Stanley Clarke was born on June 30, 1951. He is an American bassist, composer, and a founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke helped make the bass guitar more important in jazz-related music. He was the first jazz-fusion bassist to lead tours, fill large venues around the world, and have recordings reach gold record status.
Clarke has won five Grammy Awards and has been nominated 15 times. Three of his Grammy wins were as a solo artist, one was with the Stanley Clarke Band, and one was with Return to Forever. In 2022, Clarke was chosen to receive the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship.
A Stanley Clarke electric bass is on permanent display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
Music career
Clarke was born on June 30, 1951, in Philadelphia. His mother sang opera at home, was part of a church choir, and encouraged him to study music. He began with the accordion, then tried the violin. At twelve years old and over six feet tall, he found it awkward to hold the small instrument. 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 later learned to play the bass guitar in his teens so he could perform at parties and copy the rock and pop bands that girls liked.
Clarke attended the Philadelphia Musical Academy, which later became the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts and eventually merged with the Philadelphia College of Art to form the University of the Arts. After graduating, he moved to New York City in 1971. His first recording was with Curtis Fuller. He later worked with Joe Henderson and Pharoah Sanders, then in 1972 with Tony Williams Lifetime Experience, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, and Art Blakey. He also worked with Gil Evans, Mel Lewis, and Horace Silver.
Clarke wanted to join the Philadelphia Orchestra as the first Black musician until he met jazz pianist Chick Corea. At the time, Corea was helping Stan Getz form a new band and writing music for the group. These pieces were first recorded on two albums in 1972: Captain Marvel (credited to Getz, released in 1975) and Return to Forever (credited to Corea, released in Europe in 1972). Clarke’s playing was a key part of both albums. The band also performed with Getz in Europe. At first, the group was a studio project, but the members soon realized it could work as a live band, and Return to Forever was formed.
The first version of Return to Forever played mostly Latin music and used only acoustic instruments (except for Corea’s Fender Rhodes piano). The band included singer Flora Purim, her husband Airto Moreira (both from Brazil) on drums and percussion, Joe Farrell on saxophone and flute, and Clarke on bass. Their first album, Return to Forever, was recorded for ECM Records in 1972. The second album, Light as a Feather (1973), was released by Polydor and included the song “Spain.”
After Light as a Feather, Farrell, Purim, and Moreira left the group to form their own band. Guitarist Bill Connors, drummer Steve Gadd, and percussionist Mingo Lewis joined. Later, Lenny White replaced Gadd and Lewis, and the group released their third album, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (1973).
Fusion was a mix of rock and jazz that Return to Forever helped develop in the early 1970s. Clarke played the bass guitar in a new way, using techniques that gave the instrument more attention. He helped make the bass guitar a solo instrument that could be melodic and important, not just part of the rhythm section. Clarke credited Jaco Pastorius, Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce, and Larry Graham for helping bring the bass guitar to the front of the band.
After Return to Forever’s second album, Clarke received job offers from Bill Evans, Miles Davis, and Ray Manzarek of the Doors, but he stayed with Return to Forever until 1977. In the early 1980s, he toured with Corea and Return to Forever, then worked with Bobby Lyle, Eliane Elias, David Benoit, and Michel Petrucciani. He toured with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter in 1991. In 1998, he formed Superband with Lenny White, Larry Carlton, and Jeff Lorber.
Corea produced Clarke’s first solo album, Children of Forever (1973), and played keyboards on it with guitarist Pat Martino, drummer Lenny White, flautist Art Webb, and vocalists Andy Bey and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Clarke played double bass and bass guitar.
Clarke’s second self-titled album, Stanley Clarke (1974), featured Tony Williams on drums, Bill Connors on electric and acoustic guitar, and Jan Hammer on synthesizer, electric piano, organ, and piano.
While on tour, British guitarist Jeff Beck performed the song “Power” from that album. This led to Beck meeting Hammer. They toured together, and Beck appeared on some of Clarke’s albums, including Journey to Love (1975) and Modern Man (1978).
The album School Days (Nemperor Records, 1976) brought Clarke the most attention and praise he had received so far. The title song became so popular that fans called for it during concerts.
Clarke has worked outside jazz for much of his career. In 1979, Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones formed the New Barbarians with Clarke and Keith Richards. Two years later, Clarke and keyboardist George Duke formed the Clarke/Duke Project, which combined pop, jazz, funk, and R&B. They first met in 1971 in Finland when Duke was with Cannonball Adderley. They recorded together for the first time on Clarke’s album Journey to Love. Their first album included the single “Sweet Baby,” which became a top 20 pop hit. They reunited for tours in the 1990s and 2000s.
Clarke joined fellow bassist Paul McCartney in 1981 to play bass guitar on McCartney’s solo albums Tug of War (1982) and Pipes of Peace (1983).
The Stanley Clarke Band is an American jazz band led by Clarke. He founded the band in 1985 with Ruslan Sirota, Shariq Tucker, Cameron Graves, Beka Gochiashvili, Salar Nader, and Evan Garr. They released the album Find Out!. With a new group, The Stanley Clarke Band released the album The Stanley Clarke Band, which won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Their album The Message was released in 2018.
The band’s first album, Find Out!, was recorded at Sunset Sound Studios and released in 1985 by Sony. With a band composed of Stanley Clarke on bass, Ronald Bruner Jr. on drums, and Ruslan Sirota on keyboards, The Stanley Clarke Band released the album *The Stanley Clarke Band
Other groups
In 1988, Clarke and Stewart Copeland, the drummer from the rock band the Police, formed a group called Animal Logic with singer-songwriter Deborah Holland. Clarke and Copeland were friends before the Police was created. Copeland appeared on Clarke's album Up (Mack Avenue, 2014).
In 2014, Clarke performed on stage with the band Primus during their "Primus and the Chocolate Factory" tour. The tour included guest appearances by Stewart Copeland and Danny Carey of Tool. Clarke and Primus performed the song "Here Come the Bastards," and Clarke had a fast-paced bass competition with Les Claypool during the performance.
In 2020, Clarke was invited to teach at a Bass Bootcamp hosted by bassist Gerald Veasley in Philadelphia. The event brought together bassists of all ages and featured lessons from educators and professionals such as Richard Waller, Rob Smith, Freekbass, Michael Manring, and others. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the camp was moved to 2021.
In 2005, Clarke toured with Béla Fleck and Jean-Luc Ponty as part of a group called Trio!. Clarke and Ponty had previously worked with guitarist Al Di Meola in a trio in 1995 and recorded the album The Rite of Strings. They reunited in 2012 with guitarist Biréli Lagrène and released the album D-Stringz (Impulse!, 2015).
In 2008, Clarke formed a group called SMV with bassists Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten. The group released the album Thunder.
In 2009, Clarke released Jazz in the Garden, featuring the Stanley Clarke Trio with pianist Hiromi Uehara and drummer Lenny White. The following year, he released The Stanley Clarke Band, which included pianist Hiromi, keyboardist Ruslan Sirota, and drummer Ronald Bruner, Jr.
Clarke's 2014 album Up included musicians such as Chick Corea, a former bandmate from Return to Forever, Stewart Copeland of the Police, and guitarist Jimmy Herring of Widespread Panic.
In 2018, Clarke released The Message, featuring the new Stanley Clarke Band with Cameron Graves on synthesizers, pianist Beka Gochiashvili, and drummer Mike Mitchell. The album also included rapper/beatboxer Doug E. Fresh and trumpeter Mark Isham.
In 2019, the Stanley Clarke Band changed its lineup again. Clarke, Cameron Graves, and Beka Gochiashvili were joined by drummer Shariq Tucker, tabla player Salar Nader, and violinist Evan Garr.
Clarke has written music for television and movies. His first score was for Pee-wee's Playhouse, which was nominated for an Emmy Award. He also composed music for the movies Boyz n the Hood, Passenger 57, and What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as for the television programs Lincoln Heights, Waynehead, Static Shock, A Man Called Hawk, and Soul Food. He also composed the music video for "Remember the Time" by Michael Jackson.
In 2007, Clarke released the DVD Night School: An Evening of Stanley Clarke and Friends, which was recorded in 2002 at the Musicians' Institute in Hollywood. On the DVD, Clarke plays both acoustic and electric bass and is joined by guests Stewart Copeland, Lenny White, Béla Fleck, Shelia E., and Patrice Rushen.
Clarke's music for television and movies includes Soul Food (2000–2004), Static Shock (2000–2004), First Sunday (2008), Soul Men (2008), The Best Man Holiday (2013), and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016).
His most recent score was for the documentary film Halston (2019), directed by Frédéric Tcheng. The film tells the story of the American fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick.
Record label
In 2010, Clarke started Roxboro Entertainment Group in Topanga, California. He named the company after the high school he attended in the 1960s. The company's first releases were by guitarist Lloyd Gregory and composer Kennard Ramsey. Roxboro's list of artists also includes keyboardist Sunnie Paxson, pianist Ruslan Sirota, and pianist Beka Gochiashvili.
Electric bass technique
When playing the electric bass, Clarke positions his right hand so his fingers approach the strings in a way similar to how they would on an upright bass, but turned 90 degrees. To do this, his forearm rests above the strings and is almost parallel to them, while his wrist bends downward at nearly a right angle. For lead and solo playing, his fingers partially curl under the strings so that when released, the strings hit the frets, creating a sharp, snapping sound. In addition to a simpler version of the funky Larry Graham-style slap-n'-pop technique, Clarke uses downward movements of his entire right hand to strike two or more strings from above with his fingernails. Examples of this method can be found in songs like "School Days," "Rock and Roll Jelly," "Wild Dog," and "Danger Street." Clarke has played Alembic short scale basses since 1973. Alembic also makes a series of Stanley Clarke Signature Bass models.
Awards and honors
In 2011, Clarke received the Latin Grammy for Best Instrumental Album at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards for the album "Forever" with Chick Corea and Lenny White.
- Lifetime Achievement Award from Bass Player magazine, 2006
- Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from The University of the Arts, 2008
- Honorary Doctorate in Music from Musicians Institute, 2009
- Miles Davis Award, 2011
- NEA Jazz Master Fellowship, 2021