Origin Artist

Clarence Penn



...gesture and space surging from a place of heart-felt and fluid integrity...Penn exudes such enthusiasm and love for the music--it is simply impossible not to feel uplifted.
- Jazz Times

Clarence Penn is one of the busiest jazz drummers in the world, a leader of multiple bands, a composer, a prolific producer, and an educator.

Since 1991, when he arrived in New York City, Penn has placed his unique blend of mega-chops, keen intellect, and heady musicianship at the service of a staggering array of A-list artists--a chronological short-list includes Ellis and Wynton Marsalis, Betty Carter, Stanley Clarke, Steps Ahead, Makoto Ozone, Michael Brecker, Dave Douglas, Maria Schneider, Luciana Souza, Richard Galliano, and Fourplay. Penn's impressive discography includes several hundred studio albums (including the Grammy-winning recordings 34th and Lex by Randy Brecker and Concert in the Garden and Sky Blue by Maria Schneider) representing a 360-spectrum of jazz expression, and he's toured extensively throughout the United States, the Americas, Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia. He's composed music for films and commercials, and produced tracks for numerous singers in the pop and alternative arenas. He earned a "Ten Best of 1997" accolade from the New York Times for his first leader recording, Penn's Landing.

A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, where he was a protege of Ellis Marsalis, Penn is active as an educator and drum clinician. From 2004 to 2012, he taught on the faculty of the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music. He's also served on faculty at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, the Saint Louis College of Music in Rome, Italy, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Intensive Jazz Institute.

Penn currently leads several ensembles. His most recent recording is 2012's Dali In Cobble Hill, on which a quartet comprising saxophonist Chris Potter, guitarist Adam Rogers, and bassist Ben Street performed Penn's original music. In 2013, he will release his rhythmically intoxicating quartet arrangements of the music of Thelonious Monk. Near completion is a "world music" studio project of songs and instrumentals that melds background voices--including his own--with a world class band.

Whether Penn is leading his own band or performing as a sideman, he brings to the table unfailing versatility and professionalism, an ability to find creative ways to interpret a global array of styles and idioms, and a stated intention "to play music that's warm and organic for the people and for myself."

His motto: "When people hear my name, I want them to think, 'I don't know what band he's playing with tonight or what he'll be doing, but it's going to be good, it's going to be musical.'"


RECORDINGS FEATURING Clarence Penn


Michael Zilber
Origin 82729

Clarence Penn
Origin 82674

ARTIST WEBSITE:

For more information about Clarence Penn, please visit: http://clarencepenn.com.

ARTIST VIDEO:

Explore other Drummers:

Matt Jorgensen
John Bishop
Steve Korn
Les DeMerle
Kobie Watkins
Gregg Keplinger
William Thomas
Billy Mintz
Gary Hobbs
Todd Bishop
Terreon Gully
Mark Ivester
Charlie Doggett
Joel Spencer
Brian Blade
Rich Thompson
Tad Britton
Ray LeVier
Alan Jones
Clarence Acox
Dana Hall
Rashied Ali
Christopher Icasiano
Byron Vannoy
Greg Rockingham
Adam Cruz
Jack Mouse
George Colligan
Scott Neumann
Tim Horner
Jason Lewis
Makaya McCraven
Ted Poor
Donald Edwards
Michael Waldrop
Xavier Lecouturier
Mark Ferber
Robby Ameen
Ted Moore
Evan Woodle
Greg Germann
George Fludas
Andrew Heglund
Roy McCurdy
Peter Erskine



ORIGIN RECORDS

OA2 RECORDS

ORIGIN CLASSICAL

CONTACT US

  • Origin Records
    8649 Island Drive South
    Seattle, WA 98118
    ph: (206) 781-2589
    fx: (206) 374-2618
  • Email / Order Info / Etc
THE ORIGIN MUSIC GROUP • FOUNDED 1997 / SEATTLE, WA • THE MUSIC YOU NEED