Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, Nickname Klook, later aka Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940's, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of Be-Bop, which in turn lead to modern jazz. While in New York, he played with the major innovators of the emerging bop style, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Curly Russell and others, as well as musicians of the prior generation, including Sidney Bechet. Early career Clarke came from a musical family, and studied multiple instruments, including vibes and trombone, as well as music theory and composition, while still in high school. While still a teenager in Pittsburgh, Clarke played in the bands of Leroy Br

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