Clark Sommers Feast Ephemera

Celebrating the1 Year Anniversary Release: September 15th!

Clark Sommers didn’t set out to write a big-band album; ironically, he’s made a grand one. So how did we get here?

In the 15 years since signing on to Kurt Elling’s working band, 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.” With that in mind, he took himself back to school, enrolling as a masters student in composition at DePaul University, with the aim of enlarging his tonal palette while expanding the scope of his work. (Full Notes in Projects)