by Derek Ansell (Author)
Sonny Clark was a unique jazz pianist. Totally original, he never sounded like any other jazz pianist and no other piano player ever sounded like him.
This is his story; the musicians he worked and recorded with included Rollins, Coltrane, Gordon and many others. His closeness to Nica, the jazz baroness, and her tireless efforts to help him and get him off the debilitating drugs that were destroying him. The crazy New York loft jazz scene and his friends there. His unique gift as a jazz pianist and everything that went with it including his ending and the ultimate tragedy. His life was like many other jazz musicians who lived hard and died young.
The difference lies in the precise way he lived, his success as an improvising musician, and the obstacles that played a huge part in his life - and the final twist of fate at the end of his life.