Clare Fischer

Clare Fischer (22 October 1928, Durand, Michigan — 26 January 2012, Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz composer, arranger, bandleader, keyboardist, and multi-instrumentalist. He was the younger brother of Stewart "Dirk" Fischer (1924—2014), uncle of André Fischer (b. 1948), and father of Brent Fischer (b. 1964), with whom Clare extensively collaborated. With a career spanning over five decades, Fischer came to prominence in the early 1960s with seminal albums in Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa, and bossa nova genres, and wrote two standards, Pensativa and Morning. Since the 1970s, Clare Fischer was a sought-after session musician and arranger, collaborating with Prince, João Gilberto, Paul McCartney, Céline Dion, Robert Palmer, Paula Abdul, Natalie Cole, Branford Marsalis, and Michael Jackson.

Fischer attended Michigan State University, studying composition and music theory under Herbert Owen Reed and graduating cum laude with his Bachelor's degree in 1951, followed by a Master's in 1955. (He received an Honorary Ph.D. from Michigan State in December 1999.) Shortly after graduation, Clare Fischer began working with The Hi-Lo's band, as a piano accompanist and subsequently an arranger on several Columbia albums. Circa 1957, Fischer arranged the September Afternoon album for renowned jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd (unreleased for the next 25 years), followed by small ensemble arrangements on A Portrait Of Duke Ellington by Dizzy Gillespie, released by Verve Records to critical acclaim in 1960. He also collaborated with a prominent vibraphonist Cal Tjader on several records on Fantasy and Verve.

In 1962, after relocating to Hollywood and signing his first record deal with Pacific Jazz, Fischer released a debut album under his name, First Time Out. He soon established a reputation in Brazilian music, presenting Bossa Nova Jazz Samba duo with saxophonist Bud Shank, with "Pensativa" widely adopted as a jazz standard. He also arranged Shearing Bossa Nova by pianist George Shearing for Capitol Records. In the early-to-mid 1970s, Fischer began commissioning orchestral and string arrangements for pop-oriented R&B, funk, and disco acts, starting with Chaka Khan's band Rufus co-founded by his nephew André and subsequently working with The Jacksons, Earl Klugh, Switch (6) and DeBarge, Atlantic Starr, and Shotgun (2). Clare also wrote music for commercials and the film industry, collaborating with Henry Mancini and recording piano on Lalo Schifrin's Boulevard Nights soundtrack, among others.

In the late 1970s, he started a new band, Clare Fischer & Salsa Picante, leading on electric piano and featuring his son Brent on electric bass. Their debut 2+2 LP on Pausa Records, featuring an eponymous vocal quartet, earned three Grammy nominations and won the "Best Latin Recording" award in 1981. Fischer then formed Latin Jazz Sextet, winning another Grammy for "Best Jazz Vocal Performance" with Free Fall LP in 1986. He established and directed several other prolific ensembles, including his Big Band and Clare Fischer's Jazz Corps with 20+ brass instruments.

Fischer began collaborating with Prince in 1985, contributing orchestral arrangements on Parade. In the next twenty years, they partnered on several studio albums and film soundtracks, including Sign "O" The Times, Batman, Graffiti Bridge, Love Symbol, Girl 6, and Musicology. Clare Fischer also formed and conducted The NPG Orchestra, which recorded Prince's sole classical music experiment, Kamasutra ballet, and contributed to solo projects by Prince's protegés on Paisley Park and NPG Records, including Jill Jones, Eric Leeds, The Family band, Chaka Khan, Larry Graham's GCS, Támar Davis, and Bria Valente.