Local musician blends different styles
The music of progressive rock legend Frank Zappa, free jazz great Sun Ra, psychedelic guitarist Jimi Hendrix and Native American percussion are rarely found on the same album. But local musician Todd Tamanend Clark said he has found a way to blend all of these influences and more in his latest CD entitled “Staff, Mask, Rattle.” Clark, a resident of McClellandtown, admits that the album draws upon a wide variety of musicians but says that the CD is full of his own original ideas too.
“You’ll see parts of other people like Zappa or Hendrix, but I combined it all and built a whole new type of music basically,” Clark said.
“Staff, Mask, Rattle” is a 150-minute double disc set of instrumental music ranging from Native American tribal music to electronic fusion.
Clark, who comes from Onodowaga and Lenape Indian ancestry and served as the former president of the West Virginia Native American Coalition, says that each track reflects his American Indian heritage.
“The song titles and concepts are based on various Native American histories that relate to the northeastern woodlands of North America,” Clark remarked.
While Clark is certainly proud of his latest work, he is no stranger to the national music scene. “Staff, Mask, Rattle” is Clark’s 10th CD and his third that primarily features instrumentals.
“The first seven albums were vocals. I took a long break to help raise my children and didn’t release anything for a while. When I came back, I had been listening to a lot of jazz and decided to go with the instrumentals more,” Clark said.
Clark played a wide variety of instruments for the CD, including synthesizers, electric guitar, flute, rain stick, rattle and drums. He also did all of the song composition, instrument arrangement and computer programming.
While a majority of the CD features Clark, he also got his six children into the mix, turning the new album into a family affair.
“I played 80 percent of the album, but the other 20 percent included contributions from my family and friends. It really worked out well,” Clark said.
Originally from Greene County, Clark graduated from Waynesburg-Central High School and left the area, moving to San Francisco, where he started a music career.
In the ’70s and ’80s Clark said he was a frequent performer across the country, performing live concerts in New York City, San Francisco, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh.
Clark said that he eventually decided to move back to southwestern Pennsylvania for his children’s sake.
“I wanted them to reconnect with their roots,” Clark said. “The forests, rivers and mountains are really beautiful around here. I like being in a more rural area for day-to-day living.”
As for the future, Clark is working on another CD with local ties entitled, “Monongahela Riverrun.’ Clark says that the album will be an instrumental work and celebrate the towns that line the famous river.
“Every song is going to be named after a town on the river and hit upon the main feature of that town,” Clark said. “McKeesport and Pittsburgh will have a heavy industrial sound while more pastoral towns will be peaceful. Hopefully, it will fit together like one big symphony.”
Copies of “Staff, Mask, Rattle” can be purchased locally at Larry’s Music in Carmichaels, Soundtrack in Uniontown and The Den in Morgantown. They can also be purchased through the Web site CD Baby, by e-mailing tamanend@westol.com, or by calling him directly at 724-737-1341.