Stanley Clarke
Night School... An Evening with Stanley Clarke & Friends
Artist Interview by: H. Allen Williams
April 2007 - Stanley Clarke’s artistry has spanned classical, jazz, R&B and pop idioms. The word “legend” was used to describe Clarke by the time he was only 25-years old! He single-handedly started the 1970s “bass revolution,” paving the way for all bassist/soloist/bandleaders to follow. In 1976, Clarke released School Days, of which the title track is now a bona fide bass anthem. He is also considered the first bassist in history to double on acoustic and electric bass with equal virtuosity, power and fire. Never forgetting the path he has travel, Clarke is now giving something more than music to the jazz/music community. Believing that “talent, and not one’s socioeconomic background should be the predicate of an individual’s chance to go on to create artistically,” Clarke believes that those who have had success in realizing their own vision have a duty to help others in their struggle to emerge.
JazzReview: Can you tell us what it was like to be barely out of your teens, move to New York City from Philadelphia and immediately start landing jobs with headliners such as Horace Silver, Art Blackey, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Gil Evans and Stan Getz, just to name a few?
Stanley Clarke: Well, it was kind of shocking actually! That is one of the advantages of being young, when stuff is happeining around you so fast, you don’t really see how things are going to affect your life. Things are just happening in the moment and you just float along with it as it is happening. All I remember is there was just a lot of stuff happening and people where calling me all the time to do projects. Looking back, people must have thought I was prepared or at least somewhat prepared. I defiantly came to New York being able to read and I had a good feel and a genuine love for music, so what else could you ask for in a young man? (Laughter)
JazzReview: When did you start envisioning expanding the role of the bass from a supportive instrument to a viable melodic “front of the stage” interment?
Stanley Clarke: That was something I always had in mind. Even back in Philadelphia, I had that vision. I have always been good with putting groups together and organizing things, so it was just a natural thing to move to the front of the stage. It was in part trying to liberate the base, but then the other side of it is just my natural way with music and that I was never one to just stand in the back and just play the supportive role. I am a composer! I think that your abilities as a musician will determine exactly what you do.
JazzReview: Also around that same time is when you and Chick Corea formed the jazz/fusion band Return To Forever. Can you tell us about how that band shaped you as a player and composer?
Stanley Clarke: The good thing about the Return to Forever band is it was like a traveling university. We really spent time with the composing process. We took time off to compose music and we really though about what we where doing. So when we hit the road, we where really prepared. That is something I have to say I really admire about Chick Corea, he is really prepared for the things he does. The thing about jazz is because of your abilities in music, you’re able to have a really sophisticated way of “winging” things and just playing, even if you’re not that familiar with the music. The cool thing about Chick was he liked to put rehearsal time in, even though we could have just played the music without rehearsal. I think the fact that we did spend time rehearsing and thinking about the music made it even better.
JazzReview: Your resumé includes an impressive list of gold and platinum records, Grammys, Emmys and much more. What qualities in your personality have enabled you to achieve such success as a musician?
Stanley Clarke: You know, the older I get the more I realize that I do have the ability to persevere. There is a certain amount of sacrifice, particular with your family life, but overall it is a cool thing. I try to keep myself as healthy as I can in order to play at the level that I want to play. I have a very sports or athletic attitude about playing music. I like to play the bass in a way that if I was less healthy, I could not do it! (Laughs)
JazzReview: That brings me to your latest project. Tell us about the new DVD entitled, Night School: An Evening with Stanley Clarke and Friends.
Stanley Clarke: I love to raise money for kids and I got a bunch of my friends together to raise money for scholarships at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. All the proceeds are going to the scholarship fund. The DVD is just from the concert and features me playing with some old and new friends in various ensemble settings. It was really fun! I believe that education is very important.
JazzReview: Why after more than three decades of awards and accolades do you still consider education to be your highest calling?
Stanley Clarke: To be honest, I really don’t think that I would be the musician I am today if it was not for the fact that I went to music school and had really good teachers and classmates. So when I see kids today going to school and they don’t even have money to eat, I want to help in any way I can. That is what this project is all about, helping the kids.
JazzReview: You could have chosen any school to have a Stanley Clarke Scholarship award. Why did you choose the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA?
Stanley Clarke: I like it because it is small and I have friends that teach there. They also don’t just teach music. You have to understand business and technology in order to make a living in music. You have to understand how technology affects the way you can make music today, which I think is a good thing.
This is a great time to be a musician, even though the record industry is collapsing a little. It is collapsing in a very interesting way. One way to describe it is, if you looked at record companies ten or twenty-years ago, you would have three or four companies that controlled everything, so you looked at them like they are these big tall building built with all this material. Lately they have crashed down, but the material is not destroyed. Instead, the material has moved laterally and you have more people making records.
Technology has enabled someone, for very little money, to make a CD now! This is a great time! I mean when I was growing up, just to do an overdub you had to call an engineer, rent some equipment and get across town. I mean by the time you got there, you forget what you wanted to play in the first place! (Laughter) I am amazed that we ever got any of those records done! Now man, you just jump out of bed and go to your pro-tools rig, do the overdub and email the thing!
JazzReview: Can you tell us about the segment of the DVD where you are joined by Bela Fleck (banjo) and Karen Briggs (violin) to perform “Song to John” and then Stewart Copeland joins in for “The Lochs of Dread?”
Stanley Clarke: Stewart is a really old friend and I am happy that he is getting back with the Police now. I know he is very excited about that and I am very happy for him. We used to have a band called Animal Logic that we made a couple of records with and did a couple of tours together. Stewart is a really good, honest guy and he deserves everything he gets. That was actually the first time I have ever met or played with Bela. He is a very interesting musician--you know I never thought I would play with a banjo player!
JazzReview: Next, the DVD features your film scoring talents with a segment that includes selections from the scores of Passenger 57, Boys’N the Hood, and the Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got to Do with It? Will you talk about some of your challenges and rewards of film scoring over the years?
Stanley Clarke: I love to hold the baton and conduct a large group of musicians. For me, it brings all the musical abilities that I have together. It is also stressful and you have to be a certain type of person to do that sort of thing, but I love it!
Dealing with the politics of Hollywood can be interesting too. George Duke always says that I am a person that does not have a lot of patience and he always says, “I don’t know how you do it!” I don’t know why he says that though, because actually I do have a lot of patience, you have to in order to get things done in a professional way.
JazzReview: Talk about the section of the DVD know as “The Big Jam.”
Stanley Clarke: That part was really fun! Stevie Wonder just showed up at the last minute and it was great! He really surprised us, because there was no rehearsal for anything, we just went out there and did it. Stevie has a wonderful sense of humor and he was telling us backstage that, “I’ve got a surprise for you!” I didn’t know what he was going to do! I thought, 'Oh man, is he gonna strip down to the nude or something? What is he going to do?" So we are on stage and he just goes into “Giant Steps” and just floors everybody. It was great. No one would think that Stevie would play “Giant Steps!” Stevie Wonder is just the perfect pop artist in the sense that he never stops growing. He is full of love and is an amazing composer. He is really like a national treasure; his significance in our culture is yet to be fully realized.
Sheila E was there. She is just beautiful! Flea was there and he was great. I always knew he was a great bass player and it was nice to see him there and hangin’ out with everybody. The night was just wonderful! Sinbad was the Master of Ceremonies and he had some nice things to say.
JazzReview: The grand finale of the DVD is a monster jam with 10 bass players on your hit “School Days.” Can you tell us about that experience?
Stanley Clarke: That was crazy! There where a couple of recording of that night and I had to find a version that was not all distorted, because when you get 10 bass players playing at the same time, that is some ugly, ugly, ugly stuff man! (Laughter) We found one version that was really nice. Everyone just had a great time. Let's see, there was Flea, Armand Sabal-Lecco, Bunny Brunel, Alex Al, Billy Sheehan, Stewart Hamm, Jimmy Johnson, Wayman Tisdale, Brian Bromberg, and of course Marcus Miller. We had a great time!
JazzReview: What is the state of the jazz scene today?
Stanley Clarke: You know I’ve been asked that for twenty something years and I have no idea! (Laughter) No really, I think like anything, it has its ups and downs. I was hoping the Ken Burns thing would have been a lot better. It left out so much stuff; it really did not take the time to show how jazz has affected music in America today. I know Wynton Marsalis was involved with that and he should of pushed Burns to a more conclusive direction and widen the scope a little bit. It was kind of like a museum piece, he never showed how the elements of jazz are everywhere in music today. For some reason, he never showed that! I was very disappointed; that could have helped the state. Aah well, just blame it on Wynton Marsalis. (Laughter)
JazzReview: If you could name a national spokesperson for the jazz community, who would it be?
Stanley Clarke: Well it ain’t Wynton Marsalis! (Much Laughter) I think you would do better not to have a musician as the spokesperson. Wynton is a cool guy and all, but I think he has his own agenda. First of all, the term Jazz is an undefined term. One man's jazz is another man's something else. So you would have to have someone that could objectively look at all angles of jazz. It has nothing to do with record sales and all that stuff though, but that is how some people judge how the scene is doing. The purpose is much deeper than that; it is America’s classical music! It could be presented, appreciated and understood more if it would only be presented, appreciated and understood more!
JazzReview: In your opinion and experiences, what qualities do all great improvising musicians have in common?
Stanley Clarke: A spirit of play with a high technical expertise!
JazzReview: What is next for Stanley Clarke?
Stanley Clarke: We are finishing up and album that will come out this August or September. I will be touring this summer and I have an instrument company that I am starting. I will be manufacturing basses and the company will be called Spellbinder Corporation. The basses will have synthetic graphite on them and different electronics. We actually formed the Spellbinder Corporation in 1980 and produced a limited edition run of fifty basses. We will also be manufacturing amplifiers and strings, regular electric bass strings, tenor bass strings and Piccolo bass strings. You will hear more about that soon.
JazzReview: Thanks Stanley for a great interview!
Stanley Clarke: Thank you!
For more information: http.www.stanleyclarke.com
Photo by: © Shoji Ichikawa
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