„up“ Stanley Clarke

The seven-disc Stanley Clarke anthology, The Complete 1970s Epic Albums Collection, brings together all six of the influential jazz bassist's original albums for Epic. Included here: 1974's Stanley Clarke, 1975's Journey to Love, 1976's School Days, 1978's Modern Man, 1979's I Wanna Play for You, as well as the 1991 concert compilation Live (1976-1977). These are highly recommended jazz, funk, and fusion releases and must-haves for any Clarke fan.

The 2010 self-titled release by the Stanley Clarke Band is aptly titled; it actually feels more like a band record than anything he's done in decades. This isn't saying that Clarke's solo work is somehow less than, but when he surrounds himself with musicians that are all prodigies in their own right, the end results tend to be more satisfying. Produced by Clarke and Lenny White, his band is made up Compton double-kick drum maestro Ronald Bruner, Jr., Israeli pianist/keyboardist Ruslan Sirota, and pianist Hiromi Uehara (aka Hiromi) who plays selectively but is considered a member.

The Toys of Men is a mature work from an artist who’s got nothing left to prove, and is the closest thing to a fusion album Clarke’s released since the inconsistent collaborative effort Vertu (Epic, 1999). A far more satisfying disc, it’s a career consolidation of sorts, with Clarke also delivering a series of lyrical solo acoustic bass miniatures, referencing past efforts while, at the same time, playing with considerably more restraint.

Albums came less frequently from Stanley Clarke in the 1990s as film scores took up more and more of his time. Not only that, the ideas and functions of film music play a large role in East River Drive, where selections come as often as not in the form of cue-like vamps, as well as two actual themes from Clarke's scores for the films Poetic Justice and Boyz N the Hood. Oddly enough, Clarke's music benefits from his film immersion, for his compositional ideas are sharper and more sophisticated here, and he applies them to a range of electric music idioms.

Stanley Clarke is without doubt a phenomenally talented bassist but has not done much to showcase this ability on his own recordings since the late '70s. You can chalk that up mostly to Clarke's propensity for trite, pop-oriented material that does little to illuminate his great technical command of the instrument or to engage the listener either melodically or lyrically. 1, 2, To The Bass is a step in the right direction with a more jazz-oriented feel and some interesting guest appearances.

Stanley Clarke and George Duke,two musical titans who'd worked together for years finaly get around to doing a duo album, namely one that emphasises the funk that both artist's regular releases tended to skim over and considering funk is both artists best asset,that's a wonderful thing.

A brilliant player on both acoustic and electric basses, Stanley Clarke has spent much of his career outside of jazz, although he has the ability to play jazz with the very best. He played accordion as a youth, switching to violin and cello before settling on bass. He worked with R&B and rock bands in high school, but after moving to New York, he worked with Pharoah Sanders in the early '70s. George Duke showed a great deal of promise early in his career as a jazz pianist and keyboardist, but has forsaken that form to be a pop producer.

While this CD didn't have the vibe of our first record together, it was vastly superior to the second CD. There was a lot of raw energy coupled with orchestration finesse. That's what Clarke/Duke is about - sweet and sour! ~ George Duke

Perhaps aware of some creeping staleness in his records, Stanley Clarke brought in a lot of help and sailed in the general direction of the wave on Hideaway, but with only slightly improved results. George Howard, Angela Bofill, Herbie Hancock, Stewart Copeland (with whom Clarke would soon form Animal Logic), the newly emerged Stanley Jordan, and bass colleague Alphonso Johnson are some of the more recognizable names on board, and Clarke mans all of the instruments himself on the drum computer-driven "When It's Cold Outside."

If you are an electric bass player, this album will keep you busy for a while, listening to Mr. Clarke's excellent work. His range of tone qualities and techniques are amply exhibited here. This is a showcase for Stanley Clarke's virtuosity, and really an encyclopedia of the state of electric bass technique at the end of the 20th century.