The comic opens on a young clarinetist in 1917 New Orleans. This is the time of Louis Armstrong getting his start on riverboats, of jazz getting its footing as a genre. In six volumes, Clark and Higgins take the reader on a journey that spans decades, crosses the United States and shares the artists’ stories. The fictional artists profiled range from undiscovered talents to musicians in the top of their field.
“These characters tell the stories of some of the greatest American artists who we, as the public, will never know,” Clark says. “It’s not about renown, or how well known an artist is. Someone could be one of the greatest artists of a generation and no one knows about them.”
‘Failure is an illusion’
In addition to his regular course schedule, Clark is an instructor in DePaul’s first-year immersion program, the Chicago Quarter. Now in its 26th year, Chicago Quarter immerses students in the life of the city, and Clark’s class brings students on a journey through Chicago’s jazz history and scene today.
In many ways, “Deep Cuts” reflects Clark’s approach to teaching and life.
“A main message, for me, is that failure is an illusion,” Clark says. “There’s a false dichotomy between success and failure — if you have something you want to create, you should make it. It doesn't matter whether it's in vogue, avant-garde or well-funded — it's the human condition. That art reflects humanity.”
In addition to the art and storytelling, Clark composed original music and commissioned lead sheets from other artists to create a story in surround sound.
“Anytime you see sheet music in the story, that's original music I've written,” Clark says. “The story is about the music, and inclusion of original music is central to what we’re trying to convey.”
From the page to the listener
While the music in the story reads as notes on a page, Clark is working to bring these compositions to life. Appearing in volume 2, “I’m Just Here For The Music” was recorded and is available on YouTube for readers to immerse themselves in words and music as they read.
Clark says “Deep Cuts” takes readers through multiple major moments in the history of jazz, but his goal is to show how patterns in art and fame repeat throughout time.
“All the times and places are on five-line music stamps, and the first one has a repeat sign at the beginning,” Clark adds. “At the very end, there's the end repeat. We want to show that these cycles keep going and propagating in ways we can't possibly understand.”
Nominated for the 2024 Eisner Award for Best Anthology, “Deep Cuts” is only one of the major projects Clark is pursuing. He released a new big band jazz record, “Black and Cardinal,” in July of 2024. He also continues to collaborate with Higgins on their current comic series, “Radiant Black,” and recent comic book “Moon Man” featuring rapper Kid Cudi.
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