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Image: Clark Terry. Credit: Courtesy of the artist.
Legendary jazz trumpeter Clark Terry, described by Duke Ellington as a “musician beyond category” was chosen as the first Mid Atlantic Living Legacy Jazz Award honoree in 1994.
Terry is internationally recognized as a leader, master musician, and one of jazz music’s greatest educators. His performances demonstrate technical virtuosity, extraordinary musicality, humor, and the highest levels of showmanship. A passionate supporter of young musicians, he conducts dozens of clinics and master classes in schools throughout the United States.
During his long and distinguished career, Terry has performed with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and, when he joined the television show band for the “Tonight” show, he became the first black musician on the NBC payroll.
Terry has also been honored by the University of New Hampshire, Berklee College of Music, and Teikyo Westmar University with honorary doctorate degrees, and by the National Endowment for the Arts, who bestowed on him the prestigious American Jazz Masters Fellowship Award in 1991.
Clark Terry (1920-2015)
*Bio from Award presentation.