In the 15 years since signing on to Kurt Elling’s working band, Grammy-Award Winning bassist Clark Sommers has emerged among Chicago’s indispensable bassists. He has filled his resume, on stage and on disc, in bands that range from the rambunctious 13-piece Chicago Yestet to the intimate settings of piano trios and vocalist-led quartets. His own projects include his open-sky trio Ba(SH) and the quintet Clark Sommers Lens. He’s collaborated with guitarists Jeff Parker and Matt Gold, pianist Darrell Grant, keyboard whiz Gary Versace, and vibraphonist Joe Locke. His albums brim with his smart and tuneful compositions.
But by 2019, he felt restricted in his musical development. “I wanted to get deeper into writing,” he says now. ‘I wanted to see what I could do if I had the capacity to add more texture to a group – to go further into the exploration of harmonic possibilities, and to try spreading out the sounds using different instruments.”
It is a *rare* opportunity to take in the beauty that is Clark Sommers’ large ensemble music and even rarer yet to feature a who’s-who of Memphis musicians in collaboration with some of Chicago’s most prolific talent.
Join Clark and his ensemble for ONE-night only in the Green Room at Crosstown Arts on Saturday, April 19th at 7:30pm.
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