Biography stanley clarke

Stanley Clarke

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Four-time Grammy™ winner Stanley Clarke is quite possibly the most celebrated acoustic and electric bassist in the world. As a performer, composer, conductor, arranger, recording artist, producer, and film scorer known for his ferocious dexterity and consummate musicality, Clarke is a true pioneer in jazz and of the bass itself. Unquestionably he is a “living legend,” lauded with every conceivable award available to a musician in his over 40- year career as a bass virtuoso.

Clarke’s incredible proficiency has been rewarded with: four Grammys, gold and platinum records, Emmy nominations, an honorary Doctorate from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, and much more. He was Rolling Stone’s very first Jazzman of the Year and bassist winner of Playboy’s Music Award for ten straight years. Clarke was honored with Bass Player Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award and is a member of Guitar Player Magazine’s “Gallery of Greats.” He was even given the key to the city of Philadelphia.

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.

The traditional role of the bass was largely one of time-keeping that sonically filled out the spectrum. Clarke says: “Before I came along a lot of bass players stood in the back. They were very quiet kind of guys who didn’t appear to write music. But many of those bass players were serious musicians. All that I did was just take the step and create my own band.”

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

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    Music Credits:

     

    “1504 Suite” music and performance by Stanley Clarke and Ruslan Sirota.

    “Hello Again” composed by Stanley Clarke, performed by Return to Forever, from the album, The Best of Return to Forever.

    “School Days,” composed and performed by Stanley Clarke from the album, School Days.

    “La Canción de Sofia” composed by Stanley Clarke, performed by The Stanley Clarke Band, from the album, Up

    Excerpt from Boyz ‘n the Hood, composed by Stanley Clarke

    “NY” composed and performed by Kosta T, from the album Soul Sand. Used courtesy of the Free Music Archive.

    Jo Reed: You’re listening to 2022 NEA Jazz Master bassist and composer Stanley Clarke accompanied by pianist Ruslan Sirota. From the National Endowment for the Arts, this is Art Works, I’m Josephine Reed

    There’s so much to say about Stanley Clarke, it’s hard to know where to begin…..he’s played with jazz legends like Art Blakey, Horace Silver, and Stan Getz—among others. Clarke is one of the original members of Return to Forever, a jazz fusion group founded by Chick Corea that has been expanding the sounds of jazz for the past half century.  Clarke has worked as a solo artist—placing the bass front and center as the lead instrument, t and releasing a number of successful albums including the epic School Days. He teamed up with keyboardist and singer George Duke for the Clarke-Duke Project-- touring and recording a number of albums together including a top 20 pop hit, “Sweet Baby.”  Firmly rejecting being pigeon-holed, Clarke plays across genres—including performances with rock and roll giants like Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, and Ronnie Wood. Since the 1980s he’s composed some 70 film and television scores including John Singleton’s Boyz ‘n the Hood, Jet Li’s Romeo Is Dead, and the documentary Halston. He’s led and been part of trios with a variety of musicians while his group The Stanley Clarke Band won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jaz

    Clarke, Stanley

    Bassist, composer, producer

    For the Record…

    Selected discography

    Sources

    “I don’t feel I should have to make music to satisfy I anyone,” Stanley Clarke told a Rolling Stone interviewer. “But I do feel that one of an artist’s fundamental duties is to create work other people can relate to. I’d be a fool to do something nobody else was going to understand.” Thus jazz bassist Clarke creates music that a wide variety of record buyers and concert-goers are able to relate to and appreciate.

    Born in Philadelphia in 1951, Clarke began his study of music at age ten on the accordion. He played the violin next, then cello, but soon settled on the bass. “The bass was tall and I was tall; it was similar to a violin and a cello, which was the direction I was taking anyway, so I started playing the bass,” Clarke said in an interview for the book Jazz-Rock Fusion: The People, the Music, by Julie Coryell and Laura Friedman. Clarke’s early training was in classical music. He studied music formally at the Philadelphia Musical Academy.

    He began his jazz career in 1970 with the Horace Silver Band. In 1971 he joined Joe Henderson and later worked with the Stan Getz Band. While with Getz, Clarke met pianist Chick Corea, who also was a member of the band. In 1972 Corea formed his own group, taking Clarke along with him. The acoustic jazz group called Return to Forever “was a very energetic band,” noted Mark Gridley in Jazz Styles, “whose flashy technical feats impressed musician and nonmusician alike.” Corea then formed an electric Return to Forever, retaining Clarke, who switched to electric bass, and adding guitarist Al Di Meola and drummer Lenny White. The group was influenced by rock and was one of the forerunners of what was dubbed “jazz-rock fusion” music, combining the melodies and intricacies of jazz with the drive and power of ro

    Stanley Clarke

    American bassist (born 1951)

    For other people named Stanley Clarke, see Stanley Clarke (disambiguation).

    Musical artist

    Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fusion bassist to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and have recordings reach gold status.

    Clarke is the recipient of five Grammy Awards, with 15 nominations, three as a solo artist, one with the Stanley Clarke Band, and one with Return to Forever. Clarke was selected to become a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship.

    A Stanley Clarke electric bass is permanently on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

    Music career

    Early years

    Clarke was born on June 30, 1951, in Philadelphia. His mother sang opera around the house, belonged to a church choir, and encouraged him to study music. He started on accordion, then tried violin. But he felt awkward holding such a small instrument in his big hands when he was twelve years old and over six feet tall. No one wanted the acoustic bass in the corner, so he picked it up. He took lessons on the double bass at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, studying classical bass for five years under Eligio Rossi. He picked up bass guitar in his teens so that he could perform at parties and imitate the rock and pop bands that girls liked.

    Clarke attended the Philadelphia Musical Academy (later known as the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts, and ultimately as the University of the Arts, after having merged with the Philadelphia College of Art) and afte

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