Released in 2007, Proper Box 120 is a four-CD salute to drummer and bop icon
Kenny "Klook" Clarke (1914-1985), whose Muslim name was
Liaqat Ali Salaam. "Klook" was short for "Klook Mop," a slightly disparaging bit of onomatopoeia used by bandleader
Teddy Hill in the late ‘30s to describe
Clarke's unconventional technique at a time when most of the American public considered
Gene Krupa to be the model jazz percussionist. According to
Dizzy Gillespie,
Klook "initiated a new language into the mainstream of jazz drumming ...modifying the concept of rhythm in jazz, making it a much more fluid thing, and changing the entire role of the drummer, from just a man who kept time for dancers to a true accompanist who provided accents for soloists and constant inspiration to the jazz band as a whole." This superbly selected and annotated anthology represents the most substantial single-package
Kenny Clarke edition in existence. 38 of its 72 tracks were recorded in the U.S., and 30 in Paris. the first four titles were cut in Stockholm, Sweden in March, 1938 when
Clarke was still an active member of the
Edgar Hayes Orchestra. Credited to
Kenny Clarke's Kvintett, these swing-based sides are different as can be from the rest of the material on this set, as
Clarke plays xylophone and three of the four sides are buttered with naive pop vocals by one James Anderson. "Sweet Sue" is valued as the earliest
Clarke-led instrumental on record.
Hayes' creative piano solo on this track is a high point, and the overall impression is that of an early
Red Norvo unit.