Douglas Clare Fischer was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University, he became the pianist and arranger for the vocal group the Hi-Lo's in the late 1950s. Fischer went on to work with Donald Byrd and Dizzy Gillespie, and became known for his Latin and bossa nova recordings in the 1960s. He composed the Latin jazz standard "Morning", and the jazz standard "Pensativa". Consistently cited by jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock as a major influence, he was nominated for eleven Grammy Awards during his lifetime, winning for his landmark album, 2+2 (1981), the first of Fischer's records to incorporate the vocal ensemble writing developed during his Hi-Lo's days into his already sizable Latin jazz discography; it was also the first recorded installment in Fischer's three-decade-long collaboration with his son Brent. Fischer was also a posthumous Grammy winner for ¡Ritmo! (2012) and for Music for Strings, Percussion and the Rest (2013).
"Lady in Black" is a song by the rock band Uriah Heep. It is the fourth track of their 1971 album Salisbury.
"Pensativa" is a bossa nova jazz standard by American pianist/composer/arranger Clare Fischer, first recorded in 1962 by a quintet under the joint leadership of Fischer and saxophonist Bud Shank, and released that year as part of an album entitled Bossa Nova Jazz Samba, comprising music in this style, as per its title, all of it arranged by Fischer, and, with the exception of Erroll Garner's "Misty", composed by him as well. In retrospect, this would prove to be just the first of countless forays by Fischer into various areas of Latin music. This particular song was one of the first, and almost certainly the most famous, of all the foreign-born - i.e. non-Brazilian - bossa novas. Its form, though extended (64 mm.), is standard A-A-B-A, with each section consisting of 16 measures instead of eight.
"In Your Own Sweet Way" is a 1955 jazz standard, and one of the most famous compositions by Dave Brubeck. It was written around 1952, but its copyright notice was dated 1955. Brubeck's wife Iola, for whom the song was written, later wrote a lyric for the song, which led to singers such as Carmen McRae recording it. "In Your Own Sweet Way" was first released on Brubeck's 1956 studio album Brubeck Plays Brubeck; an earlier live recording is known.
"Morning" is a Latin Jazz standard written by American pianist/composer/arranger Clare Fischer, first heard on his 1965 LP, Manteca!, Fischer's first recording conceived entirely in the Afro-Cuban idiom, which, along with the Brazilian music he had explored at length over the previous three years, would provide fertile ground for Fischer's musical explorations over the next half-century.
West Side Story is an album featuring American vibraphonist Cal Tjader, consisting of musical numbers from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story in jazz arrangements, by Tjader's pianist and musical director Clare Fischer, without vocals. It was recorded in October 1960 and released on the Fantasy label in January 1961 as Fantasy 3310 / 8054. On July 30, 2002, Fantasy would reissue it – along with the 1962 LP Cal Tjader Plays Harold Arlen – on CD as Cal Tjader Plays Harold Arlen and West Side Story.
Cal Tjader Plays Harold Arlen is an album by American vibraphonist Cal Tjader, five of its 11 tracks arranged by Tjader's longtime colleague Clare Fischer. Recorded in June 1960 and released in February 1962 on the Fantasy label, it would be reissued on CD – together with Tjader's similarly semi-orchestral 1961 LP, West Side Story – on July 30, 2002, as Cal Tjader Plays Harold Arlen and West Side Story.
Thesaurus is an album by American composer/arranger/pianist Clare Fischer, recorded and released in 1969 by Atlantic Records. Reissued in 1979 as 'Twas Only Yesterday by Discovery Records, and on CD, again by Discovery, in 1988 as part of a CD entitled Waltz, encompassing both Thesaurus and the 1980 LP, Duality. In 2000, Thesaurus received a dedicated CD reissue under its original title from Koch Records.
2+2 is an eponymous album of a vocal quartet called 2+2 with music by the Latin jazz ensemble known as Salsa Picante that was led by the American keyboardist/composer-arranger Clare Fischer. It was recorded in September 1980 and released in February 1981 by Pausa Records, and in Germany on the MPS label, as Foreign Exchange – The First Album. Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 would be reissued on CD in 1999, and as a digital download in 2012, as Latin Patterns, a compilation of remastered highlights from four of Fischer's MPS LPs from this period.
The State of His Art is a studio album by American composer/arranger/pianist Clare Fischer, recorded May 1973 and released in 1976 by Revelation Records, and on CD by Clare Fischer Productions in 2007. This is the first of five strictly solo piano recordings Fischer would make during his career.
First Time Out is the debut album by American composer/arranger/keyboardist Clare Fischer, recorded and released in 1962 by Pacific Jazz Records.
Surging Ahead is the second album by American composer/arranger/keyboardist Clare Fischer, released in 1963 by Pacific Jazz Records.
So Danço Samba is the fourth album by keyboardist/composer-arranger Clare Fischer, and his first in the bossa nova vein, recorded and released in 1964 on the World Pacific label. Devoted primarily to the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, it also features three of Fischer's own compositions.
Manteca! is an album by composer/arranger/keyboardist Clare Fischer, released in November 1965 on the Pacific Jazz label. Following his previous album, So Danço Samba, devoted primarily to the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, and to the bossa nova in general, with this, his first devoted to Afro-Cuban jazz. Fischer also used the occasion to unveil what would become his second bona fide jazz standard, Morning.
Songs for Rainy Day Lovers is an album by American keyboardist/composer-arranger Clare Fischer, recorded in August 1966 and released in September 1967 by Columbia Records. It would be reissued in 1978 on the Discovery label as America the Beautiful, and in 2002 on CD under the same name by Clare Fischer Productions.
One to Get Ready, Four to Go is an album by the composer, arranger and keyboardist Clare Fischer, a program of standards and originals including both solo piano and quartet performances, recorded between 1963 and 1965 and released in 1968 on the Revelation label. Each of the album's sides concludes with one of the quartet tracks, both of which were recorded on November 2, 1963; three of the four solo piano tracks were recorded in March 1964, with Liz Anne added in the spring of 1965.
Brent Sean Cecil Fischer is an American composer, arranger, bandleader, bass guitarist and percussionist. The son of noted composer, arranger, and keyboardist Clare Fischer, Brent Fischer made his recording debut with his father's Latin jazz combo, Salsa Picante, at the age of sixteen, thus inaugurating a more than 30-year-long professional association between the two. Initially confined to performing credits, his input gradually expanded, until, by 2004, Fischer had assumed not merely a large share of the elder Fischer's arranging workload, but also active leadership of the working ensembles directed by his father; moreover, since 2005, Brent Fischer has produced all of his father's albums, starting with Introspectivo. The first two of these released after Clare Fischer's death, ¡Ritmo! and Music for Strings, Percussion and the Rest, each won Grammys; the former in 2013 for Best Latin Jazz Album, the latter in 2014 for Best Instrumental Composition.
Salsa Picante is an album by American composer-arranger/keyboardist Clare Fischer, recorded on January 30, 1978, and marking the eponymous recording debut of Fischer's Latin jazz combo. Initially released in 1979 by MPS Records in Germany, the album's U.S. release came the following year on the Trend/Discovery label. Though long unavailable on CD, four of its tracks made it onto MPS's 1998 anthology of Fischer highlights, Latin Patterns, and the album in its entirety was finally reissued on CD in 2007 by Clare Fischer Productions.
Clarity: Music of Clare Fischer is the 13th album by jazz singer Roseanna Vitro, released in 2014 by Random Act Records. The first instance of a singer releasing an album devoted to Fischer's music, Clarity unveils six new lyrics to previously instrumental compositions. One of these, "Take Your Breath and Sing", features the composer's son Brent Fischer on vibraphone.
This is the discography for American jazz musician Clare Fischer.
You may listen to "In Your Own Sweet Way" here