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Biography
1 Grammy Award, 7 Grammy Nominations, 3 Emmy Nominations,
Rolling Stone’s first “Jazz Man of the Year,”
Playboy’s Music Award – “Best Bassist” 10 straight years,
one of Los Angeles Magazine’s Top 50 Most Influential People for 2004,
Bass Player Magazine’s 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award honoree
and member of Guitar Player Magazine’s “Gallery of Greats”
Recording artist, performer, composer, conductor, arranger, producer and film score
composer, Stanley Clarke is one of the most celebrated bass players in the world. Known
for his ferocious dexterity and consummate musicality, Clarke is a true pioneer in jazz and
jazz fusion. Unquestionably, he has attained “living legend” status during his 36-year career
as a bass virtuoso.
March 2007 saw the release of Clarke’s new DVD, Night School: An Evening with Stanley
Clarke and Friends (HUDV-7118), by Heads Up International through Clarke’s own Roxboro
Entertainment Group. The star-studded 90-minute presentation chronicles the third annual
Stanley Clarke Scholarship Concert, recorded at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA, in
October 2002. Clarke strongly feels that those who have had success in realizing their own
vision have a duty to help others in their struggle to emerge. Putting thoughts into action, he
developed a way to offer scholarships to selected students in financial need, who excel in
music.
The Night School DVD scholarship concert features diverse group of musicians that include
Stevie Wonder, Wallace Roney, Bela Fleck, Sheila E., Stewart Copeland, Red Hot Chili
Peppers’ Flea, Wayman Tisdale, Marcus Miller and so many more. Night School captures
performances that range from straight-ahead jazz to full-tilt rock fusion to twenty-two-piece
string. The DVD has garnered outstanding reviews since it’s release.
Due to Clarke’s status in the music world as well as his ability to articulate about music in a
way that all can understand, BET-J launched a series hosted by Clarke entitled, “On the
Road with Stanley Clarke” in June 2006. The series consists of seven episodes tentatively
titled: “Origins of Black Music,” “That Philly Sound,” “Jazz Beyond the Classroom,” “Black
Music in Film, Television & Theatre,” “Jazz,” “Black Music in Film – The Next Generation”
and “Bass to Bass.” Some of his guests include Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller, George
Duke, The Tate Brothers, Gamble & Huff and academics Dr. Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje and
Dr. Cheryl Keyes from the Department of Ethnomusicology at UCLA among many others.
“On the Road with Stanley Clarke” episodes are set to rerun on BET-J in 2007.
Stanley Clarke Biography – Page 2
Clarke also continues traveling to universities and colleges around the country giving
Masters and Bass Workshops. Clarke’s highly coveted workshops cover numerous aspects
of being a working musician including a historical perspective of jazz and an overall
approach to music including the business side. Other workshops are honed to cover
specific topics such as developing film scores.
Clarke himself was a teen music prodigy. In 1971 the jazz world immediately recognized the
dexterity and complete musicality Stanley Clarke possessed when he first arrived on the
scene fresh from the Philadelphia Academy of Music. He instantly began working with great
bandleaders of the time such as: Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson,
Pharaoh Saunders, Gil Evans, Stan Getz and Chick Corea.
An expert at crafting bass lines and as a timekeeper in the traditional bass role, Clarke
pushed himself towards perfection with relentless attention to be the best. His efforts
catapulted him to the front of the stage as a viable melodic bass soloist where his dream
manifested first within the company of Chick Corea, Lenny White and Al Di Meola in the
Grammy Award Winning jazz-fusion band – Return to Forever. RTF recorded eight albums,
two of which were certified gold (Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy and Romantic Warrior), won a
Grammy award for No Mystery and received numerous nominations while touring
incessantly.
Stanley Clarke became the first bassist in history who could double on acoustic and electric
bass with equal ferocity, as well as the first bassist ever to headline tours, selling out shows
worldwide. In 1976 Clarke recorded what is now considered to be the must-know bass
anthem, “School Days.” To this day, accomplished and aspiring bassists continue to imitate
his style seeking to master his pioneered percussive slap funk technique. To extend his
melodic range to play higher registers as he sees orchestrationally fit, he invented two new
instruments: the piccolo bass and the tenor bass.
Other notable (recording/touring) project involvements are: (1979) Jeff Beck, (1980) Keith
Richards’ New Barbarians, (1981) Clarke/Duke Project with George Duke, (1989) Animal
Logic with Stuart Copeland, (1993-94) The Superband with Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham,
Najee & Deron Johnson, (1995) The Rite of Strings with Jean-Luc Ponty and Al Di Meola
and (1999) Vertu’ with Lenny White.
Clarke continues to enjoy the challenge of collaborating with other artists on tour. During the
summer and fall of 2006 in addition to touring with his own band, Clarke joined George Duke
for a 40-city tour of festivals and performing arts centers. This was the first time Clarke and
Duke had toured together in fifteen years. The duo first teamed to form the Clarke/Duke
Project in 1981. They scored a Top 20 hit with “Sweet Baby” and recorded three albums.
Their dynamic performances have entertained audiences around the world. The two will be
doing several dates together in 2007.
In 2005 Clarke toured as Trio! with legends in their own right, Bela Fleck and Jean Luc
Ponty. The U.S. and European tour received glowing reviews and standing ovations where
Stanley Clarke Biography – Page 3
ever they performed. In fact, Trio! was nominated for a 2006 Relix Jammy Award in the
category of “Tour of the Year.”
Since the 80’s, Stanley has been turning his energy to film and television scoring. Starting in
television, Clarke was nominated for an Emmy for his score for “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” and
his title themes for “Hull High” and “Knightwatch.” He won the BMI Film Music Award for
Oscar-nominated film Boyz ‘n the Hood. He is composer, orchestrator, conductor and
performer on such iconic films as What’s Love Got To Do With It, Passenger 57, Poetic
Justice, Little Big League, Romeo Must Die, The Transporter, Undercover Brother and Roll
Bounce. Clarke received critical acclaim as the composer of the hit Showtime series “Soul
Food”. All together Clarke has over 65 film credits. He has become one of the elite indemand composers in Hollywood. The 1995 release, Stanley Clarke at the Movies, bears
stunning witness to this. He is in the process of putting together a second compilation of his
film scores, Stanley Clarke at the Movies: Two. Stanley is currently scoring the ABC Family
Channel series “Lincoln Heights.” He also wrote the show’s theme song.
Regarding his composing, Clarke said, “Film has given me the opportunity to compose
music not normally associated with myself. It has given me a chance to conduct orchestras
and arrange music for various types of ensembles. It’s been a diverse experience for me
musically, utilized all my skills and made me a more complete musician.“
In October 2006 Clarke was honored with Bass Player Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement
Award. Bass greats Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten presented the award at a ceremony at
New York City’s Millenium Broadway Hotel. A multi Grammy award winner, Stanley was
Rolling Stone’s very first “Jazzman of the Year,” was Playboy’s Music Award - Best Bassist
winner for 10 straight years and is a member of Guitar Player Magazine’s “Gallery of
Greats.” He was honored with the key to the city of Philadelphia and put his hands in cement
as a 1999 inductee into Hollywood’s “Rock Walk” on Sunset Boulevard. Clarke has won
every Reader’s Poll and Critic’s Poll out there. In 2004 he was featured in Los Angeles
Magazine as one of the Top 50 Most Influential People.
Stanley Clarke, to this day, remains as passionate about music as that young teen prodigy
from Philly with big dreams. Like the man himself, his biography is a continuous work in
progress. Legend is a word that has been associated with Stanley since he was 25, yet he
remains unpretentious, preferring simple pleasures in the peaceful canyons where he
resides in Los Angeles.
For more details and updates visit: www.stanleyclarke.com
5/07
(Website for the new Night School DVD is:
http://www.headsup.com/ecards/7118/industry.html)