Clare Fischer Discography

[HutchFan]

Over the last few days, I've put together a rough-and-ready Clare Fischer discography because I couldn't find any single source on the web that gave me the info that I wanted. I could only find bits and pieces here and there, so I compiled the discography for myself -- using information from Wikipedia, allmusic, discogs, eBay, etc. I also gleaned some information from the Fischer recordings in my own collection.

Thought I'd share it with everyone. Hopefully, someone -- other than me -- will find it useful at some point.  

By the way, I'm sure there are some mistakes here, since I just threw it together. Please let me know if any errors jump out at you. (Incidentally, entries are listed chronologically by release date.)

 

Sessions as a Leader or Co-Leader

• Jazz (RCA Mexico, 1961); five of eight tracks trio; three tracks octet
• First Time Out (Pacific Jazz, 1962); trio
• Bossa Nova Jazz Samba (Pacific Jazz, 1962); co-led with Bud Shank; septet (with four percussionists)
• Surging Ahead (Pacific Jazz, 1963); trio
• Extension (Pacific Jazz, 1963); big band; reissued on Discovery and International Phonograph
• So Danço Samba (Pacific Jazz, 1964); quartet (CF plays both piano & organ)
• Manteca! (Pacific Jazz,1965); big band
• Easy Livin' (Revelation, 1966); recorded 1963; five of eight tracks solo piano; three tracks piano/bass duo; reissued with a different cover in 1968
• Songs for Rainy Day Lovers (Columbia, 1967); with strings and rhythm section; reissued as America the Beautiful on Discovery (1978) and reissued again on Clare Fischer Productions (CFP, 2002)
• ONE – to get ready: FOUR..... to —GO! (Revelation, 1968); recorded 1963-65; four tracks solo piano; two tracks quartet
• Thesaurus (Atlantic, 1969); recorded 1968; reissued on LP as ‘Twas Only Yesterday (Discovery); also reissued on CD as Waltz (Discovery) with seven of nine tracks from another LP, Duality
• Fusion 2 (Ten Records, 1969); recorded 1964; CF only plays on four of seven tracks (one side of LP); piano trio; released in Argentina only
• Great White Hope (Revelation, 1970); solo recital on Yamaha YC-30 organ and Fender Rhodes electric piano
• Love is Surrender: Ralph Carmichael Presents the Multi-Keyboards of Clare Fischer (Light Records, 1971)
• Clare Fischer in the Reclamation Act of 1972! (Revelation, 1972); recorded 1970-71; four of six tracks solo piano; two of six tracks trio
• Organ Solos from “Tell It Like It Is” (Light, 1972)
• Report of the 1st Annual Symposium on Relaxed Improvisation (Revelation, 1973); recorded 1972; co-led with Warne Marsh and Gary Foster; quintet
• Music Inspired by the Kinetic Sculpture of Don Conard Mobiles (CF Records, 1975); solo recital on Yamaha EX-42 organ
• T’DA-A-A! (Revelation, 1975?); recorded 1972 (?); quartet (CF plays Yamaha EX-42 organ); also issued as Clare Fischer and EX-42 (MPS, 1980); note: the liner notes on the MPS LP incorrectly state June 1979 as the recording date
• The State of His Art (Revelation, 1976) – solo piano recital; recorded 1973
• Clare Declares (MPS, 1977) – pipe organ recital
• Alone Together: Clare Fischer & the Brunner-Schwer Steinway (MPS, 1977 / Discovery, 1980); recorded in 1975; reissued on Advance
• Jazz Song (Revelation, 1979); solo piano recital; recorded 1973
• Salsa Picante (MPS, 1979 / Discovery,1980); recorded 1978
• Duality (Discovery, 1980); big band; recorded 1968 (at the same time as Thesaurus); reissued (less two tracks) on CD as Waltz (Discovery) supplemented with the complete album Thesaurus
• Clare Fischer & Salsa Picante Present 2 + 2 (PAUSA, 1981); released in Germany on MPS as Foreign Exchange: The First Album
• Machaca (MPS, 1981); with Salsa Picante; recorded 1979
• Head, Heart and Hands (Revelation, 1982); solo piano; recorded 1970 and 1973
• …And Sometimes Voices (Discovery, 1982); with Salsa Picante & 2 + 2 (voices)
• Starbright (Discovery, 1983); duo; co-led with Gary Foster; four of eight tracks reissued on CD titled Blues Trilogy (Discovery, 1993), which also includes all tracks from Whose Woods Are These?
• Whose Woods Are These? (Discovery, 1984); with woodwind ensemble featuring Gary Foster; recorded 1982; reissued on CD as Blues Trilogy with four of eight tracks from Starbright
• Crazy Bird (Discovery, 1985); with Salsa Picante; recorded 1984
• Freefall (Discovery, 1986); with Latin Jazz Sextet 2 +2 (voices)
• Clare Fischer Plays by and with Himself (Discovery, 1987); solo piano [An unfortunate title]
• Tjaderama (Discovery, 1987); with His Latin Jazz Sextet (no voices)
• Remembrances/Lembranças (Concord, 1990)
• Memento (Discovery, 1992); compilation (of Discovery recordings?)
• Just Me: Solo Piano Excursions (Concord, 1995); solo piano
• Rockin’ In Rhythm (JMI, 1997)
• The Latin Side (Koch, 1997); with the Metropole Orchestra
• Clare Fischer’s Jazz Corps (CFP, 1998)
• Latin Patterns (MPS, 1999); compilation tracks with CF’s Salsa Picante band
• Symbiosis (CFP, 1999); co-led with Hélio Delmiro
• Bert van den Brink Invites Clare Fischer (Challenge, 2001); duo piano; co-led with Bert van den Brink
• After the Rain (CFP, 2001)
• On a Turquoise Cloud (CFP, 2002)
• Introspectivo (M&L Music, 2005); solo piano
• A Family Affair (CFP, 2006)
• ...And Sometimes Instruments (CFP, 2011); with The Clare Fischer Voices
• Continuum (Clavo, 2011); with The Clare Fischer Big Band
• ¡Ritmo! (Clavo, 2012); with The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band
• Music for Strings, Percussion and the Rest (Clavo, 2013)

 

Selected Sessions as a Sideman & Arranger

• The Hi-Lo's – And All That Jazz (Columbia, 1958); arranger, piano
• Cal Tjader – West Side Story (Fantasy, 1960); arranger, piano
• Dizzy Gillespie – A Portrait of Duke Ellington (Verve, 1960); arranger
• The Hi-Lo's – This Time It's Love (Columbia, 1962); arranger
• Cal Tjader – Plays Harold Arlen (Fantasy, 1962); arranger
• Cal Tjader & Mary Stallings – Cal Tjader Plays, Mary Stallings Sings (Fantasy, 1962); piano, arranger
• Cal Tjader – Plays the Contemporary Music of Mexico and Brazil (Verve, 1962); arranger, piano
• George Shearing – Shearing Bossa Nova (Capitol, 1962); arranger
• Bud Shank – Brasamba! (Pacific Jazz, 1963); piano
• Joe Pass – Catch Me (Pacific Jazz, 1963); piano, organ
• Cal Tjader – Soña Libré (Verve, 1963); organ, piano
• The Jazz Crusaders – Chile Con Soul (Pacific Jazz, 1965); organ
• Stan Kenton – Stan Kenton Conducts the Los Angeles Neophonic Orchestra (Capitol, 1965); arranger
• Lenita Bruno – Work of Love (Nucleus Records, 1967); arranger, conductor, piano, organ, harpsichord
• Bud Shank ‎– Brazil! Brazil! Brazil! (World Pacific, 1967); organ
• Moacir Santos – Maestro (Blue Note, 1972); organ
• Hubert Laws – In the Beginning (CTI, 1974); arranger, piano
• Moacir Santos – Carnival of the Spirits (Blue Note, 1975); piano 
• The Singers Unlimited ‎– A Special Blend (MPS, 1976); arranger, electric piano
• Cal Tjader – Guarabe (Fantasy, 1977); electric piano; reissued on CD titled Here and Now (Fantasy)
• Art Pepper – Tokyo Debut (Galaxy, 1977) ; electric piano
• Cal Tjader – Huracán (Crystal Clear, 1978); electric piano; reissued on Laserlight
• Louie Bellson & Walfredo de los Reyes ‎– Ecué Ritmos Cubanos (Pablo, 1978); electric piano
• Cal Tjader – Here (Fantasy, 1979); recorded live in 1977; electric piano; reissued on CD titled Here and Now (Fantasy) less one track
• Donald Byrd – Donald Byrd and 125th Street (Elektra, 1979)
• Poncho Sanchez – Poncho (Discovery, 1979); arranger, electric piano
• Bill Perkins – Many Ways to Go (Sea Breeze, 1980); organ
• Poncho Sanchez – Pa'lante (Straight Ahead) (Discovery, 1980); arranger, electric piano
• João Gilberto ‎– Brasil (Warner Brothers, 1981); keyboards
• Donald Byrd – September Afternoon (Discovery, 1982); arranger; recorded 1959 (?)
• Lisa Rich ‎featuring the Clare Fischer Quartet – Touch of the Rare (Trend, 1985); piano, keyboards
• João Gilberto ‎– João (Polygram Brazil, 1991); arranger, keyboards
• Cal Tjader – Cuban Fantasy (Fantasy, 2003); electric piano; recorded live in 1977 (same live session as heard on Here LP)

Edited May 31, 2018 by HutchFan

[JSngry]

You'll want to look at the Hi-Lo's work. Can't provide full specifics, but there's enough there to matter.

 

 

[Mark Stryker]

FYI -- the recording date of the Donald Byrd with strings LP has always been unclear; I haven't been able to nail it down definitively, but I think 1959 is more likely than '56 or '57.

[Teasing the Korean]

He did the arrangements on the George Shearing bossa album for Capitol, circa 1963. It's a very good record, scored with woodwinds and rhythm section.  The vibes and guitar got the day off. 

[mikeweil]

Fischer wrote the arrangements for this Gillespie Verve LP, too - woodwinds plus one trombone, piano on one track only, great bass and drums (Duvivier and Persip).Fischer was great at writing for woodwinds.

[HutchFan]

Thanks for the info, gents! 

I've updated the discography with your feedback.  

Edited August 4, 2016 by HutchFan

[mikeweil]

Some more details:

The Jazz LP from 1960/61 was on Mexican RCA, 5 tracks trio, 3 octet (!)

The piano on the Gillespie LP was played by Hank Jones.

 

[HutchFan]

Thanks for those details, Mike.  

[JSngry]

Not sure if you want to include this or not, but there are the contributions to Prince's releases.

The guy was definitely one of the more open thinkers of the music, not in an "all-inclusive" type of way, I mean, the one time I spent time with him he was delightful but equally potentially prickly, definitely had his "ideas", but very few people are that, and I'm not sure that that many really need to be, or can be without faking it. But open in the sense that he knew a lot of shit, and he saw no reason to not use it wherever he was, like, why NOT? And he knew it deeply enough that he could put it there and it would fit. So, yeah, Clare Fischer, like him or don't but never dismiss, diminish, or disrespect the crazymad buttload full of high-level skills this dude carried with him.

 

 

[mikeweil]

Fischer also wrote string arrangements for an album of the group Rufus, but I do not know which one. Jazz discographers in their snobbish attitude do not list such endeavours; Lord even finds the jazz content of some of the albums Fischer arranged that he lists "limited" ...

[mikeweil]

Just had a look at the Tom Lord Disco: it is the Songs For Rainy Day Lovers LP that he comments with the phrase "Jazz content of above 2 sessions is limited".

That said: There is another strings LP that he arranged for Donald Byrd, probably in 1959, that remained unissued, I cannot remember what label it was made for (the master number run B50329 to B50340). It was first released on Discovery LP DS869 as September Afternoon; there are European reissues on Lonehill and Phoenix. 

Before his first work for the Hi-Los Fischer recorded with the Pee Wee Hunt Dixielanders, Frankie Laine, and Mannie Klein (1946 to 1949); since some of Laine sessions were billed as by "Frankie Laine Acc By Clare Fischer's Swingtet" or Orchestra, he probably also wrote the arrangements for these sessions. 

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

I mean, the one time I spent time with him he was delightful but equally potentially prickly, definitely had his "ideas", but very few people are that, and I'm not sure that that many really need to be, or can be without faking it.

A vocalist I knew told me similar things about Fischer after a jazz choir class conducted by Fischer she attended. He had very high standards ... but when he played with colleagues up to these, the results always were excellent.

[Chuck Nessa]

The Byrd album was originally recorded for Warner Bros.

[mikeweil]

More items missing from the list above:

Poncho Sanchez' first two LPs as a leader on Discovery, Poncho (1979) and Pa'lante (Straight Ahead) (1970): keyboards and arrangements.

Fischer played keyboards on Joao Gilberto's LP Brasil (1981); organ on Bill Perkins' Many Ways To Go (Sea Breeze, 1980).

Edited August 4, 2016 by mikeweil

[JSngry]

I'm not one to get all uppity about pitch, but the Byrd album bugs me b/c Byrd is so often not in tune with the strings...not as in not exactly in tune but still colored pitched, but as in so far off as to be noticeably microtonal, which I don't believe was the intent, so....wrong. For intent/context.

That's always puzzled me too, because Byrd in those day was a consummate professional about stuff like that. Maybe I just heard it funny.

[Jim R]

3 hours ago, mikeweil said:

Fischer played keyboards on Joao Gilberto's LP Brasil (1981)

He also arranged and conducted on this 1991 release:

 

An old thread on Fischer:  

 

[HutchFan]

2 hours ago, Jim R said:

An old thread on Fischer:  

Thanks for sharing that thread, Jim.  Lots of good stuff in there.  

I'm finding that I enjoy Fischer's arranging, whether it's for big bands or Latin groups.  But I'm particularly drawn to his solo piano recordings. (Or perhaps I should say "solo keyboard recordings" -- since several of them were made on various electric pianos, organs, etc.)  

[Chuck Nessa]

Fischer told me Warne Marsh was ruined by listening to black players playing behind the beat.

[HutchFan]

1 hour ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Fischer told me Warne Marsh was ruined by listening to black players playing behind the beat.

Ha! That makes me laugh!

Was he serious?!?!

[Chuck Nessa]

absolutely

 

[JSngry]

Yeah, too bad Warne ruined Thesaurus with that "Lennie's Pennies" shit, too bad that's one of the greatest recorded things ever, too bad about that.

[HutchFan]

That's nutty.  

From what I've gathered here and elsewhere, it seems like Fischer wasn't the nicest guy to be around.  But, like Jim said up above, you can't deny that the guy had some skills. The way he deals with harmony strikes me as really, really unique.

[JSngry]

The guy had seriously madbadass crazy skills about harmony and color, yes.

But it just goes to show you that brilliance and ignunce can and do coexist, no, occupy the same space at once, whatever contradictions exist. everywhere else, they won't exist there.

People are pretty much crazy by definition.

[JSngry]

Also...I would really like to have asked Fischer what he meant by that, because jeepis chrysler, Warne could come at "the beat" from all sides, 360○ and in all dimensions, this "behind the beat" thing, not really relevant in literal being, what was he trying to say, really? 

It's like "they" said that Lee "ruined" his tone playing with Kenton. No. I mean, I get how shit changes and never goes exactly back, but "ruined"...explain what that means as extrapolated to a true meaning, I don't get it as a final starting point.

[Larry Kart]

Talented reedman-composer David Sherr:

"I think the reason Clare Fischer lasted so long with Prince is that they never met. To know Clare is to be annoyed by him. Clare never tired of pointing out other musicians’ supposed flaws but sometimes had difficulty reading parts other studio piano players seemed to handle with ease. A great jazz musician, though, and an interesting arranger."

[njtw]

According the Blue Note Label Discography compiled by Michael Cuscuna and Michel Ruppli (1988):

Moacir Santos - Carnival of the Spirits, LA, March 17, 19 and 20, 1975, Clare Fischer piano, BN-LA463-C.

BTW: mentioned in the discography as Fisher!