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jpbjazz · 9 days ago

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LÉGENDES DU JAZZ

STANLEY CLARKE, L’IMPERTURBABLE

‘’That's one thing that an artist can't do -if any creative person starts listening to other people, he goes down."

- Stanley Clarke

Né le 30 juin 1951 à Philadelphie, en Pennsylvanie, Stanley Clarke est le fils de Marvin Clarke et Blanche Bundy. La mère de Clarke était chanteuse d’opéra et l’avait encouragé à apprendre la musique. Clarke avait commencé à apprendre à jouer de l’accordéonavant de passer au violon, au violoncelle et à la contrebasse. Clarke avait finalement adopté la contrebasse, car il mesurait plus de six pieds et avait de très grandes mains. Un jour, Clarke avait aperçu une contrebasse abandonnée dans un coin, et il avait décidé d’essayer d’en jouer. Clarke expliquait: "The bass was tall and I was tall; it was similar to a violin and a cello, which was the direction I was taking anyway, so I started playing the bass."

Clarke avait étudié la musique classique durant cinq ans à la Settlement Music School de Philadelphie et avait pris quelques cours de contrebasse durant ses études. Clarke avait commencé à jouer de la basse électrique à l’adolescence afin de pouvoir séduire les filles. À cette époque, Clarke avait commencé à se produire dans des fêtes dans lesquelles il imitait les groupes que les filles adoraient.

Après ses études secondaires, Clarke avait fréquenté la Philadelphia Musical Academy (devenue plus tard le Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts, puis l’University of the Arts).

DÉBUTS DE CARRIÈRE

Clarke avait amorcé a carrière professionnelle à l’âge de seulement quinze ans, comme membre du groupe du saxophoniste Byard Lancaster au club Showboat.

Après s’être installé à New York en 1970, Clarke avait fait ses débuts sur disque avec le tromboniste Curtis Fuller. Après avoir travaillé avec Horace Silver, Joe Henderson et Pharoah Sanders, puis avec le groupe Tony Williams Lifetime Experience, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon et Art Blakey, Clarke avait collaboré avec Gil Evans et Mel Lewis.

Clarke rêvait de devenir le premier musicien de couleur à faire partie du Philadelphia Orchestra lorsqu’il avait fait la rencontre du pianiste Chick Corea. À l’époque, Corea était en train de mettre ur pied un nouveau groupe avec Stan Getz tout en écrivant de la musique pour la formation. Ces pièces avaient été publiées pour la première fois sur deux albums enregistrés en février et en mars 1972: Captain Marvel (publié sous le nom de Getz en 1974) et Return to Forever (publié sous le nom de Corea en 1972). Le jeu et les improvisations de Clarke avaient particulièrement été mises en évidence sur les deux albums. Le groupe avait aussi participé à quelques performances avec Getz en Europe. À l’époque, Return to Forever était essentiellement un groupe de studio, mais les membres de la formation n’avaient pas tardé à réaliser qu’ils avaient le potentiel de devenir un véritable groupe à succès.

La première version de Return to Forever interprétait principalement de la musique latine et utilisait exclusivement des instruments acoustiques (à l’exception du piano électrique Rhodes de Corea). Le groupe était composé de la chanteuse Flora Purim, de son époux Airto Moreira à la batterie et aux percussions, du collaborateur de longue date de Corea, Joe Farrell, au saxophone et à la flûte, et de Clarke à la basse électrique. Le premier album du groupe, intitulé Return to Forever, avait été enregistré pour les disques ECM en 1972. Le groupe, qui était passé progressivemt à une version plus orientée vers le jazz-fusion (notamment avec l’ajout du guitariste Al Di Meola et du batteur Lenny White), avait enchaîné l’année suivante avec Light as a Feather. L’album avait été enregistré pour les disques Polydor et comprenait le grand succès "Spain". Après la parution de l’album, Farrell, Purim et Moreira avaient quitté la formation pour fonder leur propre groupe. Le guitariste Bill Connors, le batteur Steve Gadd et le percussionniste Mingo Lewis s’étaient alors joints au groupe. Lenny White (qui avait joué avec Corea dans le groupe de Miles Davis) avait par la suite remplacé Gadd et Lewis à la batterie et aux percussions. Le troisième album du groupe, intitulé Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, a été publié en 1973.

Combinaison de rock et de jazz, le jazz-fusion s’était développé au début des années 1970. Mais bien avant de se joindre au groupe Return to Forever, Clarke s’était déjà établi comme un remarquable virtuose de la basse électrique. Comme le critique Mikal Gilmore l’écrivait dans le magazine Rolling Stone: "During his tenure as bassist for Return to Forever, Clarke established himself as one of the most prodigious instrumentalists in modern music: an exceptionally nimble, resourceful electric and acoustic bassist.’’ Pour sa part, Joachim Berendt avait commenté dans son ouvrage The Jazz Book: From New Orleans to Rock and Free Jazz : "Stanley Clarke combines [Miroslav] Vitous's fluidity with Oscar Pettiford's 'soul.'"

Un peu comme Jaco Pastorius, Jack Bruce et Larry Graham, Clarke avait contribué à donner à la basse électrique ses lettres de noblesse et en avait fait un véritable instrument soliste, démontrant ainsi qu’elle pouvait jouer un rôle mélodique à part entière en plus de son traditionnel soutien rythmique. Décrivant ses premières influences, Clarke avait commenté:

‘’You can see, if you study the music, the way certain influences culminate in one player. Prior to me, there were so many types of bass players – acoustic bass players and electric bass players. Larry {Graham} was really a strong force. To many of us in the bass community, we all love Larry and look up to Larry as someone who innovated something. There were a lot of them: James Jamerson, even Paul McCartney – he was one of the first melodic bass players. In the jazz world, Charlie Mingus, Scott LaFaro, Ron Carter. I think when I came along, having listened to all of these different players, it was natural for all of these things to have this interesting convergence in my world. It’s funny, you don’t really think of it so much when you’re a player. Really, to be quite honest, I never thought of myself at first as someone who was trying to liberate the bass. It was only years later, around the time of the School Days album, that I started championing the whole idea of bass liberation.’’

Décrivant l’influence que Pastorius avait eu sur son jeu, Clarke avait précisé: ‘’I remember, I was so happy when Jaco Pastorius came on the scene. Then I didn’t feel alone. When you’re trying to do something out there, it’s always nice to have a friend, someone with similar ideas. I know many people thought that Jaco and myself would be sort of natural adversaries, but it was actually the opposite – the complete opposite. He understood what was happening with the bass: The instrument had to move forward.’’

D’abord formé comme musicien classique, Clarke était passé à la basse électrique un peu par hasard. Il expliquait: ‘’You can go to school now to learn how to play the electric bass. When I was younger, there was no literature out there for studying the electric bass. All of those early records that you’re hearing, I was only playing electric bass on the side. I was really an acoustic bass player. I just sort of developed that stuff, like most of us at that time, by picking the instrument up and doing what I could.’’

Comme Clarke l’avait déclaré dans le livre Jazz-Rock Fusion de Les DeMerle publié en 1988: "Years ago there was a fixed idea that bass players played background, and bass players have this particular theme--kind of subdued, numb, almost looking numb, and just to make a long story short, I wasn't going for any of that." Très influencé par Scott LaFaro, un contrebassiste qui avait joué avec le légendaire pianiste Bill Evans, Clarke avait démontré beaucoup d’imagination dans son jeu en trio avec les pianistes et les batteurs. Comme Clarke l’avait expliqué au magazine Rolling Stone: "I've always been more drawn to melodic than rhythmic playing... I had all these melodies running around in my head, all this knowledge of classical music I was trying to apply to r&b and jazz, and I decided it would be a loss in personal integrity just to be a timekeeper in the background, going plunk plunk thwack thwack."

Même s‘il était devenu très populaire après la parution de l’album Light as a Feather en 1973, ce qui lui avait permis d’obtenir plusieurs offres pour aller travailler avec Bill Evans, Miles Davis et même Ray Manzarek du groupe The Doors, Clarke était demeuré avec Return to Forever jusqu’en 1976 alors qu’il avait formé son propre groupe.

Corea avait enregistré un premier album solo intitulé Children of Forever en 1973. Produit par Chick Corea, l’album mettait à contribution le guitariste Pat Martino, le batteur Lenny White, le flûtiste Art Webb et les vocalistes Andy Bey et Dee Dee Bridgewater. Clarke jouait à la fois des claviers, de la basse électrique et de la contrebasse sur l’album. Publié en 1974, le second album de Clarke comme leader, simplement intitulé Stanley Clarke, avait été enregistré avec un groupe composé de de Bill Connors aux guitares acoustique et électrique, et de Jan Hammer aux synthétiseurs et au piano électrique et acoustique, et de Tony Williams à la batterie. Durant la tournée qui avait suivi la publication de l’album, le guitariste britannique Jeff Beck avait interprété la pièce ‘’Power’’ tirée du même album. Par la suite, Beck avait de nouveau collaboré à plusieurs albums de Clarke, dont Journey to Love (1975), Modern Man (1978) et I Wanna Play For You (1979). Clarke était particulièrement devenu populaire après la parution de l’album School Days en 1976. En fait, la pièce-titre de l’album avait remporté un tel succès que les amateurs avaient commencé à la réclamer lors des concerts. Commentant sa collaboration avec Beck, Clarke avait précisé:

‘’This is one of the greatest things that happened to me. It was just fun. I had this house on Long Island, and I was living out there with my wife. There was this knock on the door, and I looked out the window and there was this long limousine. This guy got out with this rooster haircut – that’s what I used to call them – and it was Jeff Beck. He knocks on my door, and I didn’t know much about him. I had definitely heard his name, but I hadn’t really gotten into his history. He comes in, and he has this really heavy accent. He’s telling me he was playing in town, and somebody gave him my address. He came over and he wanted to meet me, because he was playing a song from one of my albums. He just took a song from the first album, called “Power,” and he was playing it live. He wanted to meet me. We talked for about an hour, then he got back in the car and he left. That led to him playing on my second album, on a song called “Hello Jeff.” I called him and said: ‘Hey do you want to play?’ It was like that.’’

Décrivant sa collaboration avec le groupe Return to Forever, Clarke avait précisé: ‘’There’s a connection there that is much like the relationship between twins. Certain things, you just know the other guy is going to say this, or do that. Chick is like a big brother to me. I have known him for a long time. We’ve done a lot of things together, and Lenny is the same way.’’ Très populaire, le groupe comptait même parmi ses admirateurs Billy Joel et Elton John. Ce dernier laissait même les membres du groupe conduire sa Rolls Royce.

Même s’il est aujourd’hui davantage identifié comme musicien de jazz, Clarke avait passé la plus grande partie de sa carrière dans la musique pop. En 1979, le guitariste Ronnie Wood des Rolling Stones avait formé le groupe New Barbarians avec Clarke et Keith Richards. Deux ans plus tard, Clarke avait fondé avec le claviériste George Duke le groupe Clarke/Duke Project qui combinait le pop, le jazz, le funk et le rhythm & blues. Le duo s’était rencontré en 1971 en Finlande alors que Duke faisait partie du groupe de Cannonball Adderley. Clarke et Duke avaient enregistré ensemble pour la première fois dans le cadre de l’album de Clarke, Journey to Love en 1975. L’album comprenait le simple "Sweet Baby", qui s’était classé dans les vingt premières positions du Hit Parade. Le duo s’était de nouveau réuni dans le cadre de tournées dans les années 1990 et 2000.

Après avoir fait une nouvelle tournée avec le groupe Return to Forever au début des années 1980, Clarke avait travaillé avec Bobby Lyle, Eliane Elias, David Benoit et Michel Petrucciani. Clarke avait également joué de la basse sur les albums de Paul McCartney Tug of War (1982) et Pipes of Peace (1983). Décrivant sa collaboration avec McCartney, Clarke avait commenté: ‘’He’s a beautiful player. Of all of the recordings I’ve played on, those two records are among the most memorable. We went down to this island, and I hung out with Paul for a couple of weeks. I really, really had a lot of fun. He’s a very melodic player. Melody just comes right out of him. That’s only natural for him to play the bass like that. He does it without thinking. He’s a writer who sings songs, so it was only natural when he plays the bass, his lines would be very melodic.’’

En 1985, Clarke avait fondé The Stanley Clarke Band. Le groupe, qui avait expérimenté différents styles allant du rock au jazz en passant par le R & B, le funk, la musique classique, la musique latine et africaine, était composé de Ruslan Sirota, Beka Gochiashvili et Cameron Graves au piano, de Shariq Tucker à la batterie, de Salar Nader au tabla et Evan Garr au violon. Le groupe avait publié l’album Find Out! la même année. Avec d’autres musiciens, Clarke avait également enregistré l’album The Stanley Clarke Band qui s’était mérité un prix Grammy pour le meilleur album de jazz contemporain en 2011. La pièce "No Mystery’’ avait aussi obtenu une nomination dans la catégorie de la meilleure performance instrumentale de pop. Le groupe était composé notamment de la sensation japonaise Hiromi Uehara au piano, de Ruslan Sirota aux claviers et de Ronald Bruner Jr. à la batterie. L’album était co-produit par Clarke et Lenny White . Le groupe avait récidivé en 2018 avec The Message.

ÉVOLUTION RÉCENTE

En 1988, Clarke avait formé le groupe Animal Logic avec l’ancien batteur des Police Stewart Copeland. Le groupe comprenait également l’autrice-compositrice-interprète Deborah Holland. Clarke connaissait Copeland de longue date et avait fait sa connaissance bien avant la fondation du groupe The Police. Copeland avait aussi fait une apparition sur l’album Up de Clarke en 2014.

En 1991, Clarke avait joué en tournée avec un groupe comprenant Herbie Hancock et Wayne Shorter. En 1998, Clarke avait fondé le groupe Superband avec Lenny White, Larry Carlton et Jeff Lorber.

En 2005, Clarke avait fait une tournée en trio avec Béla Fleck et le violoniste Jean-Luc Ponty. Clarke et Ponty avaient également joué en trio avec le guitariste Al Di Meola en 1995 et enregistré l’album live The Rite of Strings. Clarke et Ponty avaient de nouveau joué en trio en 2012 avec le guitariste gitan Biréli Lagrène. Deux ans plus tard, le trio avait enregistré l’album D-Stringz.

En 2007, Clarke a publié le DVD Night School: An Evening of Stanley Clarke and Friends, un enregistrement d’un concert présenté en 2002 au Musicians' Institute de Hollywood. Dans le cadre du concert, Clarke jouait à la fois de la contrebasse et de la guitare électrique et avait été rejoint sur scène par des artistes invités comme Stewart Copeland, Lenny White, Béla Fleck, Shelia E. et Patrice Rushen.

En 2008, Clarke avait formé le trio SMV avec les bassistes Marcus Miller et Victor Wooten. Le trio avait enregistré l’album Thunder la même année. En 2009, Clarke avait publié Jazz in the Garden, un album mettant en vedette son trio composé du pianiste Hiromi Uehara et du batteur Lenny White.

En 2010, Clarke avait publié un nouvel album avec le Stanley Clarke Band, qui comprenait Hiromi au piano, Ruslan Sirota aux claviers et Lenny White à la batterie. L’album s’était mérité un prix Grammy dans la catégorie du meilleur album de jazz contemporain.

La même année, Clarke avait fondé sa propre compagnie de disques appelée Roxboro Entertainment Group. Basée à Topanga, en Californie, la compagnie avait été baptisée ainsi en hommage au high school que Clarke avait fréquenté dans les années 1960. Le premier album publié par la compagnie était un enregistrement du guitariste Lloyd Gregory et du compositeur Kennard Ramsey. Parmi les autres artistes sous contrat avec la maison de disques, on remarquait le claviériste Sunnie Paxson et les pianistes Ruslan Sirota et Beka Gochiashvili.

En 2014, Clarke avait été invité à se produire sur scène avec le groupe Primus dans le cadre de la tournée Primus and the Chocolate Factory. La tournée comprenait également comme artistes invités Stewart Copeland et Danny Carey du groupe Tool. À cette occasion, Copeland et Carey avaient interprété avec Clarke et le bassiste Les Claypool le succès de Primus intitulé "Here Come the Bastards". La même année, Clarke avait enregistré Up, un album réalisé notamment avec son ancien partenaire de Return of Forever, Chick Corea au piano, le guitariste Jimmy Herring du groupe Widespread Panic et Steward Copeland à la batterie. En 2018, Clarke avait publié The Message, un album du Stanley Clarke Band mettant en vedette Cameron Graves aux synthétiseurs, Beka Gochiashvili au piano et Mike Mitchell à la batterie. Le rapper Doug E. Fresh et le trompettiste Mark Isham avaient également participé à l’album. Continuant de connaître de fréquents changement de personnel, le Stanley Clarke Band était composé en 2019 de Cameron Graves et de Beka Gochiashvili au piano, de Shariq Tucker à la batterie, de Salar Nader au tabla et d’Evan Garr au violon.

En 2020, Clarke avait été invité à enseigner au Bass Bootcamp animé par le bassiste Gerald Veasley. Le camp, qui avait lieu à Philadelphie, permettait aux bassistes de tous âges d’étudier avec plusieurs professeurs et professionels de l’instrument comme Richard Waller, Rob Smith, Freekbass et Michael Manring. Malheureusement, le camp avait dû être reporté à l’année suivante en raison de la pandémie de la COVID-19. Très impliqué dans le développement de la relève, Clarke avait également fondé la Stanley Clarke Foundation, une organisation caritative qui accorde des bourses à des jeunes musiciens talentueux à chaque année.

Également compositeur de bandes sonores pour la télévision et le cinéma, Clarke était notamment l’auteur de la musique de la série télévisée Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986-1990), qui avait été mise en nomination pour un prix Emmy. Clarke avait aussi écrit la musique des films Boyz n the Hood (1991), Passenger 57 (1992), What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), Poetic Justice (1993), Romeo Must Die (2000), The Transporter (2002), First Sunday (2008), Soul Men (2008), The Best Man Holiday (2013), Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016). Il était également l’auteur des trames sonores des émissions de télévision Waynehead (1996-1998), Static Shock (2000-2004), A Man Called Hawk et Soul Food (2000-2004) et Lincoln Heights (2006-2009). En plus d’avoir plus de 75 bandes sonores à son actif, Clarke a aussi écrit la musique du vidéo "Remember the Time" de Michael Jackson. En 2019, Clarke avait également composé la trame sonore du documentaire Halston de Frédéric Tcheng. Le film raconte l’histoire incroyable du désigner américain Roy Halston Frowick.

Comme contrebassiste, Clarke avait toujours utilisé une technique assez particulière. Lorsqu’il joue de la basse électrique, Clarke place sa main droite de façon à ce que ses doigts s’approchent des cordes un peu comme il l’aurait fait avec une contrebasse, mais avec un angle de 90 degrés. Afin de réaliser tout cela, Clarke devait placer son avant-bras au-dessus et parallèlement aux cordes. Pendant ce temps, son poignet était placé en crochet vers le bas afin de former un angle droit. Lorsqu’il jouait en solo, Clarke frappait les cordes vers le bas, ce qui permettait de produire un son beaucoup plus percussif. Commentant l’approche très ‘’métallique’’ de son jeu, Clare avait précisé: "I found from plucking the strings in various ways that just the slightest movement can change your whole sound.’’

Clarke démontrait également énormément de rapidité dans ses solos. Comme il l’avait expliqué au cours d’une entrevue accordée au magazine Guitar Player: "On electric bass, I use any finger, even my thumbs--anything!... I pluck mainly with three fingers. I have certain patterns that I can only play with four fingers. Sometimes when I get to those real fast runs that just fly, they'll be a fourth finger in there to help play it."

Clarke se sert de contrebasses Alembic depuis 1973. En plus de se innovations comme musicien, Clarke avait également développé ses propres instruments comme une basse électrique piccolo et une basse électrique ténor.

Mis en nomination à de nombreuses reprises au gala des prix Grammy (il en a remporté trois à ce jour), Clarke avait également été lauréat s’un prix Grammy pour le meilleur album instrumental en 2011 dans le cadre des 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Le prix avait été décerné conjointement à Clarke, Chick Corea et Lenny White pour l’album Forever. Clarke s’était également vu accorder un Lifetime Achievement Award par le magazine Bass Player en 2006. Le Festival international de jazz de Montréal a également décerné à Clarke un Miles Davis Award en 2011. Clarke a aussi été élu Jazz Master par la National Endowment for the Arts en 2022.

Clarke est aussi titulaire de deux doctorats honorifiques décernés respectivement par l’Université of the Arts de Philadelphie en 2008 et le Music Institute de Philadelphie en 2009. Clarke a également été élu bassiste de l’année dans le cadre de plusieurs sondages des lecteurs des magazines Down Beat et Playboy. Il a aussi été nommé artiste de jazz de l’année en 1977 dans le cadre du sondage de lecteurs du magazine Rolling Stone. Clarke est également membre de la “Gallery of Greats’’ du magazine Guitar Player. Depuis 2016, une partie des instruments et des enregistrements de Clarke font partie de la collection du Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) de Washington, D.C.

En plus de ses activités de musicien et de compositeur, Clarke avait également agi comme producteur pour des artistes comme le guitariste Roy Buchanan et les chanteuses Dee Dee Bridgewater et Flora Purim. Il avait même chanté à l’occasion sur les albums de Return to Forever et sur ses propres enregistrements. En plus d’avoir tenu une chronique sur la basse dans des magazines durant un certain temp, Clarke projette actuellement d’écrire un manuel didactique en plusieurs volumes sur la contrebasse. Il précisait: "I'm writing a book on acoustic bass, maybe three or four volumes. It's going to be the full thing--everything that anyone would want to know about the acoustic bass."

Décrivant sa philosophie de la musique, Clark avait déclaré: "I don't feel I should have to make music to satisfy anyone. But I do feel that one of an artist's fundamental duties is to create work other people can relate to. I'd be a fool to do something nobody else was going to understand."

Même si Clarke était considéré comme un excellent musicien, son passage du jazz vers le jazz-fusion n’avait pas toujours été bien accueilli par critiques. Les plus récents projets de Clarke avec les musiciens rock, comme sa collaboration avec le New Barbarians de Ronnie Wood et l’ajout de thèmes de la musique pop dans sa musique, avaient terni sa réputation auprès de certain puristes. Mikal Gilmore écrivait dans le magazine Rolling Stone: "Clarke has seemed to temper his talent, opting instead to play fairly prosaic, overbusy variations of rhythm & blues and even heavy-metal music." Gilmore s’était montré particulièrement amer envers la collaboration de Clarke avec George Duke. Commentant une collaboration de Clarke avec Duke et Sonny Rollins, Chris Albertson du magazine Stereo Review avait déploré: "Pianist George Duke and bassist Stanley Clarke, men of great jazz potential who were bitten by the chart bug before they could show us more than the tip of their talent, here prove that they have spent too much time in fusionland.’’ Dans son compte tendu de l’album Hollywood de Maynard Ferguson sur lequel Clarke avait agi comme producteur, Don Heckman écrivait dans le magazine High Fidelity: "The title certainly tells you what to expect. But if there are any doubts, note that the album was 'produced and directed' by Stanley Clarke... Jazz? Forget it."

Mais malgré toutes les critiques dont il avait été l’objet, Clarke avait toujours refusé de se laisser ébranler. Lorsqu’un critique du magazine Down Beat avait demandé à Clarke si un musicien avait déjà changé son fusil d’épaule en raison des critiques de la presse, il avait simplement rétorqué: "I've seen guys do that, and I've seen them go right down the drain, too. That's one thing that an artist can't do--if any creative person starts listening to other people, he goes down." Déterminé à continuer d’explorer différents styles, Clarke avait défendu le caractère éclectique de sa musique en ces termes: ‘’It would get boring for me if I just did one thing and played just one type of music for the rest of my life. I don't think I could take it." Dans une entrevue accordée au magazine Rolling Stone, Clarke avait tenu à préciser: "I know it upsets some people, but I could never be a conservative jazz musician."

Mais il y avait parfois des revirements étonnants. Reconnaissant qu’il avait peut-être été trop sévère avec Clarke, le critique Chris Albertson écrivait: "I used to think of Stanley Clarke as one of the defectors, a jazz man drawn away from his art by the waving of the green. Now I am inclined to think that I did Clarke an injustice." Caractérisé par un remarquable charisme et par une grande présence sur scène, Clarke avait inspiré le commentaire suivant à Bill Milkowski du magazine Down Beat: "Clarke remains the same crowdpleaser he always was, an engaging presence with a flashing smile, playing up the rock theatrics during his explosive solos."

Stanley Clarke a épousé Carolyn Helene Reese le 29 novembre 1974. Le couple a eu un fils, Christopher Ivanhoe. Tout comme Chick Corea, Clarke était membre de l’Église de Scientologie.

SOURCES:

‘’Stanley Clarke.’’ Wikipedia, 2023.

‘’Stanley Clarke.’’ National Endowment for the Arts, 2023.

‘’Stanley Clarke Biography.’’ Net Industries, 2023.

‘’Stanley Clarke, bass-playing jazz legend: Something Else! Interview’’. Something Else, 2023.

#jazz

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lboogie1906 · 8 months ago

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Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is a jazz vocalist. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while rapidly alternating with arpeggios and harmonies—as well as scat singing, polyphonic overtone singing, and improvisational vocal percussion. He is known for performing and recording as an unaccompanied solo vocal artist. He has collaborated with other artists from both the jazz and classical scenes.

His song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” was a #1 US pop hit in 1988 and won Song of the Year and Record of the Year honors at the 1989 Grammy Awards. He has worked in collaboration with instrumentalists, including pianists Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Joe Zawinul, drummer Tony Williams, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

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unequaltemperament · 1 year ago

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So I just watched Adam Neely's video on Laufey. I agree with his point on her not really being jazz- and I'm a Laufey fan!

But something he brought up which I wanted to address was defining jazz. I have a couple comments.

1. Of all of the definitions and analogies that could have been used, Neely used Wynton Marsalis's definition. I think Neely was already aware of the problems in the definition and he mentioned it, but it still bugs me. Jazz is an extremely broad genre. Marsalis, however, believes otherwise, speaking out time and time again against free jazz, jazz fusion, etc. His view of jazz eliminates decades of innovation. It restricts jazz to a box, unable to develop and grow. Which leads me to my next point...

2. Jazz is dead. I'll prove it. Listen to Duke Ellington's version of Take the A Train. Now listen to Donna Lee. Then Spain by Chick Corea. Then listen to Sphere No. 1 by Cecil Taylor. Oh and then Shifting Sands by Avishai Cohen. I can go on. These are all supposedly "jazz". If a genre is supposedly a "category of artistic composition...characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter", then how can we have such vastly different pieces? Here's my take on this: jazz is not a genre. It's a family. We could say jazz is ragtime. Or we could just have ragtime and the early 1920s/30s swing and big band music as the parents of this family. And from here, bebop was born and then cool jazz and free jazz were born. Next came modal and Latin and hard bop. You could continue (and fix any errors in) this lineage until you reach whatever we consider to be "jazz" today.

Maybe you can come up with a definition of jazz now. But I challenge you to come up with a definition that'll last for the next 10 years, or 50, or 100. Music is constantly evolving. Why shove music into a bunch of boxes. Let it be free. See what happens.

All this to say: genres are stupid. Don't make "jazz" or "pop". Make music.

#music theory #jazz #laufey #music #adam neely #music genres #genres are stupid

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cloama · 1 year ago

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Cobra by Megan Thee Stallion is fantastic.

I keep replaying it. I am so in love with the arrangement. It presents so many possibilities for the live version and that is exciting to me because she is leveling up as a live artist, finally ditched the backing main vocal track. I'm so proud of her.

That Chick Corea/Return to Forever sample kind of blew me away. I wish they'd kept it in the rock remix but I get why they didn't. It's a true remix which is rare right now. I'm just a fan of Return to Forever and cannot believe these two kids cleared a sample from them and made it so transformative. In a summer full of terrible cheap shot samples, meg and Ju came in and showed that no-one is really flipping an LP like them.

Additionally I don't see people giving Spiritbox their lil props on the Cobra rock remix. Their lead singer's part acts as a Despair Translator for people who cant see her raps as the plea they are. Like 'okay let's get this spooky angelic voice to echo sing my feelings underneath the rap so you apathetic fucks can really get the point.' I found it to be so lovely. It felt like some much needed backup. All the people asking if Hayley was available need to understand those are two different genres. Jada Pinkett's band, Wicked Wisdom however...

I have so many questions about the production. Especially since this is her first time coproducing with her longtime collaborator Lil Ju. I love their work so much because he really seems to understand her and what she aims to do. I hope she feels accomplished because it's impressive.

Also, the line "this pussy depressed" is just instantly gilded. Like, girl...your mind. Felt.

#i love my kids #megan thee stallion #liljumadedabeat #she said: yall always say i only make pussy rap so guess what? this pussy depressed #f e l t

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projazznet · 3 months ago

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Jean-Luc Ponty – Open Mind

Open Mind is an album by French jazz fusion artist Jean-Luc Ponty, released in 1984.

Jean-Luc Ponty – violin, violectra, piano, organ, synthesizer, keyboards, vocals, rhythm programming George Benson –guitar Chick Corea – synthesizer Casey Scheuerell – drums, tabla Rayford Griffin – drums, percussion

#jean luc ponty #violin #fusion #projazz #projazznet

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randomcollectionitem · 6 months ago

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Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola, Jean-Luc Ponty - The Rite Of Strings

https://www.discogs.com/release/853788-Stanley-Clarke-Al-Di-Meola-Jean-Luc-Ponty-The-Rite-Of-Strings

The 90s were a strange, rough time for jazz, particularly 70s fusion luminaries like the trio of Clarke, Di Meola, and Ponty assembled here. Those familiar with the genre will know Stanley Clarke and Al Di Meola from Chick Corea's groundbreaking jazz-rock fusion group Return to Forever, and Jean-Luc Ponty from John McLaughlin's equally groundbreaking jazz-rock fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra (or, for the less jazz-inclined, his work in the years prior with Frank Zappa's also-equally-groundbreaking avant garde art rock group, The Mothers of Invention).

By the 90s all three players had enjoyed long and successful solo careers, but things were slowing down substantially for the genre as a whole. The 80s saw jazz reach its highest level of mainstream appeal since the glory days of the 50s and 60s with smooth jazz and lighter synth-laden jazz fusion gaining major traction with non-jazz listeners. At the same time, those accessible and soft-edged sounds and styles alienated more serious jazz fans. The rise and fall of mainstream 80s jazz sounds led to serious disinterest in new jazz releases in the 90s, both from jazz enthusiasts, who were disillusioned by the smooth sounds of the 80s, and from the mainstream listeners, who had almost completely moved on as harder-edged grunge and alternative rock dominated the radio waves and made the synthy adventures of the 80s feel instantly passé. This led to a number of embarrassing outings from more trend-focused jazz artists trying to recapture the attention they found in the 80s. Many others found themselves returning back to basics, with many of the jazz elite releasing more straight ahead albums in an attempt to recapture the hearts of more serious jazz listeners.

Thankfully for us, this album falls mostly in the latter category. It follows in the steps of Al Di Meola's highly successful Guitar Trio recordings with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia (the final of which would be recorded the following year, the prior two having been recorded in the early 80s), as a simple acoustic trio recording with a focus on great compositions and highly technical performances. I'll note that while the credits only list acoustic instrumentation, Al does sneak in a touch of guitar synth; which, in his defense, is a much more restrained amount than many of his solo records of the era. Most tracks also double Al's guitar, splitting rhythm and lead to the left and right channels. While this may be his slightly inflated ego at work (not that I can blame him, my ego would be slightly inflated if I could play like that too 🙂), it serves the tracks well and fills the large sonic space between the bass and violin out nicely.

The album clocks in at 55:34, spanning 9 tracks. Writing credits are split evenly to three tracks per player, with the sole (partial) exception being Stanley Clarke's Song to John, which was co-written with Chick Corea for Clarke's 1975 album Journey to Love. Sonically, Rite of Strings is incredibly well recorded and mixed. The imaging and soundstaging is excellent (although the soundstaging is occasionally confused by Al's overdubs, creating an odd sense of two Al clones shredding at once seated between the other two players). I'm particularly impressed with the sound of Stanley's bass; it has a very deep, resonant sound while maintaining good articulation and harmonic clarity. Often jazz recordings drop the ball on the bass, with it either sounding flubby and inarticulate or clicky and shallow. The engineers did a spectacular job of capturing the full range of the instrument while still leaving plenty of room for the remainder of the trio. Also, while I alluded to it earlier I'd like to spell it out: the compositions and performances here are truly top-notch. The players have excellent synergy, and walk the fine line between technical showmanship and performing compelling compositions in a way that serves the composition. This is a must-listen for anyone who enjoys any of the three players on the album, and is a worthy introduction to any or all of the three for those not familiar. Which brings us to the well-buried lede of this post: this album is criminally underrated. I think if this had been recorded anywhere from 10 to 20 years prior it would have received a much higher degree of notoriety. As it stands, it's one that even many jazz fans seem to be unaware of. It charted reasonably well at #4 on the contemporary jazz charts, but that was a shallow pool that few were wading in at the time. Today it seems to be mostly off the radar. The Wikipedia page is painfully sparse, and very little information is available surrounding the recording and release of the album. While I have very little reach here, I hope this inspires one or two people to check this one out.

The copy in front of me is the standard mass-market US CD release. In fact, this is almost the only release. It was released on Gai Saber, a short-lived label with only a small handful of releases from '95 & '96, with additional distribution by I.R.S. (yes, the college rock label, no, not the federal government, although either would be equally nonsensical in context). Notably both Gai Saber and I.R.S. would fold the following year in 1996; I would guess the implication of hard financial times explains I.R.S.'s baffling choice to involve themselves in this release, which is profoundly off-brand for a label better known for groups like R.E.M. and Oingo Boingo. While the CD was released in a number of markets, the different international editions appear to be identical aside from the usual differences in copyright text, etc. There was one cassette version released in the US, one promo version of the CD, and a Russian bootleg of the CD (a common occurrence at the time due to scarce music distribution across the board in most parts of the former Soviet Union). The album has never been issued on vinyl and has never been officially reissued. The booklet is a simple two page affair with all of the essentials and nothing more. The graphic design is definitely a product of its time, with a certain Old-El-Paso-meets-90s-Taco-Bell je ne sais quoi, topped off by a particularly uninteresting piece of digital abstract cover art from Luis Siquot (rightfully better known for his contributions to typesetting than for his art). Needless to say, the look of the album certainly isn't doing it any favors when it comes to attracting the attention of modern listeners. Like many long-out-of-print albums, it isn't currently available on streaming beyond some rando's YouTube upload. Luckily, the CD is very affordable used at the time of writing due to general lack of interest/awareness.

Anyways, that's all for today folks! Give this thing a listen if you can. Hoping to be able to continue posting a bit more frequently now. Til next time, may your bass be full in the mix and may your labels stay afloat.

#album review #random collection item #discogs #jazz #jazz fusion #CD #Stanley Clarke #Al Di Meola #Jean-Luc Ponty #The Rite Of Strings #out of print #now spinning

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haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll · 11 months ago

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Tracklist:

Return To Forever • Crystal Silence • What Game Shall We Play Today • Sometime Ago - La Fiesta

Spotify ♪ YouTube

#hyltta-polls #polls #artist: chick corea #language: instrumental #language: english #decade: 1970s #Jazz Fusion #Latin Jazz #ECM Style Jazz

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therecordchanger62279 · 1 year ago

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There’s the Mount Rushmore that everyone knows about in South Dakota, but if you watch sports talk shows, a popular topic these days is to ask the talking heads for their Mount Rushmore of the four best in a particular area of sports. It might be teams, or players at a specific position, or it might be coaches.

It’s an interesting discussion most of the time because choosing the four best in any field can be somewhat daunting. We don’t do sports here, but I thought it might be interesting to apply the Mount Rushmore discussion to music. So, what I’ve done below is choose those I think belong on a Mount Rushmore of Performers, Songwriters, Vocalists, Guitarists, Pianists, Drummers, and Bassists. I didn’t limit myself to any genre because I listen to all kinds of music. I simply chose those artists I think most highly of; artists I listen to because they make a personal connection with me when I hear them.

In the case of songwriters, however, I broke the category down into three sections. The first is for composers – those who compose the music. The second is for lyricists – those who write the words. And the final songwriter category is for both music and lyrics. I find those who write songs for a living are often better at one thing than another. Maybe the music is wonderful, but they don’t write lyrics, or they aren’t as adept at lyrics as they are at music. Some lyricists are amazing, but many have difficulty when it comes to writing a great melody. Of course, there are some songwriters who’ve mastered both sides of the craft in mostly equal measure. So, to be fair, I made separate categories.

I claim no particular expertise here. The only musical gift I possess is a great pair of ears. But for this, that’s all I need. Rather than question my choices, you might ask, instead, who you would choose, and why. If nothing else, it will define what you value most when you listen to music. (The names are listed in no particular order.)

PERFORMERS

Bruce Springsteen

Tina Turner

Mick Jagger

David Bowie

VOCALISTS

Frank Sinatra

Barbra Streisand

Linda Ronstadt

Gladys Knight

PIANISTS

Yuja Wang

Chick Corea

Thelonious Monk

Keith Jarrett

GUITARISTS

Jeff Beck

Duane Allman

Carlos Santana

Frank Zappa

BASSISTS

Ron Carter

Paul McCartney

Jaco Pastorius

Chris Squire

DRUMMERS

Charlie Watts

Ringo Starr

Bill Bruford

John Densmore

SONGWRITERS (MUSIC)

Brian Wilson

Paul McCartney

George Gershwin

Randy Newman

SONGWRITERS (LYRICS)

Bob Dylan

Chuck Berry

Paul Simon

Jim Morrison

SONGWRITERS (MUSIC & LYRICS)

Carole King

John Lennon

Joni Mitchell

Smokey Robinson

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omegaremix · 5 months ago

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Mr. Cheapo’s (Mineola) shopping list, 2018.

I hate to break this to everyone, but I suffered three weeks of losses. I’m not ready to disclose the results yet, but it was a heavily-anxious three weeks of seeing and experiencing everything over-amplified. All this year I forgot how it felt to be feeling down, and then it hit. Opportunities taken away, isolation in crowded places, mechanics failing, it goes on. When it rains, it pours. Hard.

So what do you do? You call on friends and family. Hopefully they have the answers and alleviation to your personal turbulation. You also can go record-shopping, what I haven’t done in two months. Money was put in the bank again and I been ordering books and tees furiously. Because you must do you. No matter what’s going on in the background world, you need to keep going forward. What you take is up to you.

I arrived at Cheapo’s in Mineola. It’s the only independent store with two locations, the other which is in Commack. The last time I went to the Mineola location was with my ex- Yenny which I scored Sun Ra’s Astro Black, some Redd Foxx comedy albums on vinyl, and Lonnie Liston Smith on disc, all during a summer of great involvement and intense conflict. This time, a visit to Cheapo’s Nassau locale was nagging me. Now here I am.

Not even my first minute in the store and I see Richie Cole’s New York Afternoon for $3.00. The albums’ title track was part of a personal mixtapes which was (sadly) the soul of Hurricane Sandy that devastated Long Island’s south shore. So was “Texas Ann” from Joe Beck’s self-titled album. And how did a clean copy of Dott & Night School’s Carousel e.p. get priced for only $2.00? Then I head to the back of the store where they housed the good stuff: the used jazz / fusion, R&B, and hip-hop vinyl section. CBS had their best-of compilations of all their jazz artists at the turn of the Seventies / Eighties. This time, I picked up Lee Ritenour’s and the Tappan Zee label’s, which is the baby of Bob James of “Angela” fame. To my surprise, two Steve Khan albums were sitting there waiting to be taken. One was Tightrope which had “Darlin’ Darlin’ Baby”, a Seventies staple of my Brooklyn Atari youth which always gets at least 10 repeats for every initial play. Hank Crawford was an acquisition as was Chick Corea’s Return To Forever which had that specific version of “Crystal Silence”, a definitive sentimental watermark of that said conflicting summer.

Now this was where I hit it big: the hip-hop and single sections. Both vinyl and disc. I really hit the jackpot. In the vinyl bins: a beat-up Hi-Tek record for six. A Schoolly D single for two. And, Jemini The Gifted One, an artist you almost never hear of as he’s underground. In the singles section, many dollar singles found in golden-era rap, dancehall, and reggae I always heard on the radio back in the Brentwood era. Mic Geronimo, Shabba Ranks, Rayvon, Little Shawn, Black Moon, Smif-N-Wesson, and D&D All-Stars. That wasn’t all of it though. Cheapo’s hip-hop CD shelves were stuffed. I found at least 15 titles I sorely missed that I could’ve captured during that golden-era. Now they’re finally mine. Wu-Tang Clan, Lords Of The Underground, Milk, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B & Rakim, and more. It’s about time I played catch up for all the titles I should’ve had all along. This was all the music that made backseat summer trips, sitting on friend’s front porches and curbs, walks down the block, cassette mixtapes, and endless gaming nights. Never forget where you came from.

Let’s not forget the punk and hardcore section. Cheapo’s had no 45’s or 7”’s for sale, but I did pick up New Bomb Turks, Easy Action, The Vacancies, and those snot-nosed prick bastards The Nobodys, one of the very few bands who could give The Dwarves a run for their misogynistic penny. Their views, not mine. Finally, Genesis and George Michael, two fail-safe titles of theirs my ma’ always had on in our single-digit Eighties youth. One more peck before I go…lo and behold, there was an unmarked Specials LP in one of the crates under the bins. That was a dollar find because Cheapo’s son called it. For anyone who bought their LPs on Discogs and eBay reading this, tell me how you feel paying collector’s prices for them?

This was a spur-of-the-moment visit. I did say I would give record-shopping a rest. But when stress, tough times, and events around you come at you one lion or tiger after the other, you need a quick reprieve to get the mind off for the better. By going music-shopping, I found myself back to where I should be, worry-free and lots to look forward to. Summer is here. Why throw it all away feeling blue?

Mr. Cheapo’s (Mineola) shopping list, 2018.

Mic Geronimo “Masta I.C.”

Jemini The Gifted One “Funk Soul Sensation”

Hi-Tek “Hi Teknology”

Schoolly D “Livin’ In The Jungle” b/w “Gucci Again”

Richie Cole New York Afternoon

Dott & Night School Carousel split e.p.

Joe Beck self-titled

Chick Corea Return To Forever

Hank Crawford Hank Crawford’s Back

Steve Khan Tightrope

Tappan Zee label Best Of…