Veteran pianist and composer Zack Clarke is no stranger to the avant jazz world, with three critically successful releases on Clean Feed Records and his newest record, Plunge, is a culmination of many styles, a braiding of various threads that run through his previous work.
All About Jazz says that Clarke “possesses an arsenal of ultra-modern concepts” but Plunge takes that ultra-modernity even further, dropping heavy hints of early Warp Records artists like Squarepusher and Aphex Twin as well as the futuristic funk and fusion of Herbie Hancock and Craig Taborn. “Jazz started as a type of dance music. It drew in large groups of the population," Clarke says. "My aim with this record is to use key elements of various genres that resonate with a diverse group of people to create a new type of music, something that can act as a bridge between people.”
Multikultiproject says that Clarke’s music is “able to dress the most unexpected sonic coincidences into an artistic unity.” This process of combining jazz and electronic music started with his very first record Music for Headphones, an expansive IDM record that cleared the path forward for experimentation. And electroacoustic tapestries were referenced on his first Clean Feed release, Random Acts of Order which was featured on numerous best-of and top 10 lists in international jazz publications. His followup, Mesophase was acclaimed for its union of chamber music and noise: Clarke created the noise first and then transcribed and arranged it for a chamber ensemble. “I am not only interested in building my own harmonic and rhythmic language, but I take great fascination in the limitless potential of sound possible in electronic music” Clarke said.
Clarke began gigging early in life, playing everything from jazz to rock to hip hop. After studying with Danilo Perez, Jason Moran and Fred Hersch in Boston, he moved to New York and immediately joined a thriving improvised music community. He has been featured on numerous recordings and performed in festivals in the United States, Europe and South America. The idea for Plunge was to take his experience as a pianist and a member of the New York jazz scene and find a way to package it with his uncommon approach to production. “I have always believed that there is a lot of potential in the marriage of avant jazz and modern production technology that has not been tapped” Clarke says.
Plunge's harmonic palette is wide open –– often without a tonal center. Yet the record overflows with infectious melodies. Bewilderingly complex rhythms are galvanized by funky and relatable beat patterns. Plunge references EDM, rock, jazz, and hip hop and the result is an endlessly engaging work of futuristic dance music and modern composition that rewards repeated listening and will appeal to fans of everything from Pat Metheny to Frank Zappa to Flying Lotus and Amon Tobin.
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