Music for Music: Magpie
Magpie Among Friends
By Dan Ursini ©2025
Any questions in composer Joe Clark’s mind about the possible audience for some jazz songs he had quietly written, all of them inspired by friends and family, vanished while watching videos of Chinese jazz clubs on RedNote. He found one showing graceful couples swing dancing to live music. Swing dancing made a major comeback there a couple years ago. The music emanated from a Chicago-based quartet, Entre Amigos, led by the brilliant saxophonist Roy McGrath. Clark soon realized that the couples were swing dancing to songs he himself had written. A composer can hardly hope for a trustier index of impact than this.
Joe Clark is an individual of exceptional drive and curiosity who has distinguished himself as a composer, arranger, trumpeter, and author. He is accustomed to intriguing collaborations, such as the many arrangements he has written for Yo-Yo Ma. In 2024, Clark was contacted by longtime friend and collaborator Roy McGrath, who periodically does a winter tour of eastern Asia, putting together a new band each time. That year, McGrath had arranged a four-week winter tour of South Korea and northern China with his latest group, a mainstream quartet named Entre Amigos. He asked Clark for some fresh compositions that his band could play on the tour. Among the songs Clark provided were the six comprising Magpie: The Music of Joe Clark, a new album that Entre Amigos has released on its own.
This ensemble includes four players—McGrath on saxophones, Hana Fujisaki on piano, Kitt Lyles on double bass, and Gustavo Cortiñas on drums. All of them studied jazz at Northwestern. The first track on the album, “Bernard,” was inspired by Bernard Scavella, coordinator of Jazz Studies at the university and a colleague of Clark, a longtime lecturer there.
It was also the set opener at every show on their tour. As Kitt Lyles explains, “Bernard” feels so good, we just couldn’t stop opening sets with it. It sets the tone, and after playing that tune, you know the gig is gonna be killing.”
Clark has composed in a range of styles and genres, from Dixieland to big band to opera, seeing himself as “a human creator in a specific moment.” The songs on Magpie are inspired by the people closest to him, but they do not tell a story. Instead, they convey a distinct energy or vibe or character. “Bernard” is a remarkable composition, one recalling those conversational moments when an old friend conveys easy, confident strength.
Throughout the tour, the band reworked “Bernard” and the rest of Clark’s compositions—trying new intros, new vamps, and other alterations. Leader McGrath explains that “we sent recordings to Joe in Chicago and engaged in back-and-forth feedback sessions to make sure we honored the energy and light of his music. As we explored his compositions, we adapted them to suit our voices whilst being true to Joe’s vision.” Clark generously acknowledges their contributions, remarking that the final results are a kind of “shared ownership.”
These contributions can be found on Magpie, which was recorded in the studio after the tour. Melodies count on this album, and “Bernard” has a resonant, commanding melody with a deceptively simple arrangement. The song builds through a number of subtle shifts, swinging good and hard. McGrath’s sax has a robust tone enhanced by a kind of vibrato. His solos are marked by a sculptural use of deep contrasts and by the buoyant energy he brings to his playing. Even more, he is surrounded by a band that shares an orchestral imagination, channeled into rich and spontaneous musical interplay that marks the whole album. In “Bernard,” each musician does a solo, including bass player Kitt Lyles, who displays considerable melodic acuity:
There is an ineffable contrast between the muscular closing of “Bernard” and the gentle elegance of Hana Fujisaki’s opening chords as she introduces “Magpie,” the album’s title song. Serene confidence suffuses this music, evoking a tender acceptance of an endlessly delicate vibe. A special highlight is Fujisaki’s solo, filled with a daring yet calm rush of subtle harmonic touches, soft melodic asides, and intriguing hints of counter-melodies.
One of the album’s compositions, “The Parliament,” won a “sci-fi/superhero” art contest put together by one of jazz’s great geniuses, Wayne Shorter. This marvelous music is imbued with an elegant sense of gravity. Like so many of the tracks on this album, at its core is an irresistible pulse provided by drummer Gustavo Cortiñas. He makes highly inventive choices about both rhythms and instruments.
“Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker,” has a droll asymmetrical melody that triggers a hugely energetic performance by the band.
Humor and wit have been constants in Clark’s music for years. On a couple occasions he has spoken with Werner Herzog, a legendary film maker who periodically directs opera. He once asked him, “Can music evoke the ecstatic truth you seek in your films?” Paraphrasing Gustav Mahler, he explained that he has learned that “the great operas contain the world.” And that means there will be humor. Comedy is in the foreground of two of Clark’s compositions. One is “Heaven on Seven.” Written with broad Dixieland humor, it features exemplary piano work by Fujisaki. She brings music influenced by Scott Joplin to life, using her gift for stride piano—a very challenging approach to playing.
The other is “Potato,” offering the vibe of a screwball comedy. The melody recalls a deliberately energetic carpet-tripping slide across the stage.
Magpie reveals how art that conveys our deepest feelings about those we know best, often has the widest and deepest reach within the larger human community. Drummer Gustavo Cortiñas remarks that Clark “is one of the most incredible, joyful people that you can encounter….[H]e also happens to be one of the greatest composers and arrangers that Chicago, and the world, has to offer.” Clark states, “I’m honored that Entre Amigos created a beautiful record of songs so personal to me. The process brought good energy into my life, and I hope to expand on it through our Chicago community—friends playing the music of friends.”
Magpie is available at Apple Music, Bandcamp, Spotify, YouTube, and other streaming platforms.
Dan Ursini and his wife Valerie live in Oak Park, Illinois. Over the years he has done many kinds of writing. Ursini served as the first resident playwright for the Steppenwolf Theatre of Chicago (1978-1983); he worked for ten years as a Contributing Editor for Puerto Del Sol magazine; he wrote performance art pieces presented at such Chicago venues as Club Lower Links and Club Dreamerz. Ursini wrote radio theatre presented on NPR in the early 1990s. Through much of this, he worked full-time at the Law Library at DePaul University where for a decade he also wrote articles for Dialogue, the DePaul law school’s alumni publication. A particular highlight was his role as a researcher for a documentary, Race to Execution, about the connection between race and capital punishment in the U.S.A. In 2007 it was broadcast on the PBS series, Independent Lens. Apart from all this, Ursini was active for some years as a bass guitarist in various Chicago blues/gospel/funk/lounge configurations. Currently Ursini is working on his latest novel. Dan can be reached at: danursini@aol.com
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