Alex Clarke Quartet

“Out of the Woods”

(ABC Records)

Alex Clarke – alto sax, clarinet, David Newton – piano, Dave Green – double bass, Steve Brown – drums

“Out of the Woods” is the third album from saxophonist, clarinettist and composer Alex Clarke.

Clarke first came to my attention in 2022 when she appeared at that year’s Brecon Jazz Festival as a guest soloist with two different acts, the Jane Williams Band and The Numbers Racket. She is also an acclaimed educator and prior to these two live performances had presented a workshop for young jazz musicians elsewhere in the town.  My account of Clarke’s two Brecon appearances can be found as part of my Festival coverage here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/brecon-jazz-festival-family-jazz-dance-day-brecon-county-showground-brecon-07-08-2022

Clarke’s debut album “Mirage” was released in 2018 and featured pianist Tom Kincaid, bassist Ed Harrison and drummer Eryl Roberts.  The recording featured  Clarke’s arrangements of jazz standards plus lesser known tunes by Tubby Hayes, Harold Arlen and others.  In 2019 she also appeared on the album “Songs from the Jazz Country” by the TJ Johnson Band.

But it was with her second album “Only A Year” that Clarke’s solo career really took off, the presence of big names like drummer Clark Tracey, pianist Dave Newton and bassist Dave Green causing both the critics and the jazz public to sit up and pay attention. As a result Clarke’s quartet has become an increasingly popular attraction on the UK live jazz circuit.
Album review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/alex-clarke-quartet-only-a-year

Clarke has also established a fertile musical relationship with the young Cardiff based pianist and composer Eddie Gripper, beginning in 2023 with a performance at Black Mountain Jazz in Abergavenny that also featured fellow saxophonist Dan Newberry.  The two saxophonists were accompanied by the members of the Club’s house trio, the BMJ Collective, featuring Gripper, bassist Clem Saynor and drummer Alex Goodyear. Review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/the-bmj-collective-with-alex-clarke-and-dan-newberry-black-mountain-jazz-melville-centre-abergavenny-25-01-2023

In 2025 Clarke and Gripper made a triumphant return to Abergavenny co-leading a quartet featuring bassist Nick Kacal and drummer Patrick Barrett-Donlon. Review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/eddie-gripper-alex-clarke-quartet-black-mountain-jazz-melville-centre-abergavenny-16-02-2025

Clarke is also an important member of the band led by trumpeter Chris Hodgkins that released the album “A Salute To Humphrey Lyttelton”.in 2022 She appears on tenor sax and clarinet and is also featured as an arranger. A review of this recording can be found as part of a Jazzmann feature about Hodgkins here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/chris-hodgkins-festooned-with-trumpets-a-salute-to-humphrey-lyttelton-vic-parker-at-the-quebec-hotel

Clarke is a hard working musician who gigs on a regular basis with a wide variety of different line-ups and I have been fortunate enough to witness a number of other live performances from her in recent years.

I saw a version of the Clarke quartet featuring drummer Clark Tracey, pianist Dave Newton and bassist James Owston at Kidderminster Jazz Club in February 2024. Review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/alex-clarke-quartet-kidderminster-jazz-club-st-ambrose-parish-centre-kidderminster-worcs-05-04-2024

Meanwhile guest contributor Trevor Bannister enjoyed a performance by a Clarke quartet featuring Tracey, Greene and pianist Rob Barron at the Progress Theatre in Reading in June 2023. His account can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/alex-clarke-quartet-jazz-at-progress-progress-theatre-

In May 2025 Clarke visited Brecon Jazz Club to perform as part of a one off trio featuring locally based musicians Aidan Thorne (double bass) and Matt Holmes (drums). This proved to be a fascinating evening with Clarke playing in the unfamiliar setting of a chordless trio. It was a situation that took her out of her comfort zone but she responded to the challenge magnificently in what turned out to be an excellent gig. My review of this event, from which much of the above biographical detail has been sourced, can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/alex-clarke-trio-brecon-jazz-club-the-muse-arts-centre-brecon-27-05-2025

Clarke is unusual in being equally proficient on both alto and tenor saxophones and she also plays clarinet and flute. As a saxophonist Clarke has named her main influences as being Scott Hamilton and Lester Young on tenor and Phil Woods, Cannonball Adderley, Vincent Herring and Kenny Garrett on alto, but there are also many more..For such a young musician her approach is uncharacteristically mainstream, but Clarke has a deep and uncompromising love for this style of jazz and has no desire to become a slave to musical fashion.

“Out of the Woods” is a case in point, an album that finds Clarke specialising on alto sax as she pays homage to her primary influence, the late, great alto saxophonist Phil Woods (1931-2015). The programme features a selection of jazz and bebop standards associated with Woods, plus two original compositions from the great man. There are also three originals from Clarke written in a broadly similar style. The album package includes insightful liner notes written by Clarke’s fellow saxophonist Alan Barnes, himself an admirer of the playing of both Woods and Clarke.

The album commences with Clarke’s arrangement of the Irving Berlin song “Change Partners”, a piece that Woods recorded on his 1978 album “Song For Sisyphus”. It introduces Clarke’s bright, fluent tone on alto as she develops the theme and shares the solos with the estimable Dave Newton, one of the UK’s most experienced and popular jazz pianists. Veteran bassist Dave Green and the indefatigable Steve Brown, who has taken over the drum chair from Clark Tracey, impart the music with an unstoppable swinging momentum. Brown also enjoys a series of lively drum breaks as he trades fours with Clarke and Newton.

The Phil Woods original composition “Brazilian Affair – Part 2 (Cancao De Amor)” appeared on his 1977 concert recording “Live From The Showboat” and is a delightful Latin inflected ballad that demonstrates a more sensitive and lyrical side of the Clarke Quartet. The leader’s yearning alto and Newton’s sumptuous piano are sympathetically supported by Green’s economical bass and Brown’s deft drum colourations, which incorporate some exquisite cymbal work.

Clarke’s first original is “I Remember Phil”, a contrafact based around the chord sequence of the jazz standard “I Remember You”.  Introduced by Brown at the drums the piece is a sturdy slice of bebop with Clarke’s darting alto complemented by Newton’s knotty pianism, a little Monk-ish at times, plus Green’s propulsive bass lines and Brown’s busy, whip smart drumming. Once again Brown enjoys a series of sparky drum breaks in a further series of exchanges with Clarke and Newton.

The Harold Arlen tune “World on a String” was performed by Woods in his “American Songbook 1” album from 2002. Clarke’s arrangement sees her overdubbing herself on clarinet, thus broadening out the sound and providing counter melodies to the alto. The piece is introduced by a lyrical passage of unaccompanied piano from Newton, who later solos in more conventional jazz fashion with the support of Green’s warm toned and deeply resonant bass and Brown’s brushed drums. Clarke solos on alto, with the clarinet providing an extra splash of colour. It’s the only track on which the clarinet is used, elsewhere Clarke continues to specialise on alto.

Title track “Out Of The Woods” is a lively, fast moving confection featuring hard bop and Latin flavourings. Clarke’s original is the vehicle for some inspired soloing from both Newton and Clarke as the busy bass and drum team of Green and Brown stoke the rhythmic fires, with Brown enjoying something of a feature of his own.

Woods was a member of the Quincy Jones Orchestra in the 1960s and the Jones composition “The Quintessence” dates from this period. The piece served as a ballad feature for Woods and Clarke pays due homage here, her emotionally charged but supremely fluent playing augmented by Newton’s piano lyricism and the sensitive support of the rhythm section. Newton is also featured as a soloist, his playing thoughtful and lyrical.

One of Woods’ best known recorded performances was his alto sax solo on the Billy Joel hit “Just The Way You Are”. Clarke’s original composition “As You Were” is based on that famous solo but places it in a more obvious jazz context, albeit with the allusions to the Joel song still readily detectable. Both Clarke and Newton stretch out effectively with expansive solos and the excellent Green is also featured as a soloist for the first time.

An aside – I first heard Woods’ playing via his incendiary alto sax solo on “Dr. Wu” from the Steely Dan album “Katy Lied”, an experience that persuaded me to investigate his jazz output, one of my formative excursions into serious jazz listenership. Just like Alex I’ve got a lot to thank Phil Woods for, and I still love that solo and still love Steely Dan.

The tune “Philly Twist” was written by the trumpeter Kenny Dorham in honour of the drummer Philly Joe Jones. It was recorded by Woods on the live album “Voyage”, which documented his performances with pianist Bill Charlap’s trio on a jazz cruise aboard the QE2 in 2000. Ushered in by Brown at the drums Clarke’s version is a high octane arrangement in the bebop style which elicits effusive solos from the leader on alto and Newton at the piano, both propelled by the relentless rhythmic drive of Green and Brown.

Woods lived in France during the late 1960s and early 1970s where he formed a quartet that he called the European Rhythm Machine featuring bassist Henri Texier, drummer Daniel Humair and either George Gruntz or the UK’s own Gordon Beck at the piano. That group’s repertoire included the Oliver Nelson tune “Stolen Moments” which Clarke and the quartet deliver in gently questing fashion, the leader’s alto subtly probing as Newton, Green and Brown provide sympathetic support. Gradually the music begins to gather momentum with Newton also emerging as a soloist and Brown also enjoying a more extended drum feature. It’s an intriguing and intelligent arrangement that brings out both the beauty and the sophistication of Nelson’s piece.

The album ends in joyous fashion with Woods’ own “How’s Your Mama”, subtitled “Phil’s Theme”, the piece that traditionally ended all Woods’ concerts. Barnes describes the piece as “Woods’ wailing and funky theme tune” and the Clarke quartet steam into it with considerable relish with Clarke’s fiery alto soloing fuelled by the propulsive rhythm section. Newton also delivers a sparkling piano solo as the band play us out in style.

I’m often wary of ‘tribute albums’ such as this but this recording is a cut above the rest thanks to the intelligent writing and arranging and the quality of the playing from all involved. The engineering team of Ronan Phelan and Alex Bonney also deserve credit as the recorded sound is excellent throughout, helping to bring the skill of the playing sharply into focus. It’s easy to see why Clarke has become such a popular figure with British jazz audiences and this album also serves Woods’ legacy well and may persuade some listeners to investigate his own voluminous back catalogue.

 

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