Clare Fischer

Clare Fischer
Born	(1928-10-22)October 22, 1928
Origin	Durand, Michigan, U.S.
Died	January 26, 2012(2012-01-26) (aged 83)
Genres	Jazz, bossa nova, Afro-Cuban jazz, fusion, funk, classical music, vocal music
Occupation(s)	Composer, bandleader
Instrument(s)	Synthesizer, piano, keyboards, electric piano
Labels	Discovery, Koch, Trend
Website	Official website

Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American composer, arranger, pianist and organist.

Early years

Fischer was born in Durand, Michigan. His parents were of German, French, Irish-Scot, and English backgrounds. In grade school he started his general music study with violin and piano as his first instruments. At the age of 7 he began to pick out four-part harmony on the piano. After two years of piano lessons the family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where 12-year-old Clare began composing classical music and making instrumental arrangements for dance bands.

At South High School he took up cello, clarinet and saxophone. His high school instructor, Glenn Litton, took an interest in the boy and, because the family could not afford it, gave him free lessons in music theory, harmony, and orchestration. Clare returned the favor by orchestrating and copying music for him. Whenever the concert band needed an instrument, Clare would be supplied with it and the fingering chart to play it in concert. This gave him a personal training in orchestration that was invaluable.

He started his own band at 15, for which he wrote all the arrangements. After graduating in 1946, he began undergraduate studies in 1947 at Michigan State University, majoring in music composition and theory, and studying with H. Owen Reed. During his teens there were no funds for him to study piano, so he was mostly self-taught. Therefore his major instrument in college was cello, and piano a minor. Later he changed his major to piano and minor in clarinet.

Fischer graduated in 1951 with a B.M., cum laude, and began his first year of graduate work in composition. The U.S. Army drafted him the next year, sending him to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for basic training. There he played alto saxophone in the band and ended his service as an arranger at the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point, N.Y. After the army, Clare returned to Michigan State. In 1955 he received his Master of Music.

Next Clare was living in Detroit, Michigan, where after a concert he offered his duties to the vocal quartet The Hi-Lo's. For five years he was pianist and arranger for this group. He wrote his first vocal arrangements and recorded several albums as pianist and sometime vocal and instrumental arranger. Herbie Hancock once explained that these arrangements were a major influence on him:

..by the time I actually heard The Hi-Lo's, I started picking that stuff out; my ear was happening. I could hear stuff and that's when I really learned some much farther-out voicings -like the harmonies I used on 'Speak Like A Child' -just being able to do that. I really got that from Clare Fischer's arrangements for the Hi-Lo's. Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept... He and Bill Evans, and Ravel and Gil Evans, finally. You know, that's where it really came from. Almost all of the harmony that I play can be traced to one of those four people and whoever their influences were.

While with The Hi-Lo's, Fischer arranged a record by trumpeter Donald Byrd, on which well-known standards by subtle use of strings and harps acquired a new, melancholical quality. Even though Byrd's album September Afternoon remained on the shelves of the record company for twenty-five years, Fischer was so lucky that the trumpeter played a copy for Dizzy Gillespie. Gillespie in his turn asked him for his own "Portrait of Duke Ellington," which was well received. In 1960 albums for vibraphonist Cal Tjader and pianist George Shearing followed as did an eight year career of writing music for commercials. Fischer was ready to sign his first record contract.

Early career as a leader

The first recording under his own name began in 1962 for Pacific Jazz Records: "First Time Out", "Surging Ahead", "Manteca" and "Extension," plus recordings with Bud Shank and Joe Pass. These early records are meticulous studies in jazz, bossa nova and mambo, with the harmonical depth of Bach, Shostakovich and Stravinsky. They were well received by the critics, but commercially not very successful. Fischer presented himself both as pianist and arranger and composed his most famous pieces, "Pensativa" and "Morning". His many talents, however, proved a disadvantage.

Whenever I played with a trio, people said: 'Fischer owes a lot to Bill Evans'. Who I had never heard playing. My big musical example at the time was Lee Konitz. And when I orchestrated a record it was Gil Evans, the arranger, that I copied. I called this my Evans Brothers syndrome.

Arrangements for Sérgio Mendes, Willy Ruff and others followed. In the sixties Clare began playing the organ again, having studied the pipe organ at sixteen. He began to record on a Hammond B-3 for Pacific and on an album by Cal Tjader, Soña Libre. Years later, Clare would record "T'DAAA" (1972) which showcased his skill on the Yamaha EX-42 and "Clare Declares" (1977) which once again featured the pipe organ.

Clare's roommates at the Michigan State University were Latin Americans, as were the majority of his friends outside the music department. He was introduced to the music of Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Machito and others. Through his friends he became interested in the Spanish language and took it as a minor on his Masters Degree. Clare's passion for music has always been matched by his love of languages. "The average person has about a fifteen percent understanding of a foreign language. He knows what language it is and is familiar with one or two words. With music it is not different. Most people only hear the lyrics to a song or feel the beat. I have always made music for good listeners, with 65 to eighty percent of musical understanding. That is why with my vocal sextet all pieces are sung in the original language, whether that is German, Spanish or Japanese."

At this time he was not yet playing Latin-Jazz, just listening to it. So when he moved to Hollywood in 1958, he went to East L.A. to play and learn more about the music. He started in a charanga group with Modesta Duran as leader. Playing with many different groups, he paid his dues in the joints.

During this period he became interested in Brazilian music through the recordings of Elizete Cardoso, for whom he wrote the standard "Elizete". Allegedly he cut the very first American Bossa Nova record for Cal Tjader. His liner notes illustrate how uncommon it was that Clare tried to get people to dance to something other than the twist:

Last spring I was introduced to a friend of bassist Ralph Peña [...] he talked to us about a new kind of music that was being played in Brazil called the 'Bossa Nova' which in slang terms might be like saying 'the new bag' or 'new aptitude'. [...] The rhythms were so infectious that, even though I usually don't dance much myself, I felt compelled to respond and found myself dancing away several hours.

(Cal Tjader Plays The Contemporary Music Of Mexico And Brazil, 1962)

Fischer did not want to tour Europe to make his fame because he had just founded a family. In the 1960s he worked frequently in the studios of California as a pianist, recording tunes to films and television advertisements. He experienced that in the studio the producer is often a musician's worst enemy. "They always want you to do something else than what you are good at. Often I was asked to play like the pianist of the Crusaders, Joe Sample. With great difficulty I did what they asked me to do and afterwards felt terrible about it. One time I was working in the studio wìth Sample. During a break he came up to me and said to my great surprise: 'I want to tell you something that really annoys me. Every time I go into a recording session they ask me to lay down some of that stuff that you do!'."

Salsa Picante years

In 1975, after ten years of studiowork and artistically successful yet obscure solo records, Fischer found a new direction. Just like Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea he was a pioneer on the electric keyboard, and in that capacity he joined vibraphonist Cal Tjader's group. The reunion with Tjader gave a new impulse to Fischer's love of Latin-American music. He started his own group with Latino musicians, "Salsa Picante," which showed great eclecticism in musical styles. Later he added a vocal group, 2+2. Stravinsky mixed with boogie woogie, country with renaissance music.

The record 2+2 won a Grammy in 1981. Since then he has recorded "And Sometimes Voices" and "Free Fall" with the vocal group. "Free Fall" was nominated in three categories for the Grammy Awards and won under the category of "Best Jazz Album By A Vocal Duo Or Group". "Crazy Bird" was with the instrumental group and "Alone Together", a solo piano album recorded on a magnificent Hamburg Steinway. It was recorded for Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer and the German company MPS Records. Clare's MPS records have been re-released by Discovery Records. In 1999 Motor Music in Hamburg issued a CD with 24 bits re-mastered highpoints of four of his Latin-flavoured MPS records, called Latin Patterns.

In the seventies, Fischer began doing orchestral sweeteners for R&B groups. Clare's brother's son, André Fischer, was the drummer of the band Rufus with Chaka Khan. "Apparently the arrangements I made for their early records were appreciated, for in the following years I was hired almost exclusively by black artists." Among the artists Clare worked for are The Jacksons, Earl Klugh, The Debarges, Shot-gun and Atlantic Star. His walls are now covered with gold and platinum records from these recordings and Grammy Award Nominations, N.A.R.A.S. MVP Awards culminating in an MVP-emeritus in 1985.

Once his fame as an arranger was established, Fischer also worked with pop musicians like Paul McCartney, Prince, Celine Dion and Robert Palmer. "I am surprised that my arrangements are now considered one of the prerequisites for a hit album. People feel that they make a song sound almost classical."

Classical concert artist Richard Stoltzman commissioned him in 1983 to write a symphonic work using Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn themes. The result, "The Duke, Swee'pea and Me", an eleven and a half minute orchestral work, was performed with a symphony orchestra and Stoltzman on clarinet all around the world.

Later years: jazz inspirator and pop arranger

Since 1985 Clare has been writing orchestral arrangements for pop artist Prince. Some have appeared on Prince's albums and have been used for his movies Under the Cherry Moon (Clare's first screen credit), Graffiti Bridge and in Spike Lee's Girl 6. One of Clare's Prince arrangements was also used in a revised form for the movie Batman. Prince continues to work with Clare on occasion. His December 2005 single "Te Amo Corazon," a mid-tempo Latin jazz track, featured string arrangements by Clare.

More recently, as a jazz educator, Clare has performed solo piano concerts and conducted clinics and master classes in universities and music conservatories in Europe and throughout the United States. In 1995 Just Me came out, a Concord Jazz CD with Clare on solo piano. Featuring his Latin-jazz group and six singers, now referred to as "Clare Fischer & Friends", a JVC Music CD appeared in 1997 called Rockin' In Rhythm.

Two gifted Dutch jazz pianists, Cor Bakker and Bert van den Brink, recorded the homage DeClared (1993) which contains nine Clare Fischer compositions. Five years later recordings made in 1991 and 1997 with The Netherlands Metropole Orchestra led by Rob Pronk and Vince Mendoza came out as The Latin Side. Another notable recent CD with Clare is a re-issue of Art Pepper's Tokyo Debut on Galaxy (1995).

At the present time Clare continues to write for Prince and many other renowned artists including Michael Jackson before his death, Amy Grant, Brazilian artist João Gilberto (João), Paula Abdul, Natalie Cole and more recently Chaka Khan and Branford Marsalis.

With his commercial work Fischer financed a costly band of twenty brass instruments, called "Clare Fischer's Jazz Corps." "I may die a poor man, but I will have a smile on my face" is what he likes to say on this subject. The recordings of this band contain an interesting arrangement of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Corcovado". "The death of my friend Tom Jobim has affected me deeply. Like me he was 68, and I am still alive. After he died I had a dream in which I was conducting his 'Corcovado'. Only it was not a normal version, there were these harmonic countermelodies in the bass. When I awoke I wrote down what I had dreamed. It became Jobim's In Memoriam, a piece I called 'Corcovado Fúnebre.'"

One of Clare's latest projects in his own name is a recording with Brazilian guitarist Hélio Delmiro called "Symbiosis" which has been released on a "Clare Fischer Productions" recording as has his Clare Fischer's Jazz Corps recording. Both are available on Clare's web site at http://www.clarefischer.com .

Discography

As leader

• Jazz (1961)
• First Time Out (1963)
• Surging Ahead (1964)
• Só Danço Samba (1965)
• Manteca! (1965)
• Piano Concert (1965)
• Easy Livin’ (1966)
• One to Get Ready: Four...to-Go! (1968)
• Thesaurus (1969)
• Great White Hope (& His Japanese Friend) (1970)
• Love is Surrender (1970)
• T’DA-A-A! (1972) – Clare Fischer & the Yamaha Quartet
• Clare Fischer In the Reclamation Act of 1972! (1972)
• Tell It Like It Is (1972)
• Music Inspired by the Kinetic Sculpture of Don Conard Mobiles (1975)
• The State of His Art (1976)
• Clare Declares (1977)
• America the Beautiful (1978) - Previously released as Songs For Rainy Day Lovers in 1967
• Jazz Song (1979)
• ‘Twas Only Yesterday (1979)
• Clare Fischer & EX-42 (1979) - originally released as T’DA-A-A! in 1972
• Duality (1980)
• Salsa Picante (1980)
• Alone Together (1980) - Clare Fischer & the Brunner-Schwer Steinway, re-released in 1997
• Machaca (1981)
• Clare Fischer & Salsa Picante Present 2+2 (1981) - Grammy award winner
• Head, Heart and Hands (1982)
• And Sometimes Voices (1982) - with 2+2
• September Afternoon (1982) - with Donald Byrd
• Starbright (1983) - with Gary Foster
• Whose Woods Are These? (1984) - with Gary Foster, Grammy nomination
• Extension (1984) - with Jerry Coker
• Crazy Bird (1985) - Re-released in 1992
• Freefall (1986) - winner Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group
• Clare Fischer Plays (1987)
• Tjaderama (1987)
• Blues Trilogy (1987) - with Gary Foster
• Waltz (1988)
• Remembrances (Lembranças) (1990)
• Memento (1992)
• Just Me: Solo Piano Excursions (1995)
• Rockin’ In Rhythm (1997) - Clare Fischer & Friends
• The Latin Side (1997) - Clare Fischer & Metropole Orchestra
• Clare Fischer’s Jazz Corps (1998)
• Latin Patterns (1999) – Clare Fischer & The Legendary MPS Sessions
• Symbiosis (1999) – Clare Fischer & Hélio Delmiro
• Bert van den Brink invites Clare Fischer (2000)
• Introspectivo (2005)
• A Family Affair (2006)

As sideman

With Moacir Santos

• Maestro (Blue Note, 1972)
• Carnival of the Spirits (Blue Note, 1975)

External links

• Clare Fischer's Website
• Clare Fischer plays Sentimental Lady on YouTube
• An interview with Clare Fischer

See also

Dirk Fischer