allow.
Reference · Blue Note: January 1958 session and contrasting rhythmic character
Listen next
Compare Somethin’ Else, another trumpet-and-alto quintet recording, to hear how repertoire and rhythmic choices distinguish an identical instrumental layout.
Somethin' Else ↗References & editorial note
Written for English readers. Album facts are referenced below; listening suggestions are editorial interpretations. AI-assisted editorial review; not independently human-reviewed.