Clarence Profit born 26 June 1912

Clarence Profit (June 26, 1912 – October 22, 1944) was a jazz pianist and composer associated with swing. His premature death has led to him being somewhat obscure in jazz history books although he was rated quite high during his lifetime. He was born, and died, in New York City.

A very talented swing pianist, Clarence Profit passed away just before the bop era officially began so one does not know for sure how he would have adjusted his style during the next few years.  He came from a musical family, his father being Herman Profit who was a professional pianist and his cousin Sinclair Mills was also a pianist. 

Clarence began studying piano at the age of three and was a child prodigy, broadcasting while still at school. He then plays for the radio with saxophonist Edgar SAMPSON and works with his orchestra in several New York residences such as " Bamboo Inn ", " Renaissance " and " Alhambra ". 

 In 1930 and 1931 he was a member of " Teddy Bunn's Washboard Serenaders ".  In the early 1930s he visited his grandparents in Antigua and then spent two years in West India where he directed an octet.  He then played in Bermuda and St Kitts.  In November 1936 he returned to New York and formed a trio that played in the most famous clubs, including the " George's Tavern " (1937-39), the " Ritz Carlton " of Boston (1938), the " Yeah Man Club" And the " Café Society " (1939), the " Village Vanguard " (1940), the " Kelly's Stable " (1940-43), the " Performer's and Music Club " (1942) and again the " Village Vanguard " in 1944.

 

The Clarence Profit Trio (1937 – 1944) recorded only a dozen or so sides in 1939 and 1940 with his regular group (featuring either Billy Moore or Jimmy Shirley on guitar and bassist Ben Brown), displaying an advanced swing style and a bit of stride. It was an eclectic, versatile group which played well-rehearsed, somewhat

Profit with James VanDerZee

prim arrangements, featuring Profit’s elegant finely textured piano and guitarist Billy Moore’s curious amalgam of Hawaiian guitar and Django Reinhardt.

Their recordings were somewhat more commercially oriented than their club appearances. But at its best – the earlier recordings provide a glimpse of this pioneer trio (along with the Nat Cole Trio) became one of the earliest models for dozens of similar groups flourishing in the 40’s. Profit was co-composer with Edgar Sampson of "Lullaby In Rhythm."

Tragically, illness exacerbated by self-neglect took him out at the age of 32 in October 1944, abruptly terminating a standing engagement at the Village Vanguard and preventing him from playing a more sustained active role in the rapid rise of early modern jazz. 

 (Info scarce but compiled and edited from AllMusic, Wikipedia, Swing FM & The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz 1930 – 1945 by Gunther Schuller) 

Harold Randolph, kazoo / Clarence Profit, piano / Teddy Bunn, guitar / Bruce Johnson, washboard, vocals