Trumpet man Kevin Ray Clark started his career as a staff musician for the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus Band, then for Walt Disney World for 10 years. In 1992, he moved to New Orleans and performed and toured with the Grammy-nominated Dukes of Dixieland and others.

Throughout the 2000s, he had stints as a music director in Toronto and Charlotte, N.C., before eventually moving back to New Orleans to lead the Dukes of Dixieland, perform with the Grammy-winning New Orleans Nightcrawlers, and work as the musical director of Fritzel’s Jazz Pub on Bourbon Street.

Kevin Ray Clark joined us in the Gumbo Kitchen for a conversation.