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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.
The release of his self-titled Stanley Clarke in 1974 and the widely regarded School Days two years later, took the world by storm, transforming the bass into a melodic and harmonic lead instrument, as never before. Stanley’s hypnotic, innovative approach to playing the instrument liberated the bass from the back to the front of the stage.
Jul 19, 2011 · Fusion legend Stanley Clarke talks about his double-bass roots, his bevy of Alembic electrics, why all bassists should jam with other 4-stringers, and his recent reunion album with fellow Return to Forever bandmates Chick Corea and Lenny White.
- Dan Berkowitz
May 13, 2022 · Stanley Clarke likes to use the phrase “bass liberation”. Liberating the bass is pretty much his thing. Breaking through in the 70s, he redefined what the previously much-neglected instrument could do, what vocabulary it could work with, where it could go and how it was perceived.
Nov 15, 2022 · He’s still sporting a variation of the Alembic instruments built for him in the early 70s. “My first bass was a horrible sounding EB-0. Then when Rick Turner built me an Alembic, it changed my life, and changed the world of the bass too, because suddenly the sound of the bass became clear.”.
- Nick Wells
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.
Nov 26, 2007 · Not only was he gifted at crafting bass lines and functioning as a timekeeper in the bass' traditional role, but he also possessed a sense of lyricism and melody that allowed him to make the bass a...
