Founder and Artistic Director of the University of South Carolina’s Jazz Girls Day, Dr. Colleen Clark serves as an Assistant Professor of Jazz at the same university. She coordinates the small ensembles, conducts a big band, and teaches drumset studio and jazz history courses. Described as "someone to watch" and "someone who will be turning heads in jazz for years to come," Clark was invited by the ASCAP Foundation to lead her band, the Colleen Clark Collective, at the Kennedy Center. She has performed in prominent NYC venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, and the 55 Bar. Her debut album, featuring entirely her original music, is titled Introducing Colleen Clark and was produced by Gordon Stout with engineering by ten-time Grammy Award nominee/winner, Brian Dozoretz.
Dr. Clark proudly joined the Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Combo for their premiere performance at the Jazz Education Network Conference in 2019. She has presented her research on the evolution of the ride cymbal pattern for the Percussive Arts Society and the Jazz Education Network. Clark can also be heard on SteepleChase record #900, Allegra Levy's Lose My Number: Allegra Levy Sings John McNeil, and upcoming records released by Dr. Matt White and Michael Dease. Notably, Dr. Clark is the only woman and drummer to have earned a doctoral degree in jazz from the University of North Texas.
In July 2021, Clark joined the Percussive Arts Society Drumset Committee and was nominated as Vice President of the South Carolina Chapter. She is also the Assistant Coordinator for the Jazz Education Network’s Sisters in Jazz program, of which she is an alum. Her latest musical endeavor is CC & the Adelitas, which merges the golden era of Mexican music with jazz.
