The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band

Legendary bop drummer Kenny Clarke joined forces with Belgian-born pianist and composer Francy Boland to co-lead the Clarke-Boland Big Band, which earned recognition as one of the leading European orchestras throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. The ensemble originated in 1960 after Clarke relocated to Paris. Clarke and Boland, recently arrived from an arranging role with Kurt Edelhagen’s German orchestra, began by working together in a sextet that soon grew into an octet. Continued expansion brought in further American expatriates and elite European musicians, ultimately establishing the full big band. Following strong success on the concert stage, the Clarke-Boland Big Band issued its first recording, the 1962 LP Jazz Is Universal, and produced more than a dozen additional albums before dissolving in 1973.