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>> JAZZ-FUSION PIONEER RETURNS TO HIS ROOTS AS AN ACOUSTIC PLAYER WITH NEW CD AND WOLF TRAP PERFORMANCE
Bass guitar pioneer Stanley Clarke muses on the past, present and future of jazz
Date published: 10/8/2009
BY ZACK SMITH FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR In a career that has spanned five decades, jazz bassist Stanley Clarke has almost done it all--but until this year he had never released an acoustic jazz-trio recording. On Oct. 15 he will arrive at The Barns of Wolf Trap to promote his first trio CD, "Jazz In The Garden." Clarke is a trailblazer who has been credited as a leader in the 1970s bass revolution, putting his electric bass in the forefront of fusion jazz recordings. He developed the slap-bass technique into an art that all funk players now imitate, and his association with Chick Corea and the band Return To Forever led to gold records and a Grammy. Tours with rock and jazz artists like Jeff Beck, Keith Richards, the "Superband" (Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham, Najee and Deron Johnson), Jean-Luc Ponty and Al Di Meola have cemented his status as one of the legends of bass. But many people don't realize he is first and foremost an acoustic bassist. "I had a whole career in the late '60s and early '70s that was all acoustic bass," explained Clarke while awaiting a show with Return to Forever. "That's actually what I really am--an acoustic bass player. The electric bass, I won't say it was a hobby, but sort of an offshoot. All my training, all my studies when I was in school at the music conservatory, it was all acoustic bass. I studied classical music. Actually, my goal was to join the Philadelphia Orchestra, but then I met Chick Corea." Despite having played acoustic on many jazz records before joining RTF, Clarke's reputation as an electric bassist became more firm. "Many times when you have fame, people pretty much only see the surface. Whatever you become famous for, they view you that way. It is difficult to trace back somebody's life and see other things that they do."
Date published: 10/8/2009
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