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About
Colleen Clark
Founder and Artistic Director of the University of South Carolina’s Jazz Girls Day, Dr. Colleen Clark is an Assistant Professor of Jazz at the University of South Carolina where she coordinates the small ensembles, conducts a big band, and teaches her drumset studio and jazz history courses. As a player, Clark has been described as "someone to watch" and "someone who will be turning heads in jazz for years to come." Clark was invited by the ASCAP Foundation to lead her band, the Colleen Clark Collective, at the Kennedy Center.
Dr. Clark has performed in prominent NYC venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland and the 55 Bar. Her debut album, consisting entirely of her original music, Introducing Colleen Clark, was produced by Gordon Stout and engineered by ten-time Grammy Award nominee/winner, Brian Dozoretz. Clark proudly joined the Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Combo on their premiere performance at the Jazz Education Network Conference in 2019. She has presented her research on the evolution of the ride cymbal pattern for the Percussive Arts Society and the Jazz Education Network.
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Clark can be heard playing on SteepleChase record #900, Allegra Levy's Lose My Number: Allegra Levy Sings John McNeil, Michael Dease's The Other Shoe: The Music of Gregg Hill (Origin) and upcoming records released by Dr. Matt White and Michael Dease.
Dr. Clark is the only woman and drummer to earn a doctoral degree in jazz from the University of North Texas.
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Clark joined the Percussive Arts Society Drumset Committee in July 2021 and was nominated as Vice President of the South Carolina Chapter.
Clark is now the Assistant Coordinator for the Jazz Education Network’s Sisters in Jazz program, of which she is an alum.
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Her latest project is CC & the Adelitas, which features the merging of the golden era of Mexican music and jazz.
She is proud to join the Zildjian, Vic Firth, REMO and Mono families as an official endorser of their products.