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Stanley Clarke

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Stanley Clarke

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.

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 190 cm (6'3") and his Alembic basses tend to be short-scale (in this case, 78 cm (30-3/4") versus a typical 86 cm (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 Stanley Clarke Signature Model 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 (78 cm 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 Alembic "Black Beauty" bass, and he decided to have an all composite bass made. He commissioned designer/luthier Tom Lieber 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 Spellbinder basses. 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 Spellbinder Corp. 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 Ken Smith BT Custom, and a German made Löwenherz Tenor Bass.

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

with Return to Forever

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

  1. ^ Live Interview with David Dye, November 2, 2007. [1]
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