Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was a pianist who was a wonderful accompanist and gifted writer, admired especially for his amazing right-hand lines and incredible rhythmic drive.
Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town east of Pittsburgh. His parents were originally from Stone Mountain, Georgia. His miner father, Emery Clark, died of a lung disease two weeks after Sonny was born. Sonny was the youngest of eight children. At age 12, he moved to Pittsburgh.
In 1951, when Sonny was 19, his older brother, also a pianist, took him on a trip to visit their aunt in Los Angeles. Sonny decided to stay in California and found work performing with Wardell Grey and Vido Musso. Working in California Sonny played with the key figures in the West Coast jazz movement including Stan Getz, Art Farmer. Wardell Grey, Anita O’Day, and Shelly Manne. His was one of the few African Americans performing West Coast jazz. Sonny made with recording debut in 1953 with saxophonist Wardell Grey on the Verve label. 
He joined Oscar Pettiford’s band and moved to San Francisco. In San Fransisco he joined Buddy DeFranco’s band. Sonny performed with Buddy DeFranco for two and a half years beginning with a tour of Europe and the U.S in 1954. Sonny recorded his first album as a trio leader in 1955. Titled “Oakland” it featured bassist Jerry Good and drummer Al Randall and was recorded at the Mocambo Club in Oakland in January of 1955, Sonny joined the Lighthouse All Stars in Hermosa Beach playing with them throughout 1956. Wanting to travel back East and to visit his family in Pittsburgh on the way, Sonny took a job touring with Dinah Washington in February of 1957. 
The classic “Cool Struttin’ album and the “Standards” albums were released in 1958. Critic Thom Jurek of Allmusic.com calls the title tract “Cool Struttin: “one of the preeminent swinging medium blues pieces in jazz history.” The album “My Conception” featuring
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tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was released in 1959. The “Sonny Clark Trio” album with George Duvivier and Max Roach was released in 1960. His last album “Leapin' and Lopin” released in 1961 featuring four song composed by Clark includes the classics tracts “Vodoo” and “Something Special”. Writer Michael G. Nastos of Allmusic.com calls “Leapin and Lopin” one of the definitive recording for all time in the mainstream jazz idiom.
tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was released in 1959. The “Sonny Clark Trio” album with George Duvivier and Max Roach was released in 1960. His last album “Leapin' and Lopin” released in 1961 featuring four song composed by Clark includes the classics tracts “Vodoo” and “Something Special”. Writer Michael G. Nastos of Allmusic.com calls “Leapin and Lopin” one of the definitive recording for all time in the mainstream jazz idiom.In 1962 Sonny performed with Dexter Gordon on two of his classic Blue Note albums “Go” and “A Swinging Affair”. He was Gorden’s favourite piano accompanist. Sonny also recorded in
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1962 the albums Blue and Sentimental and Easy Living with Ike Quebec, Born to be Blue and Nigeria with Grant Green, the Jackie McLean Quintet and Tipping' the Scales with Jackie McLean, and Jubliee Shout with Stanley Turrentine.
Sonny died of a heart attack on Sunday, January 13, 1963 at the age of 31. He had been in poor health due to his heroin and alcohol addictions. Sonny played his last gigs two nights before his death on January 11 and 12 at Junior’s Bar on at the Alvin Hotel on Fifty-second and Broadway. Jazz patron, Baroness Pannonica de
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Koenigswarter who was also Sonnys friend, phoned Clark’s older sister in Pittsburgh to tell her of her brother’ passing. The baroness paid to transport Sonny’s body back to Pittsburgh and paid for his funeral. Sonny’s grave lies in the Greenwood Cemetery in Sharpsburg, PA. Regarded as the quintessential hard bop pianist, Clark never got his due before he passed away, despite the fact that it can be argued that he never played a bad recording date either as a sideman or as a leader. (Edited from Sound Projections)
Koenigswarter who was also Sonnys friend, phoned Clark’s older sister in Pittsburgh to tell her of her brother’ passing. The baroness paid to transport Sonny’s body back to Pittsburgh and paid for his funeral. Sonny’s grave lies in the Greenwood Cemetery in Sharpsburg, PA. Regarded as the quintessential hard bop pianist, Clark never got his due before he passed away, despite the fact that it can be argued that he never played a bad recording date either as a sideman or as a leader. (Edited from Sound Projections)