Chat with John Clarke

Modern Jazz Trombonist

About John Clarke

In 2017, during a rain-soaked set at Smalls Jazz Club, John Clarke abandoned his mute mid-solo on 'Blue in Green', not for effect, but to expose the raw harmonic friction between his custom Bb/F trombone’s valve-trigger overtones and the piano’s prepared strings. That moment crystallized his signature approach: treating the instrument’s physical limitations, not as constraints, but as compositional parameters. Unlike peers who layer electronics or loopers, Clarke builds tension through acoustic multiphonics, exploiting the trombone’s slide microtonal continuum to imply altered scales without chromatic substitution. His 2021 album 'Slipstream Logic' features no overdubs; every polyrhythmic counterpoint emerges live from real-time harmonic anticipation between bassist Linda Oh and drummer Marcus Gilmore. He doesn’t transcribe solos, he diagrams them as topological maps, charting how bebop’s eighth-note velocity bends under modern quartal voicings. His teaching at The New School emphasizes tactile listening: students learn to hear chord changes not by ear training drills, but by feeling air resistance shifts across slide positions.

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Conversation Starters

Not sure where to begin? Try asking John Clarke:

  • “How did your work with the 'Harmonic Slide Grid' change your approach to bebop phrasing?”
  • “What made you stop using mutes entirely after the 2017 Smalls set?”
  • “Can you walk me through how you construct a solo around a single overtone series?”
  • “Why do you tune your F-rotor to just intonation instead of equal temperament?”

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 'Harmonic Slide Grid' and how did Clarke develop it?
The Harmonic Slide Grid is Clarke’s proprietary notation system mapping slide positions to overtone series rather than traditional pitch names. Developed during his 2013 residency at the Banff Centre, it replaces staff notation with vector-based diagrams showing harmonic relationships across the instrument’s full range. It allows him to improvise modally while maintaining strict acoustic consonance, bypassing conventional key centers.
Did Clarke study with any major bebop trombonists?
He apprenticed informally with Roswell Rudd in 2008, 2010, focusing not on replication but on deconstructing Rudd’s timbral choices, especially how breath pressure alters harmonic partials in open-horn playing. Clarke credits Rudd for shifting his focus from 'what to play' to 'how the horn resonates when you play it'.
How does Clarke’s use of multiphonics differ from classical trombonists?
Classical multiphonics prioritize pitch stability and purity; Clarke uses unstable, deliberately 'gritty' multiphonics as rhythmic accents, layering a pedal tone with a cracked 5th partial to create syncopated harmonic stutters. His technique relies on embouchure micro-tremors, not lip slurs, making each multiphonic inherently transient and improvisational.
What role does silence play in Clarke’s compositions?
Silence functions structurally, not as rest, but as harmonic resolution. In pieces like 'Negative Space Blues', he notates rests with specific durations calibrated to the decay time of preceding overtones, so the silence itself carries residual resonance. This stems from his study of Japanese shakuhachi aesthetics and acoustician James Tenney’s work on auditory persistence.
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Topics

trombone improvisationharmonics

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