Stanley Clarke
(born June 30, 1951 in Philadelphia) is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores. He is best known for his work with the fusion band Return to Forever.
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Early life and education
Clarke was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was introduced to the bass as a schoolboy when he arrived late on the day instruments were distributed to students and acoustic bass was one of the few remaining selections.
[1] He is a graduate of Roxborough High School in Philadelphia. Having graduated from the Philadelphia Musical Academy, (which was absorbed into the
University of the Arts (Philadelphia) in 1985), he moved to
New York City in 1971 and began working with famous bandleaders and musicians including
Horace Silver,
Art Blakey,
Dexter Gordon,
Gato Barbieri,
Joe Henderson,
Chick Corea,
Pharoah Sanders,
Gil Evans and
Stan Getz. Clarke is 190cm (6'3") and his Alembic basses tend to be short-scale (in this case, 78cm (30-3/4") versus a typical 86cm (34")).
1970s
During the 1970s he joined the
jazz fusion group
Return to Forever led by pianist and synth player
Chick Corea. The group became one of the most important fusion groups and released several albums that achieved both mainstream popularity and plaudits from critics. Clarke also started his solo career in the early 1970s and released a number of albums under his own name. His well-known solo album is
School Days
(1976), which, along with
Jaco Pastorius's
self-titled debut, is one of the influential solo bass recordings in fusion history. His albums
Stanley Clarke
(1974) and
Journey to Love
(1975) are also notable.
Film and television composing
Clarke began with TV scores for
ABC's short-lived series
A Man Called Hawk
and an Emmy-nominated score for
Pee-wee's Playhouse
. Clarke then moved on to work as a composer, orchestrator, conductor and performer of scores for such films as:
Boyz N the Hood
, the
biopic of
Tina Turner What's Love Got to Do with It
,
Passenger 57
,
Higher Learning
,
Poetic Justice,
Panther
,
The Five Heartbeats
,
Book of Love,
Little Big League,
and
Romeo Must Die
. He also scored the
Luc Besson- produced/co-written action film,
The Transporter, starring
Jason Statham and a
Michael Jackson video release directed by
John Singleton entitled
Remember the Time
. He played from 1998-99 on Shinichiro Watanabe's
Cowboy Bebop and was part of the New York Musicians. He can be heard playing on the 1999 album
Cowboy Bebop Blue. In the 2000s, he composed music for the
Showtime Network program
Soul Food
.
Right-hand technique
Clarke places his right hand so that his fingers approach the strings much as they would on an
upright bass, but rotated through 90 degrees. To achieve this, his forearm lies above and nearly parallel to the strings, while his wrist is hooked downward at nearly a right angle. For lead and solo playing, his fingers partially hook underneath the strings so that when released, the strings snap against the frets, producing a biting percussive attack. In addition to an economical variation on the funky
Larry Graham-style slap-n'-pop technique, Clarke also uses downward thrusts of the entire right hand, striking two or more strings from above with his fingernails (examples of this technique include "School Days", "Rock and Roll Jelly", "Wild Dog", and "Danger Street").
Equipment
Clarke has long been associated with
Alembic basses, and the much of his recorded output has been produced on Alembic instruments, particularly a dark-wood-colored custom bass in the Series I body style. These basses are handmade neck-through-body instruments made from a mixture of exotic woods and a proprietary active pickup system that is powered from an external power supply. A bass guitar is produced by Alembic. Clarke also utilizes full-range amplification for his basses, including two QSC 2050 amplifiers, more in keeping with a keyboardist's rig than a bassist's or guitarists. To extend his melodic range to play higher registers as he sees orchestrationally fit, he also used the piccolo bass and the tenor bass. A piccolo bass is a bass guitar, tuned one octave higher - Clarke's are usually short scale (78cm or 30.75"), four string,
Carl Thompson or Alembic. A tenor bass is tuned A,D,G,C in the same octave range as a standard bass.
In the late 1970s, Clarke was playing
Rick Turner's first graphite neck on his , and he decided to have an all composite bass made. He commissioned designer/luthier to design and build this bass, having purchased one of Lieber's Spider grinder basses in 1979. In 1980 Lieber and Clarke formed the Spellbinder Corporation and produced a limited run of fifty . One left-handed bass was built as a gift from Stanley to Paul McCartney. After the run the molds were destroyed. In 2007 Clarke once again teamed up with Lieber and Rick Turner to reform the and produce a limited run of 125 of the Spellbinder Bass II, which Clarke is currently playing on the RTF reunion tour. Clarke has also played a , and a German made
Collaborations
He formed
Animal Logic with
rock drummer Stewart Copeland, after the break-up of
The Police, and
singer-songwriter Deborah Holland. Other notable (recording/touring) project involvements are: (1979)
Jeff Beck, (1979)
Ron Wood's
New Barbarians, (1981) Clarke/Duke Project with George Duke, (1989) Animal Logic with Stewart Copeland, (1993-94), A group with Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham, Najee & Deron Johnson, (1995) The Rite of Strings with
Jean-Luc Ponty and
Al Di Meola and (1999) Vertu’ with
Lenny White. In addition to touring with his own band, Clarke continues also collaborates with other artists on tour. During the summer and fall of 2007 he toured with his Rites of Strings comrades, Al DiMeola and Jean-Luc Ponty. In addition to a date in France and dates in the Eastern US, the tour included shows in South America.
In 2006 Clarke joined old friend George Duke for a 40-city tour of festivals and performing arts centers. This was the first time Clarke and Duke had toured together in fifteen years. The duo first teamed to form the Clarke/Duke Project in 1981. They scored a Top 20 hit with “Sweet Baby” and recorded three albums. In 2005 Clarke toured as
Trio! with banjo virtuoso
Béla Fleck and Jean Luc Ponty. The US and European tour was nominated for a 2006
Relix Jammy Award in the category of “Tour of the Year."
Night School
Early in 2007, Clarke's own Roxboro Entertainment Group released a DVD entitled
Night School: An Evening with Stanley Clarke and Friends
(HUDV-7118) through the Heads Up International label. The 90-minute presentation documents the third annual Stanley Clarke Scholarship Concert, recorded at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA, in October 2002. The group offers scholarships to students in financial need who excel in music. The Night School DVD scholarship concert features diverse group of musicians that include Stevie Wonder, Wallace Roney, Bela Fleck, Sheila E., Stewart Copeland, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, Wayman Tisdale, Marcus Miller and others.
Night School
captures performances that range from straight-ahead jazz to full-tilt rock fusion to a twenty-two-piece string ensemble.
2000s
Since the 80s, Stanley has been turning his energy to film and television scoring. He is currently scoring the ABC Family Channel series “Lincoln Heights” in addition to writing the show's theme song. In October 2006 Clarke was honored with
Bass Player
magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award. Bassists
Marcus Miller and
Victor Wooten presented the award at a ceremony at New York City's Millennium Broadway Hotel. A multi-Grammy award winner, Stanley was the first “Jazzman of the Year” for
Rolling Stone
magazine, won Music Award - Best Bassist from
Playboy
magazine for 10 straight years, and is a member of
Guitar Player
magazine's “Gallery of Greats.” He was honored with the key to the city of Philadelphia and put his hands in cement as a 1999 inductee into Hollywood's “Rock Walk” on Sunset Boulevard. In 2004 he was featured in
Los Angeles
magazine as one of the 50 most influential people.
BET-J launched a series hosted by Clarke entitled
On the Road with Stanley Clarke
in June 2006. The series consists of seven episodes titled: “Origins of Black Music,” “That Philly Sound,” “Jazz Beyond the Classroom,” “Black Music in Film, Television & Theatre,” “Jazz,” “Black Music in Film – The Next Generation” and “Bass to Bass.” Some of his guests include Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller, George Duke, The Tate Brothers, Gamble & Huff and academics Dr. Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje and Dr. Cheryl Keyes from the Department of Ethnomusicology at UCLA among many others. “On the Road with Stanley Clarke” episodes are set to rerun on BET-J in 2007. In 2008, Stanley was presented with a doctorate in fine arts from his alma mater, the
University of the Arts. He has three children (Chris and two stepchildren, Natasha and Frank).
The Toys of Men
Clarke's new CD is entitled
The Toys of Men
. It was his first release in five years, and it was released on October 17, 2007. The first week of release it went to #2 on
Billboard
magazine's Contemporary Jazz Chart. The 13-track CD examines the issue of war, and it includes performances by vocalist/bassist Esperanza Spalding, percussionist
Paulinho da Costa and violinist
Mads Tolling.
The Toys of Men
includes acoustic bass interludes that provide a counterpoint to Clarke's better known electric bass attack.
Discography
Solo albums
- Children of Forever
(Polydor) (1973)
- Stanley Clarke
(Nemperor) (1974)
- Journey to Love
(Nemperor) (1975)
- School Days
(Nemperor) (1976)
- Modern Man
(Nemperor) (1978)
- I Wanna Play for You
(Nemperor) (1979)
- Fuse One
(IMS) (1980)
- Rocks, Pebbles and Sand
(Epic) (1980)
- The Clarke/Duke Project, Vol. 1
(Epic) (1981)
- Let Me Know You
(Epic) (1982)
- The Clarke/Duke Project, Vol. 2
(Epic) (1983)
- Time Exposure
(Epic) (1984)
- Find Out!
(Epic) (1985)
- Hideaway
(Epic) (1986)
- Project
(CBS) (1988)
- If This Bass Could Only Talk
(Portrait) (1988)
- 3
(Epic) (1989)
- Live 1976-1977
(Epic) (1991)
- Passenger 57
(Epic) (1992)
- East River Drive
(Epic) (1993)
- Live at the Greek
(Epic) (1993)
- Live at Montreux
(Jazz Door) (1994)
- The Rite of Strings
(Gai Saber) (1995)
- At the Movies
(Epic Soundtrax) (1995)
- The Bass-ic Collection
(Sony) (1997)
- 1,2,To The Bass
(Sony) (2003)
- The Toys of Men
(Heads Up) (2007)
with Return to Forever
- Return to Forever
(1972, ECM)
- Light as a Feather
(1972, Polydor)
- Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
(1973, Polydor)
- Where Have I Known You Before
(1974, Polydor)
- No Mystery
(1975, Polydor)
- Romantic Warrior
(1976, Columbia)
- Musicmagic
(1977, Columbia)
- Return to Forever Live
(1979)
- The Best of Return to Forever
(1980)
- Returns
(2009)
with Pharoah Sanders
with The New Barbarians
- '' Buried Alive (recorded 1979, released 2006)
with Joe Farrell
As a co-leader/band member
- Echoes of an Era (with Chaka Khan)
- Echoes of an Era 2 Live (with Nancy Wilson)
- The Griffith Park Collection
- The Griffith Park Collection 2 In Concert
- Clarke/Duke Project (with George Duke) (1981)
- Clarke/Duke Project II (1983)
- Clarke/Duke Project III (1990)
- Live in Montreux, 1988 (1993, Jazz Door-bootleg)
- Stanley Clarke & Friends (with Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham, Deron Johnson & Najee)
- Live At The Greek (1994)
- The Manhattan Project (with Lenny White, Michel Petrucciani, Wayne Shorter) (1989)
- Animal Logic (1989)
- Animal Logic II (1991)
- Implosions (with Randy Brecker, McCoy Tyner, Frank Morgan, Peter Erskine, Roger Kellaway and Ernie Watts) (1987)
- The Rite of Strings
(with Al Di Meola and Jean Luc Ponty) (1995)
- Vertu’ – McCoy Tyner with Stanley Clarke and Richie Kotzen (with Lenny White) (1999)
- McCoy Tyner with Stanley Clarke and Al Foster (2000)
- Thunder
, as SMV (with Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten) (2008)
- Jazz in the Garden (The Stanley Clarke Trio with Hiromi and Lenny White) (2009)
As a producer
- Roy Ayers - In The Dark
- Roy Buchanan - Loading Zone
- Dee Dee Bridgewater - Just Family
- Natalie Cole - I’m Ready
- Maynard Ferguson - Hollywood
- Free Flight - Illuminations
- Rodney Franklin - Diamonds Inside of You
- Howard Hewett - I Commit to Love
- Kent Jordan - No Question About it
- Ramsey Lewis & Nancy Wilson - The Two of Us
- Jeff Lorber
- Marilyn McCoo
- Brenda Russell
- Shalamar - The Look
- Billy Shields - Shieldstone
- Jim Walker - Private Fligh
Filmography
Feature films
Like Mike 2: Streetball 2006
directed by David Nelson
Into the Sun
2005
directed by mink
Roll Bounce
2005
directed by Malcolm D. Lee
The Transporter
2002
directed by
Luc Besson, Louis Leterrier, Corey Yuen
Undisputed
2002
directed by Walter Hill
Undercover Brother
2002
directed by Malcolm D. Lee
Romeo Must Die
2000
directed by
Andrzej Bartkowiak
Dangerous Ground
1999
directed by Darrell Roodt
The Best Man
1999
directed by Malcolm D. Lee
Down in the Delta
1998
directed by
Maya Angelou
B*A*P*S
1997
directed by
Robert Townsend
Sprung 1997
directed by Rusty Cundieff
Eddie
1996
directed by
Steve Rash
Higher Learning
1995
directed by John Singleton
Panther
1995
directed by
Mario Van Peebles
The Show 1995
directed by Brian Robbins
Bleeding Hearts
1994
directed by
Gregory Hines
Little Big League
1994
directed by Andrew Scheinman
Red Hot 1993
Paul Haggis
Watch It
1993
directed by Tom Flynn
What's Love Got to Do with It
(the
Tina Turner story) 1993
directed by
Brian Gibson
Poetic Justice
1993
directed by John Singleton
Passenger 57
1992
directed by
Kevin Hooks
Boyz 'N The Hood
1991
directed by
John Singleton
Cool as Ice
1991
directed by
David Kellogg
The Five Heartbeats
1991
directed by Robert Townsend
The Book Of Love
1990
directed by
Robert Shaye
Tap
1989
directed by Nick Castle
One Down Two To Go
1983
directed by Fred Williamson
Television
“Lincoln Heights” (Series) 2006 – present
ABC Family Channel
“Soul Food” (Series) 2000 - 2004
directed by Felicia D. Henderson
“Tales from the Crypt” 1990
directed by Jack Sholder, Joel Silver
(Episode: “Fitting Punishment”)
“Hull High” (Series) 1990
directed by Gil Grant, Bruce Bilson, Kenny Ortega,
Steven Robman
“A Man Called Hawk” (Series) 1989
directed by Mario DiLeo, Bill Duke,
Harry Falk, Winrich Kolbe,
Stan Latham, Sigmund Neufeld Jr, Virgil W. Vogel
Pee Wee's Playhouse
(Selected Episodes) 1986
directed by Bill Freiberger, Steven Johnson, Guy J. Loutham, William Orr, Paul Reubens
“Knightwatch” (Series) 1988 -1989
directed by Sharon Miller, Kevin Rodney Sullivan
Television movies
“Murder She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle” 2003
directed by Anthony Pullen Shaw
“The Big Time” 2002
directed by Paris Barclay
“Little John” (Hallmark Hall of Fame) 2002
directed by Dick Lowry
“The Red Sneakers” 2002
directed by Gregory Hines
“Murder She Wrote: The Last Free Man” 2001
directed by Anthony Pullen Shaw
“The Color of Friendship” 2000
directed by Kevin Hooks
“The Loretta Claiborne Story” 2000
directed by Lee Grant
“Rocky Marciano” 1999
directed by
Charles Winkler
“Funny Valentines” 1999
directed by Julie Dash
“If You Believe” 1999
directed by Alan Metzger
“Love Kills” 1998
directed by Brian Grant
“On the Line” 1998
directed by Elodie Keene
“Road to Galveston” 1996
directed by Michael Toshiyuki Uno
“The Cherokee Kid” 1996
directed by Paris Barclay
“Royce” 1994
directed by Rob Holcomb
“Relentless: Mind of a Killer” 1993
directed by John Patterson
“Boy Meets Girl” 1993
directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan
“Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story” 1992
directed by Charles Braverman
“Prison Stories: Women on the Inside” 1991
directed by Donna Deitch, Joan Micklin Silver, Penelope Spheeris
“The Kid Who Loved Christmas” 1990
directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman
“The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson” 1990
directed by Larry Peerce
“Blue Bayou” 1990
directed by Karen Arthur
“Dangerous Pursuit” 1990
directed by Sandor Stern
“Tales from the Whoop” 1990
directed by Whoopi Goldberg
“Out on the Edge” 1989
directed by John Pasquin
Animation
“Static Shock” (Series) 2000
directed by Denys Cowan, Dan Riba
"Cowboy Bebop" (Series) 1998-1999
directed by Shinichiro Watanabe
“Waynehead” (Series) 1996-1997
directed by Damon Wayans
“Cool Like That Christmas” 1994
directed by David Feiss, Swinton O. Scott III
Music videos
“Michael Jackson: Remember the Time” 1992
directed by John Singleton
Documentaries
Meet Bob Shaye 2004
directed by Jeffery Schwartz
Maryanne e gli altri (Italy) 1995
directed by Ita Cesa, Giuseppe Selva
References
- Live Interview with David Dye, November 2, 2007. [1]