http://www.counterpunch.org/

By Gilad Atzmon

The other day I learned that Gerald Clark, pretty much an unfamiliar name to me, was about to launch a Jazz suite dedicated to the Nakba and the Palestinian people. I was intrigued, I contacted Gerald and offered my help. A day later, the album found its way to my letterbox. 

I am usually bored by ‘political music.’  Occasionally it lacks the necessary wit let alone a musical edge. But Clark’s Nakba is a masterpiece - music in its purest and most genuine form. It’s probably best described as a ‘Blue Note for Palestine’.  This new album is a treat, and you should seriously consider adding it to your Jazz collection.

A sampler medley of the album can be heard here: https://soundcloud.com/geraldcmin6/nakba-album-sampler-medley

You can buy the album here.

I asked Clark about his musical background? Are you a professional musician? What instrument do you compose on?

Gerald Clark: I am not a full-time professional musician at this stage.  I write all kinds of music: film scores, pop songs, etc.  I've recorded an album as a singer-songwriter (The Great Divide), and six short film scores, but I have a feature film to score in the new year, which I'm already doing quite a lot of work for.  I've written a symphonic suite and a string quartet, mostly to see if I could do it, and several jazz works.  I'm a piano player predominately, and virtually all my composition starts sitting at the piano.

Gilad Atzmon: What made you compose a suite for Palestine?

Gerald Clark: It was 2002, the second 'Intifada' had started and Jenin was being attacked.  I've always been involved with political campaigns and I'd been on a couple of ‘Freedom for Palestine’ marches.  I'd been playing around with a rhythmical figure on the piano (which is now the riff at the start of Jenin), when I developed another one (now the riff at the start of Intifada).  Then I saw Jocelyn Hurndall give a very moving talk about the death of her son Tom.  It all fell into place around those ideas.  Ultimately I wanted to do something to help.  It took a while to finish it and put it together, but now I have a finished product and I know that every time someone buys the album I'll be personally donating money to a Palestinian charity, so it feels worthwhile. 

Gilad Atzmon: This is beautiful. I was very surprised to find out that you didn’t play on the album. I then realised that you were the composer. An unusual role in jazz. How would you describe the process of making an album with a jazz team?