Customer Reviews

Stanley Clarke

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While some jazz purists will detest this LP for it's marriage of jazz improvisation and rock, the simple truth is, "Stanley Clarke" (both the LP and the man)are stunning and ingenious. The late, great Tony Williams is volcanic in his drumming, notice how he plays slightly behind the bass on "Lopsy Lu", or plays in circles around guitarist Bill Connors on Part IV of the "Life Suite"? There is not a wasted note here and listeners who are looking for 'light' or 'smooth' jazz are barking up the wrong tree! Clarke himself is an astounding bassist and takes on shades of Charles Mingus on "Phases for Strings and Bass" and all of the opening "Vulcan Princess". Electro-funk, hard rock and jazz rarely live on the same street these days, but this kind of adventurous music making(a treasure for us more discriminating music lovers)tells me that the 3 should visit each other more frequently. Stanley Clarke is the man!

This was one of the best jams of it's time.If you ever heard Tony in the mid to late 60ies with miles you know how fast his foot work was. He takes it to a new high on this whole jam sesson. And you know how Stanley got down. anyone who cant understant this fusion all time great. Dont know Jazz. I am very very happy to have this calabaration of Rock&Jazz to my long list of unforgetable moments in Jazz history.

Tony Williams on drums, Jan Hammer on keyboards, Bill Conners on guitar and, of course, Stanley on bass(es). The pedigree of this line up rivals any, and when the Jazz Fusion style of this album is considered, this line up is as close to unbeatable as can be. Even relative unknown NoCal guitarist Bill Conners steps up with impressive performances. Tony's driving, if not frenetic style and Jan's melodic fills compliment Stanley's virtuoso. For fans of Jazz Fusion, or Stanley, this recording is a must. It will be tough to remove from your changer. As an aside I would like to mention that Stanley released an album previous to this as a solo artist. It is called "Stan Clarke: Children of Forever. Chick Corea, Pat Martino, Andy Bey, Dee Dee Bridgewater. Not Fusion, not pure jazz. Well worth checking out (especially "Bass Folk Song).

this is one of the best jazz rock fusion albums of all time.brilliant moments all over this.tony williams is astounding.

This was the second Stanley I heard and was change in how I thaught of bass guitar...

Want a blend of Tony Williams Lifetime, The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return To Forever? Well, get this album and you got it! The ONLY thing weird about it is Stanley's vocals which are a little reminiscent of The Tony Williams Lifetime. That is, I don't see why they were needed, but nontheless, Stanley is a great vocalist. There are some awesome grooves on here that only Stanley can do. Stanley lets his friends shine as well. Tony is all over the place, Jan sounds very at home and Bill Connors sounds great as ever. What an album! GET IT! You will be glad you did. Stanley is no doubt the greatest bassist in history. Can play ANYTHING!

I first heard "Stanley Clarke" way back in the mid seventies. I was in a rock band while I was in high school, and the bass player played the album for me in his basement. I had never heard a bass sound the way Clarke's did: more of a lead rather than rhythm or "bottom" instrument. My reaction was "Who is this dude?"

"Stanley Clarke" is full of fine performances: keyboardist Jan Hammer, guitar player Bill Connors, Clarke himself, and the guy who steals the show from everyone else, the legendary Tony Williams. Williams does amazing work throughout this album, but his solos on "Power" and "Life Suite" are simply incredible. In the second movement of "Life Suite", Williams' solo is otherworldly; the work he does on the high hat, bass drum and toms is beyond anything I have ever heard in my 50 years. Williams then moves on to cover what seems like every single piece of his drum kit: toms, cymbals, high hat, and snare-and he does it with such fluidity and speed that it seems like there is more than one person playing simultaneously. When the song drops in volume and tempo, Williams then does a sort of "background solo" with rim shots on his snare drum.

This is tremendous stuff. "Stanley Clarke" is perhaps not as polished as some of his later solo works such as "School Days" or "Journey to Love", but it is still a marvel to behold. The big thing is Tony Williams is on this album, and not the others. The only reason I subtract one star is Stanley somehow thought he could pull off what he thought would pass for singing on "Yesterday Princess". Maybe he got the idea from Tony, who also "sang" on his "Lifetime" albums. Bad idea for both of them...

More than 30 years hence "Stanley Clark" can still tingle my spine when I listen to "Life Suite"! As far as I'm concerned, that qualifies this album as a classic.

Stanley Clarke is Jazz Fusion Bass. There is not now, never was, and never will be an equivalent . Few artist achieve instant greatness with their solo debut album...Stanley did. The opening cut..."Vulcan Princess"...winds its way from a sassy rythmic dance, into a bold, fully ripe melody, fermenting into a beautifully eerie vocal ballad of love and longing. "Vulcan Princess" leads-sans pause- into a (now classic) string popping, synchopathic jaunt through the spacey landscape which is titled "Yesterday Princess". "YP creates musical slices of synthesizer, electric guitar and percussion which seem to fragment, then cascade back together, pulled sytematically into line by the ever present "syncho-Stanley- pops". The "Princess" tunes are wonderful introductions for the middle of the six tune album...they make us like Stanley, appreciate Stanley, recognize that Stanley is an extremely passionate and talented musical poet. Tunes 3 and 4, "Lopsy Lu" and "Power" creep up on you teasing with an underlying, pseudo-subtle flavor of the beast which lurks in the fantastic fingers of Monsieur Clarke. "Lopsy" is poignant. "Power" is, well... powerful. The next cut "Spanish Phases for Strings and Bass" is moody,seductive, occassionaly lilting, nearly passifying. The "SPfSaB" calms you, soothes you, puts you at just the right place to best handle the adrenelaine shot to the heart that concludes the album...The final cut "Life Suite" states simply that if life starts with a slap on the rear and a cry...it surely ends with a hard swift kick in the pants and a passionate scream. That's Stanley....

This is actually Stanley's second solo disc (the first was the ill-conceived "Children of Forever"). Here,, Stanley roars out of the gate in no uncertain terms with a strong statement of his versatility and talent, as if RTF wasn't enough.

The kick-butt opener "Vulcan Princess" just rips with its majestic brass melodies and firey groove, segueing into the rather ill-advised vocal piece "Yesterday Princess" (should've left it off Stanley, singing is NOT your forte'). "Lopsy Lou" showcases Stanley's ample slapping technique and kicks it along with a funky good time had by all.

"Spanish Phrases for Bass and Strings" airs Stanley's classical side with furious flamenco phrases from the maestro as the strings paint vivid images of old Mexico. "Life Suite pts 1-4" pulls out all the stops and features Bill Connors on a beautifully building guitar solo on part 3. All throughout, Jan Hammer Bill Connors and Tony Williams play Stanley's music with great enthusiasm and joy.

You too will find the joy infectious.

Once upon a time, jazz-rock fusion was an exciting musical adventure. Listening to this album for over 30 years now, brings it all back to me. There were plenty of great albums and musicians and many milestones and groundbreakers, including both Chick Corea/Return to Forever and the Mahavishnu Orchestra's first 2 albums, Herbie's Headhunters, and Weather Report. Each one had its tremendous strengths and new statements to make, sometimes in compositional terms (Chick especially), and other times with great soloing or ensemble playing. They demonstrated that it WAS indeed possible to make creative, jazz-influenced music with a rock or funk electronic format. But no other album brought it together as convincingly as Stanley Clarke's first fusion album. Simply put, "Stanley Clarke" was a brilliantly successful meeting of art and energy.

How did he make it happen? First of all, he had tremendous talent on hand. Drummer Tony Williams was one of the geniuses of the jazz world at the time, and though he only had one foot in the fusion door, it was his best foot here. He has two solos, both of which ignite the songs containing them, rather than standing separate or distracting as drum solos so often do. Pianist and keyboarder Jan Hammer was at a creative peak when he played here, coming from four years with Mahavishnu and other projects, and honing a synthesizer sound that married rock and classical elements. My personal favorite, guitarist Bill Connors simply blows the set away in several places. His sound was more polished than in his first album with RTF - clearly Stanley wanted to record with him again. His 6-minute solo in the final section of Life Suite is a sheer masterpiece of tone and dynamic construction. (Check out Bill's latest album, "Return", it is *****.) Finally, Stanley's own bass was - and still is - among the best.

Then, there is Stanley's writing. This would not have worked if all these guys just jammed together. I think Stanley himself was at his peak with this album. The first song, Vulcan Princess, comes in with a strong groove, somehow both rock and funky at the same time. It's followed by a short but slightly sappy ode to Yesterday Princess, the only song with words. But then come two power-house monsters: Lopsy-lu, where the musicians trade off each other on a funky, walking pace that builds to near hysteria, then Power, an intense exercise with a jagged theme that serves to build tension in the solos, especially Bill's where he and Tony go double-time at the end. The second half of the album includes Stanley's meditative bass-and strings virtuoso-piece, Spanish Phases. This is followed by the GREATEST SUITE IN FUSION HISTORY, the 4-part Life Suite. Strings and horns help to punctuate a composition that flows with the love, worries, and excitement of life itself.

There is such versatility and range of emotion here, but the key word was Adventure. These guys somehow knew they were into something special. Go buy this album, and tell all your friends about it.