Stanley Clarke

[Dibble]

Can anyone point me in the direction of something wonderful by SC..(Im new here)

I recently bought an album of his from a charity shop and theres a track on it called Lopsy Lou which I think is just the meanest bit of bass playing I have heard in a long time

Any suggestions?

Debbie

[RainyDay]

Haven't seen you post before so welcome to JC.

I like Clarke but I don't think I have anything by him, even in vinyl. Maybe someone else has ideas.

BET on Jazz broadcast a tribute of sorts to him a couple weeks ago. I only caught bits of it and haven't caught a rerun yet. It looked pretty good, what I saw.

[HLJ]

Yo 'D' welcome.I'm a big Stanley fan also.He has a Phat new disc out call "1 , 2 To The Bass".May want to dig his "Journey To Love" and "School Days"album.Be sure to checkout his work with Return To Forever specially "Romantic Warrior".Peace and all that.

[Dibble]

Thank you for the recommends.and the welcomes too.Im off to investigate..

Debbie

[Gentle Giant]

After following up the speedy fusion part of his career (best exemplified by School Days, IMO), Clarke hooked up for George Duke for a couple of pop-soul albums, followed by a hip-hop thing. Then he surprised his fans by releasing If This Bass Could Only Talk. On this highly diverse album, Clarke turns his playing back towards jazz. The album opens and closes with duets between him and Gregory Hines (yes, that's right: bass and tap dancing). Here's the AMG review by Scott Yanow, who knows all:

This was bassist Stanley Clarke's twelfth solo set, and one of his very few that would be recommended to jazz (as opposed to funk and R&B) listeners. On the instrumental set, Clarke's bass is featured in a wide variety of settings, including duets with tap dancer Gregory Hines and drummer John Robinson, a quartet with Wayne Shorter ("Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"), in a power trio with guitarist Allan Holdsworth and drummer Stewart Copeland, a piece with George Duke (on acoustic piano for a change) and soprano saxophonist George Howard, a quartet with the synthesizers of Steve Hunt, and "Funny How Time Flies," which has a colorful Freddie Hubbard trumpet solo. Throughout, Clarke's bass has plenty of solo space, and he shows how strong a player he can be when given decent material. — Scott Yanow

The only exception I would take with Scott's review is where he says that Clarke is a strong player "when given decent material." Clarke wrote all but two of the tunes on the album, so he wasn't given anything. And School Days proved his chops as a player and a composer for good back in 1976.

I think Stanley and Jaco are the twin towers of electric bass, and of the two, Clarke's been much more likely to go off and do commercial crap. But he's also a broader player, capable of exceptional acoustic and arco work in addition to going nutty on the electric. You might want to check out Chick Corea/Return to Forever (with the bird on the cover); he's got a nice acoustic feature on that. But suffice to say, I heartily recommend If This Bass Could Only Talk.

[Dibble]

Thank you ..I will investigate..I now have School Days ...on order
If This Bass Could Talk sounds very interesting..

Debbie X

[gonzo]

i can't recommend anything after the late 70's. someone told him
he could sing. i think its kind of sad when the bass player has to have another bass player in the band to hold down the groove, which is by the way, the role of the bass player!!!!!

[ormsbop]

I second "If this Bass Could Only Talk". No singin' and it came out in late 80s.

[Chazro]

Wazzup All!

Lest we forget, Stanley's played on quite a few dates as a sideman. One of my favorites was 'Echoes Of An Era', an all-acoustic date initiated by drummer Lenny White and featuring Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, and, believe it or not, Chaka Khan singing Jazz standards! As always, I strongly recommend allmusicguide.com as a fantastic source for music info.

Here's a photo I took of Stanley with George Mraz in Perugia during the 1984 Umbria Jazz Festival.

[Dibble]

Thank you all for the info.and the pic.I havent heard him sing..just play the bass..and Im impressed, and thanks for bothering with a novice..lol

The album I have is simply entitles "Stanley Clarke" and I have been trying to post a pic of the album cover..but cant!!!
and Lopsy Lou is the most fantastic track

I downloaded the title track of Shool Days because I couldnt wait for my order to arrive..can I say that here..and its fantastic

I keep looking for the postman


I also heard "Funk Is Its Own Reward" today...wow

Debbie XX..and thanks

[BFrank]

Here's the cover!


I liked this album for the presence of Tony Williams.

Otherwise, I'm partial to his earlier work on the first 2 Return To Forever albums ("Return To Forever" & "Light As A Feather") and his first solo album "Children of Forever" (with vocals by Andy Bey and Dee Dee Bridgewater).

[Dibble]

Thank you BFrank..I shall investigate those too..I like it here!

Debbie

[Clay Fink]

Stanley plays some wondeful acoustic bass on the first Return to Forever album. I love the rest of the RTF albums up until the big band version.

I actually saw Stanley playing with Keith Richards and Ron Wood. They did a tour as "The New Barbarians". The band also included Ziggy Modeleste of The Meters. I was too fucked up to remember much of the show.

[Dibble]

Thank you Clay Fink..hope you are felling better now Its been a while..

I have ordered this too..I like Chic Corea..I am learning so much here..thanks all

Can anyone who is far more articulate than I am, DESCRIBE Lopsy Lou..(I do sums for a living!!..not words..) I think it is wonderful..

Gawd..what have I missed !!!

Debbie

[Gentle Giant]

There's also a live CD came out a few years ago, with material from the School Days tour. This is a different set than the 2-LP I Wanna Play For You that he released in the late 70s, which is very hit or miss and includes studio tracks as well (and vocals). The CD is very strong, and well-recorded, and features a couple of RFT tunes to boot. I think it's just called Live 1976-77; I'll have to check it at home (at work now), but if you can find it you should grab it.

[Dibble]

Thank You..I shall try

Debbie

[joel]

Stanley Clarke - Live at the Greek (Sony © 1994)
Samples

Personnel:
Larry Carlton - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Najee - Synthesizer, Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor), Tabla, Performer, WX7 Wind Controller
Stanley Clarke - Bass, Bass (Electric), Producer,Liner Notes, Bass (Acoustic)
Billy Cobham - Percussion, Drums
Deron Johnson - Keyboards

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