Able to hear around corners
— Clifford Allen, cliffordallen.blogspot.com
 
 

While I love being a jazz bassist, I came to it through a rather meandering route. Growing up, I had never seen an upright bass, other than the occasional Donald Duck or Tom & Jerry cartoon. After high school, while existing rather aimlessly in Oklahoma, I heard The Heath Brothers playing Confirmation on the local college radio station. I loved the sound of Percy’s bass. The solid sponginess of his tone, the groove… all of it. I decided then and there to enroll as a music major in the local college, which had no idea how to handle a guy that didn’t know a thing about music; a jazzer who’d never heard of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, or John Coltrane. I learned what I could, and spent a couple more years casting about until I happened upon a chance to attend the brand-new program at The New School, and came under the profound influence of Reggie Workman. After that, while my path was still pretty odd- some illness, depression, odd professions, lots of self-doubt- I feel it has made me who I am, and my work what it is.

 

From Reggie Workman, I learned what it is to be an artist. I learned that while you should never stop mastering the theory and technique of being a musician, what ultimately matters in the moment of creation is where you’ve been, and where you’re going. I strongly believe that no matter how abstract the work is, it should tell a story. What that story is can be completely in the ear of the beholder, but it should be there. A piece should never be more enjoyable to play than it is to hear. Other than that, I love the democracy of jazz and improvised music. I love the challenge of trying to make as full a picture as possible with as few components as possible. I’m a founding member of the band East Axis, which has been called a “free improvisation dream team,” and a “formidable jazz quartet.” Another of my cooperative projects, 10³²K, is a trio of trombone, bass, and drums. Together we have recorded or performed our interpretation of works by John Coltrane, Skip James, and Jim Hendrix, among many others.

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