Stanley Clarke

Stanley Clarke (born 30 June 1951) is a virtuosic American musician known for his work on double bass and bass guitar.

Related Topics:
30 June - 1951 - American - Double bass - Bass guitar

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Clarke was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Having graduated from the Philadelphia Academy of Music, he moved to New York City in 1971 and began working with famous bandleaders and musicians including Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders, Gil Evans, Stan Getz and Al Di Meola.

Related Topics:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - New York City - 1971 - Horace Silver - Art Blakey - Dexter Gordon - Joe Henderson - Pharoah Sanders - Gil Evans - Stan Getz - Al Di Meola

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During this period he formed the Jazz fusion group Return to Forever with pianist Chick Corea which had several successful albums. He also released a number of albums under his own name (his two most notable being "School Days" and "Stanley Clarke").

Related Topics:
Jazz fusion - Return to Forever - Chick Corea

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He created a very distinctive sound, playing Alembic basses and applying Larry Graham's innovative slap style of bass playing to harmonically complex jazz based music.

Related Topics:
Alembic - Larry Graham - Jazz

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He formed Animal Logic with rock drummer Stewart Copeland, after the break-up of The Police, and singer-songwriter Deborah Holland. The trio had success with their first album and world tour but the follow-up sold poorly, and the band did not continue.

Related Topics:
Animal Logic - Rock - Drummer - Stewart Copeland - The Police - Singer-songwriter - Deborah Holland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He has continued working up to the present day with several film scores as well as a string of albums to his name.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stanley is also the first influential bassist to use piccolo bass prominently. (A piccolo bass is a bass guitar, tuned one octave higher - Stanley's are usually short scale (30.75"), four string, signature model Alembics.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~