Clarke, George F.
Clarke, George F.
Clarke, George F., jazz tenor saxophonist; b. Memphis, Term., Aug. 28, 1911; d. Bronx, N.Y., Sept. 1985. Clarke became Jimmie Lunceford’s pupil while attending Manassas H.S. in Memphis, became a member of Lunceford’s first band, and remained with him until 1933. He settled in Buffalo and played for various leaders: Guy Jackson (1933–34), Stuff Smith, and Lil Armstrong (1935), among others. He worked again with Smith in 1939, then led his own band which played a long residency at the Anchor Bar, Buffalo, throughout the 1940s. Clarke moved to N.Y. in 1954, played regularly with Cootie Williams (including tour of Europe in early 1959); toured Africa with Cozy Cole in late 1962. He was occasionally active through the 1960s in N.Y.
—John Chilton, Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter