Stanley Clarke
American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever
Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fusion bassist to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and have recordings reach gold status. Clarke is the recipient of five Grammy Awards, with 15 nominations, three as a solo artist, one with the Stanley Clarke Band, and one with Return to Forever. Clarke was selected to become a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship.
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Quotes about Stanley Clarke
edit- Stanley Clarke has seemingly done it all and then some during his exceptional career as a bassist. Perhaps most noted for his jazz playing, Clarke also shined on the rock side, notably in the late 1970s with Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards in the New Barbarians. Clarke, known for playing his instrument more like an upright bass, has the almost uncanny ability to give his guitar an almost percussive sound.
- Jeff Mezydlo of Yardbarker (February 2025) [1]
- While Stanley Clarke is both a master of the double bass and electric bass, and a dynamic visionary on both instruments, he's also an accomplished composer, as evidenced by many of his solo discs, the groove-heave 1976 release, School Days, as well as his film scores. Clarke is clearly a master of jazz-rock fusion, especially during his time with Return to Forever, but he can lay down a funk groove like no other, and he swings like a madman.
