Behind the Voice Clarence Penn

• 1Send One Your Love03:16
• 2Come Talk to Me05:36
• 3Growing Trade04:09
• 4Sometimes It Snows in April05:54
• 5Everlong03:55
• 6The Heart of the Matter04:59
• 7Why Can't It Wait Till Morning03:49
• 8Human Nature03:57
• 9You Are03:45
• Total Runtime39:20

Info for Behind the Voice

Clarence Penn has been one of the most dynamic drummers in jazz since his New York City arrival 33 years ago. His work with Wynton Marsalis, Betty Carter, Diane Reeves and Michael Brecker has been extensively documented, as have his own musical explorations, including 2014's Monk: The Lost Files. Behind the Voice goes a whole new direction as Penn unfurls inventive reimaginings of the works of influential drummers behind some of the greatest pop music created. Songs by Phil Collins, Levon Helm, Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel and Dave Grohl receive expansive modern treatments through Penn's production along with a bevy of collaborators, including vocalists Kurt Elling, Aaron Marcellus and Toku, guitarists Adam Rogers and Gilad Hekselman, and many more. "...a celebration of their artistry, their passion, and their indelible mark on the music we cherish."

"...gesture and space surging from a place of heart-felt and fluid integrity...Penn exudes such enthusiasm and love for the music—it is simply impossible not to feel uplifted." (JAZZTIMES)

Clarence Penn, drums, percussion, keyboards, vocoder
Aaron Marcellus, vocals (tracks 1, 7)
Kurt Elling, vocals (track 2)
TOKU, vocals (track 3)
Chelsea Jackson, vocals (tracks 4, 9)
Emily Braden, vocals (track 6)
Gilad Hekselman, guitar (track 2)
Tom Guarna, guitar (track 3)
Christopher Bruce, guitar (track 4)
Adam Rogers, guitar (tracks 5, 8)
James Genus, bass (tracks 2, track 3)
Darrell Freeman, bass (track 7)
Yasushi Nakamura, bass (tracks 8, 9)
Gregoire Maret, harmonica (track 3)
Shedrick Mitchell, piano, keyboards, organ (tracks 3, 4, 7)
Doug DeHays, saxophones (track 3)
Marshall Gilkes, trombone (track 3)

Recorded Sept 2021 - July 2023 by Clarence Penn at Penn Station Studio, Brooklyn, NY
Mixed by Charles Haynes
at Contrlroom Studio, Boston, MA
Mastered by Chris Longwood at Chris Longwood Mastering, Houston, TX
Produced by Clarence Penn

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 48 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Clarence Penn
is one of the busiest jazz drummers in the world, a leader of multiple bands, a composer, a prolific producer, and an educator.

Since 1991, when he arrived in New York City, Penn has placed his unique blend of mega-chops, keen intellect, and heady musicianship at the service of a staggering array of A-list artists--a chronological short-list includes Ellis and Wynton Marsalis, Betty Carter, Stanley Clarke, Steps Ahead, Makoto Ozone, Michael Brecker, Dave Douglas, Maria Schneider, Luciana Souza, Richard Galliano, and Fourplay. Penn's impressive discography includes several hundred studio albums (including the Grammy-winning recordings 34th and Lex by Randy Brecker and Concert in the Garden and Sky Blue by Maria Schneider) representing a 360-spectrum of jazz expression, and he's toured extensively throughout the United States, the Americas, Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia. He's composed music for films and commercials, and produced tracks for numerous singers in the pop and alternative arenas. He earned a "Ten Best of 1997" accolade from the New York Times for his first leader recording, Penn's Landing.

A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, where he was a protege of Ellis Marsalis, Penn is active as an educator and drum clinician. From 2004 to 2012, he taught on the faculty of the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music. He's also served on faculty at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, the Saint Louis College of Music in Rome, Italy, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Intensive Jazz Institute.

Penn currently leads several ensembles. His most recent recording is 2012's Dali In Cobble Hill, on which a quartet comprising saxophonist Chris Potter, guitarist Adam Rogers, and bassist Ben Street performed Penn's original music. In 2013, he will release his rhythmically intoxicating quartet arrangements of the music of Thelonious Monk. Near completion is a "world music" studio project of songs and instrumentals that melds background voices--including his own--with a world class band.

Whether Penn is leading his own band or performing as a sideman, he brings to the table unfailing versatility and professionalism, an ability to find creative ways to interpret a global array of styles and idioms, and a stated intention "to play music that's warm and organic for the people and for myself."

His motto: "When people hear my name, I want them to think, 'I don't know what band he's playing with tonight or what he'll be doing, but it's going to be good, it's going to be musical.'"

This album contains no booklet.