Black Music Sunday is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music, with over 260 stories covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new.
I love celebrating musician’s birthdays, especially when we can give them their flowers while they are still with us. Today I’m honoring Stanley Clarke, who was born on June 30, 1951, and look forward to many more years of doing so.
Clarke became a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2020. Here’s how they introduce him:
Stanley Clarke’s bass-playing, showing exceptional skill on both acoustic and electric bass, has made him one of the most influential players in modern jazz history. In addition to his solo career, Clarke, as a founding member of the legendary jazz-rock fusion band Return to Forever, has helped redefine the sound of jazz over the last 50 years. Return to Forever—Clarke with fellow seminal members Chick Corea, Lenny White, and Al Di Meola—would become one of the most popular jazz bands of its day, pulling fans from the rock world to achieve commercial success. As part of his strong belief in giving back, he also established the Stanley Clarke Foundation, a charitable organization which awards scholarships to talented young musicians each year.
Clarke grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with his mother encouraging him to study music. He first played the violin and cello before settling on the bass, attending the Settlement Music School, where his focus was on studying classical bass repertoire. Clarke made his professional debut at age 15, joining saxophonist Byard Lancaster at the Showboat jazz club. Following studies at the Philadelphia Musical Academy, Clarke moved to New York City, soon working with legendary performers such as Art Blakey, Gil Evans, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, and Horace Silver.
Give a listen to “Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers—Song for a Lonely Woman” which was written by Clarke.
NEA includes this interview with him, in which he talks about his beginnings and introduction to jazz:
Among other jazz greats he played with was saxophonist Dexter Gordon:
Clarke’s website goes into more of his biographical details:
In his early teens, Stanley moved from the violin, his fingers were too big for, and the cello that never sat well with him, to an abandoned acoustic double bass in the corner of a school band room. It was the first of many moments that would shape his future and the role of the bassplayer for years to come. […]
Stanley made his professional debut at 15-years old, when he was invited by saxophonist Byard Lancaster to join him for a week of shows at the landmark Showboat Lounge, where many of the greats like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Stan Getz and others would play and record. The gig, for which Stanley and drummer Darryl Brown were paid about $75, was an experience which sparked the flame of inspiration that would propel the nascent ambitions of the young bassist like a rocket.
With the arrival of the British Invasion bands and his Roxborough High School years, the electric bass, a Kent electric bass purchased for around $50, found its way into Stanley’s hands and so did opportunities to play parties and shows with many bands across the City of Brotherly Love.
Upon leaving the Philadelphia Musical Academy (now part of the University of the Arts), Stanley made his way to New York City where he very quickly landed opportunities to work with such greats as Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Pharaoh Saunders, Gil Evans and Stan Getz. He would also find himself playing again with Chick Corea. The two had met when Chick came to Philadelphia to sit in for a keyboard player in a band in which Stanley was playing. Almost immediately, the two recognized something in the talents of the other that night that would form the basis of their musical friendship and the creation of the groundbreaking jazz-rock fusion unit, Return to Forever.
Give a listen to Return to Forever’s first album, which was titled simply “Return To Forever:
Ivan Bodley at AllAboutJazz writes about how getting to know legendary composer Charles Mingus impacted him:
Digging through the great multitude of accolades bestowed upon Stanley reveals an interesting phenomenon. It is difficult to remember how limited the potential career path of a bass player was before he came on the scene. Stanley almost single-handedly took the bass out of the shadows and brought it to the very front of the stage, literally and figuratively. […]
Certainly there were great and celebrated bass players before Stanley like Ron Carter, Scott LaFaro, and the pioneering composer Charles Mingus. But Clarke became the first bassist in history to headline sold-out world tours and have gold albums. He was also the first to double on acoustic and electric bass with equal virtuosity, power, and fire. By the time he was 25 years old, he was already regarded as a pioneer in the jazz fusion movement.
Clarke cites Mingus as a great influence personally and professionally. “The greatest moment in my life that changed me was having dinner with the great Charlie Mingus. He had the personality of a revolutionary that could have run a paramilitary group. He was very intense, heavy! That’s when I realized exactly what I wanted to do with the bass. I was going to approach my career completely like a revolutionary. Whatever was there, I was going to do the opposite.” The rest, as they say, literally is history.
Interestingly electric bass, for which Stanley is most renowned, is not his principal instrumental. His first passion, which carries to this day, is for the acoustic bass. “Electric bass is my secondary instrument. When I first started playing electric it was at parties and just for having fun. But I made records and got famous more as an electric bass player than as an acoustic bass player.”
In 1973, Chick Corea produced Clarke’s first solo album, “Children of Forever.” Thom Jurek reviewed the album for AllMusic:
Stanley Clarke’s debut solo effort was issued when he was already a seasoned jazz veteran, and a member of Chick Corea‘s Return to Forever, which at the time of this recording also included Joe Farrell on soprano sax and flute, and the Brazilian team of vocalist Flora Purim and drummer/percussionist Airto Moreira. Produced by Corea, who plays Rhodes, clavinet, and acoustic piano on Children of Forever, the band included flutist Art Webb, then-new RtF drummer Lenny White, guitarist Pat Martino, and a vocal pairing between the inimitable Andy Bey and Dee Dee Bridgewater on three of the five cuts — Bey appears on four. Clarke plays both electric and acoustic bass on the set; and while it would be easy to simply look at this recording as an early fusion date, that would be a tragic mistake. If anything, Children of Forever is a true cousin to Norman Connors‘ classic Dance of Magic and Dark of Light albums, which were also released in 1973; Clarke played bass on both. This is basically funky, spiritual jazz in the best sense. Yes, jazz. That wonderfully mercurial, indefinable force that brings into itself the whole of music, from popular to classical and folk forms, and makes something new out of them. The long title track with its killer vocal interplay between Bridgewater and Bey is seductive from the jump. Add Clarke‘s big fat bassline, which is mellow and meaty at the beginning, but after the long piano and guitar breaks in the middle becomes dirty, fuzzy, and spacy by the end as the cut leans into souled-out funk.
The “message” tunes that make up this music balance the dawning of the future as the logical place of Black consciousness — where a new day was indeed emerging from the struggles of the ’50s and ’60s. Add to this the cosmic looking cover, and its weighed electric and acoustic underpinnings, and you have the makings of a timeless classic
Here’s the title tune:
In 1974, it was followed up by another Corea production simply named “Stanley Clarke:”
Last year, jazz critic, biographer, and journalist Bill Milkowski wrote about his first interview with Clarke, nearly 50 years ago:
Bugle: Does your style of playing differ from acoustic to electric bass?
Clarke: Sure, but it all depends on what emotions I’m creating. With the acoustic bass I can create real soft, subtle emotions or I can get very intense on the acoustic — try to kill, beat the instrument. And it’s the same with the electric bass.
Bugle: How did you choose the bass as your instrument?
Clarke: At the age of 13 I was given a violin, but I couldn’t make it because my hands were too big. The cello had the similar problem — just too small. I even played some tuba in school but I finally came to an upright bass and stuck with that.
Bugle: How did your jazz influences enter?
Clarke: My parents bought a new stereo and with the system came a demonstration record. It was a jazz record with all the great jazz artists of the time — Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Miles Davis, Charlie Mingus. And I listened to that shit and I said, “Man, I don’t know what this is!” But I liked it and I tried to play along with it until I finally I wore that record out.
Bugle: How did you first get involved on the jazz scene?
Clarke: I went to college at the Philadelphia Music Academy for about two years, then decided it wasn’t what I really wanted to do. I wanted to play in front of people, so I left college and came to New York. I joined a band with Horace Silver and stayed with him for about a year. From that point I just played with everyone who came along — Stan Getz, Pharoah, Lonnie Liston Smith and others.
I searched the web looking for a documentary on Clarke, discovered this short trailer, and much to my regret found out that sadly the full film doesn’t exist.
Lest you assume that Clarke’s genre is solely jazz fusion, this tune from 1984 on “Time Exposure” with George Duke and soul singer Howard Hewett belies that notion.
Clarke’s catalog is too big for me to post much more of his work in this story—I’ll have lots more for you to sample in the comments section below. I’ll close with this live performance this month on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert for Black Music Month:
NPR Music has these notes on Clarke’s Tiny Desk Concert:
Once the Tiny Desk logo fades away, one of the things you’ll notice is a wall of amps. Robust sound has always been a hallmark of bassist Stanley Clarke’s musicality; he reminded our audio team not only to pay attention to what the soundboard says but also if it sounds good.
Clarke’s storied career has been awash with showcases in his virtuosity on the acoustic and electric basses. He’s worked with fellow music titans like Chick Corea, George Duke, Jean-Luc Ponty and Al Di Meola, and has scored for film and television. From 1974-1976, Clarke dropped a series of solo albums (“Stanley Clarke,” “Journey to Love” and “School Days”) that would herald his status as a force in music and foreshadow his 2022 designation as an NEA Jazz Master.
Indicative of his passion for spotlighting young musicians, Clarke’s latest ensemble, 4EVER (a callback to his band Return to Forever), features saxophonist Emilio Modeste, guitarist Colin Cook, drummer Jeremiah Collier, violinist Evan Garr and keyboardist Cameron Graves.Opening the set is “Song to John” from 1975’s “Journey to Love,” with Graves and Cook proving they’re more than up to the task laid before them. “Yesterday Princess,” from Clarke’s 1974 self-titled album, gives violinist Garr the chance to shine as his fingers dance over the fingerboard. The performance moves into the electric realm with 2003’s “1, 2, to the Bass,” a track that manages to be both smooth (hat tip to Modeste) and funky at the same time. Collier’s toms build up to the entry of Clarke at work as they close with one of his biggest hits, “School Days.” A little over 50 years since his solo debut, Clarke reminds the audience that there are still new ways to be dazzled by the innovative and solid fullness of his instrument.
Join me in wishing Clarke a happy birthday and please post your favorite tunes of his in the comments below.