John Clark
John Clark is an American jazz horn player and composer. In Allmusic, Clark is described as "possibly the most fluent jazz French horn soloist since the great Julius Watkins in the 1950s."
Also recorded as John Trevor Clark · John Trevor Clark Sr.
John Clark

Schorle · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- John Clark
- Birth Name
- John Trevor Clark
- Born
- 21 September 1944
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
- Occupation
- Musician, composer
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- jazz · big band music
- Education
- University of Rochester · New England Conservatory
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
John Clark is an American jazz horn player and composer. In Allmusic, Clark is described as "possibly the most fluent jazz French horn soloist since the great Julius Watkins in the 1950s."
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for John Clark. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
identity unresolved · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- unresolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q1624695
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — John Clark • Background — non_vocal_instrumentalist • Birth Name — John Trevor Clark • Born — 21 September 1944 • Birthplace — Brooklyn, New York, U.S. • Genre — Jazz • Occupation — Musician, composer • Instrument — French horn • Label — Hidden Meaning • Website — www.hmmusic.com John Clark is an American jazz horn player and composer. In Allmusic, Clark is described as "possibly the most fluent jazz French horn soloist since the great Julius Watkins in the 1950s."
Biography
Biography
John Clark was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Rochester, New York. In 1966 he received a B.A.from the University of Rochester, where he also studied horn with Verne Reynolds at the Eastman School of Music. From 1967 until 1971 he played in the United States Coast Guard Band. Clark received a M.M. degree (with honors) from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1973. He studied composition and improvisation with Jaki Byard, Ran Blake, and George Russell; and horn with James Stagliano, Thomas Newell, and Paul Ingraham. In 1991 he received a patent for the "hornette," an instrument with the same range as a French Horn but with a forward-facing bell for greater projection. He taught at the State University of New York at Purchase from 2001 until 2008, subsequently moving to faculty at Manhattan School of Music.
Performance work
Performance work
Clark has performed or recorded with a wide variety of musicians, including in jazz: Gary Bartz, Carla Bley, Ornette Coleman, Gil Evans, John Faddis, Johnny Griffin, Dave Grusin, Jerome Harris, Jim Hall, Jimmy Heath, Anthony Jackson, Leroy Jenkins, Howard Johnson, Oliver Lake, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, Grachan Moncur, Gerry Mulligan, Jaco Pastorius, Rachel Z, Paquito D'Rivera, Mike Richmond, John Scofield, Frank Sinatra, Lew Soloff, Spyro Gyra, David Taylor, Toots Thielemans, the Turtle Island String Quartet, McCoy Tyner, Glen Velez, Paul Winter Consort, Akiko Yano, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Outside of jazz, he has worked with the Aspen Wind Quintet, Ashford and Simpson, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Fugees, Isaac Hayes, Billy Joel, B. B. King, LL Cool J, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Sting, Speculum Musicae, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He has performed as a studio musician for many films, including Mission to Mars, Fargo, and Pocahontas.
As leader
As leader
• 1980 Song of Light (Hidden Meaning) • 1981 Faces (ECM) • 1992 Il Suono (CMP) • 1997 I Will (Postcards) • 2003 Confluence (Hidden Meaning) • 2015 The Odd Couple Quintet +1 • 2016 Sonus Inenarrabilis (Mulatta)
As sideman
As sideman
With Franco Ambrosetti • Wings (Enja, 1984) With Gil Evans • There Comes a Time (RCA, 1976) • Gil Evans Live at the Royal Festival Hall London 1978 (RCA, 1979) • Live at the Public Theater (New York 1980) Vol.1 (Trio, 1980) • Live at the Public Theater (New York 1980) Vol.2 (Trio, 1981) • Bud and Bird (King/Electric Bird, 1987) • Farewell (King/Electric Bird, 1992) With Benny Green • The Place To Be (Blue Note, 1994) With Dave Grusin • Homage to Duke (GRP, 1993) With Billy Harper • Soul of an Angel (Metropolitan, 2000) With Jimmy Heath • New Picture (Landmark, 1985) With Leroy Jenkins • Mixed Quintet (Black Saint, 1979) With Jimmy Knepper • I Dream Too Much (Soul Note, 1984) With Joe Lovano • Rush Hour (Blue Note, 1994) With Grachan Moncur III • Exploration (Capri, 2004) With Bob Stewart • Goin' Home (JMT, 1989) With Sting • If on a Winter's Night... (Deutsche Grammophon, 2009) With Stanley Turrentine • Nightwings (Fantasy, 1977)

B3+ at the INNtöne Jazzfestival 2025.
Schorle

B3+ at the INNtöne Jazzfestival 2025.
Schorle
Awards
• Down Beat Critics' Poll winner, 1979–1982 • National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Award for Most Valuable Player in Recording Field, 1986
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- 1993 – Exercises for Jazz French Horn (Hidden Meaning Music)
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 24 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,307 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- John Christopher MollerPerson
- John Christopher SmithPerson
- John CipollinaPerson
- John Clare BillingPerson
- John Clarke-WhitfeldPerson
- John Coates Jr.Person
- John CodaPerson
- John ColettaPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by John Clark?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.