Tenor saxophonist Lawrence Clark has entrenched himself within New York’s restive jazz scene for over two decades. Driven by steadfast persistence and passion, he embarks on a journey into the spiritual realm of music. Inspired by the John Coltrane Quartet, the Miles Davis quintet, and a 10-year apprenticeship in the Rashied Ali Quintet, Clark strives to reach new artistic horizons.

BIOGRAPHY

LAWRENCE CLARK grew up in Camden, NJ, a neighboring city to Philadelphia, PA - the city of brotherly love. As a child and prior to picking up the saxophone, Clark could hear the music his father and uncle would play on the record player often. The range would be anything from top popular artist like EWF all the way to jazz greats like Donald Byrd. This music was inspiring and at an early age Clark began playing the alto and baritone saxophones. In middle school and high school, Clark worked his way into the jazz ensembles, and during his senior year in high school he won a scholarship for private lessons at the Settlement School of Music in Philadelphia.

Upon graduating from high school, Clark received a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music where he changed his focus to the tenor saxophone. While there, he studied with Fred Lipsius, Andy McGee, and Bill Pierce who pointed him in the right direction and gave him a solid jazz foundation. In Boston there were many opportunities for Clark and his fellow students to network and perform at local jazz clubs, and after spending several years there, he decided to move to New York City to develop a higher level of musicianship. The Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Smalls, Smoke Jazz and Supper Club, and The Apollo Theater are just a few New York establishments that Clark has performed at many times. Clark is also a grantee of the Chamber Music America “New Jazz Works Grant” in 2020.

Clark has played alongside and recorded with many world-renowned musicians including Ralph Peterson, Winard Harper, David Bryant, Jeremy Pelt, Theo Hill, Azar Lawrence, Bruce Williams, Eric McPherson, David Weiss, Billy Hart, Kush Abadey, Darrell Green, Reggie Workman, Juni Booth, Josh Evans, Dezron Douglas, and Rashied Ali, to name a few. He has traveled throughout the US, Europe, Asia and Africa performing at myriad performance venues, clubs, and jazz festivals.

Currently living in New York, Clark leads his own quintet which consists of bass, drums, piano, trumpet, and saxophone. He continuously works on shaping the group’s sound and developing their harmonic and rhythmic concepts, and strives to be sincere and expressive through his music, employing creativity to its fullest and creating an emotional attachment. He strongly believes that this is necessary to effectively convey his music’s true purpose and intent.