Wolff & Clark Expedition - Wolff & Clark Expedition (2013)

After performing together for decades, good friends MICHAEL WOLFF and MIKE CLARK decided to combine their estimable skills to form a band without boundaries: The WOLFF & CLARK EXPEDITION. These intrepid musical explorers create within a broad spectrum of styles and genres. Always rooted in the blues, with doses of jazz, funk, soul and spirit, the W&C Expedition paves new paths with each performance. On their debut album, the Blue album, the dynamic duo is joined by bass player Chip Jackson, who held down the bottom with Elvin Jones, Gerry Mulligan, Billy Taylor and even Rod Stewart. Although Drummer Clark is perhaps best known for his fusion/funk stints with Herbie Hancock and the English band Brand X, he is a true jazz musician. Having played with Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Chet Baker, Vince Guaraldi, Jeff Berlin, Nicholas Payton and many more, Mike longs to focus on extending the envelopes first pushed by Tony Williams and Elvin Jones. Pianist Michael Wolff gained fame with Cannonball and Nat Adderley, then as Nancy Wilsons musical director, prior to becoming the bandleader on the original Arsenio Hall Show. Wolff, too, intends to stay true to his first love, jazz. This first adventure on the Expedition includes a rocking Beatles song (Come Together), a smoking standard (What Is This Thing Called Love?), a couple of nods to the Adderley brothers (Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and Hummin), a Horace Silver tune (Song For My Father) and a funky staple by the OJays (For The Love Of Money). Wolff also contributes sharp compositions, including the melodic ARP and the beautiful ballad Elise. The Wolff & Clark Expedition is not your Granddads piano trio They take the music to very different, special places, while always adhering to strong grooves and melodies. To join them is to take a trip with sheer musical genius. And fun.