[1] School Days (S.Clarke) - 7:49
[2] Wild Dog (Clarke/Duke) - 3:30
[3] We Supply (Clarke/Johnson) - 4:10
[4] Mothership Connection [Star Child] (Clinton/Collins/Worrell) - 4:16
[5] Journey to Love (S.Clarke) - 4:41
[6] Hello Jeff (S.Clarke) - 5:14
[7] I Wanna Play for You (S.Clarke) - 5:12
[8] Silly Putty (S.Clarke) - 4:40
[9] Hot Fun (S.Clarke) - 2:29
[10] Rock 'n' Roll Jelly (S.Clarke) - 5:06
[11] Jamaican Boy (S.Clarke) - 3:25
[12] Lost in a Though (S.Clarke) - 5:10
[13] Between Love & Magic (S.Clarke) - 4:09
[14] Life Suite - Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV (S.Clarke) - 8:59
STANLEY CLARKE - Vocals, Cello, Piano, Organ, Keyboards, Guitar, sitar,
Acoustic & Electric bass, Piccolo & Tenor bass, Tubular bells,
Handbells, Gong, Drum programming, Arranger
GEORGE DUKE - Vocals, Acoustic & Electric piano, Organ, Mini-Moog, ARP Odyssey, ARP String Ensemble, Clavinet, Hand claps
LOUIS JOHNSON - Vocals, Keyboards, Bass
GERALD ALBRIGHT - Soprano sax
BRANDON FIELDS - Alto sax
KIRK WHALUM - Tenor sax
GEORGE BOHANAN - Trombone
JAN HAMMER - Acoustic & Electric pianos, Organ, Moog
BAYETE TODD COCHRAN - Piano, Organ
DAVID SANCIOUS - Keyboards, Electric Guitar, 12 String Guitar
RAYMOND GOMEZ - Electric Guitar
JEFF BECK - Electric Guitar
GERRY BROWN - Drums, Handbells
JOHN ROBINSON - Drums
KENNY WHITE - Drums
STEVE GADD - Drums
DENNIS CHAMBERS - Drums
TONY WILLIAMS - Drums
AIRTO - Percussion
Frank Harkins - Art Direction
Brian Gardner - Mastering
With the release of The Bass-Ic Collection, composer, arranger,
producer, and master bassist Stanley Clarke can look back with pride on
a career of nearly 30 years' duration. This 14-track anthology samples
nearly every phase of Clarke's artistic evolution?straight-ahead jazz
and electric fusion, white-hot rock and stone-cold funk?through the
course of such classic albums as Journey To Love, School Days, I Wanna
Play For You, and The Clarke/Duke Project. Among Stanley's supporting
cast are such superlative musicians as Jeff Beck (guitar), Tony
Williams (drums), Jon Faddis (trumpet), Dee Dee Bridgewater (vocals),
Kirk Whalum (saxophone), and Jan Hammer (keyboards). The Bass-Ic
Collection also includes two brand-new recordings, both produced by
Stanley Clarke. "Lost In A Thought" features George Duke on piano, Ray
Gomez on guitar, and the mighty Dennis Chambers on drums. "Between Love
and Magic" features star saxophonist Gerald Albright, with Stanley
playing all other instruments.
Jazz bass players are typically heard and not seen, but the lack of
Stanley Clarke pictures on this predominantly instrumental collection
of some of his best work is still alarming. No photos and no liner
notes other than track personnel make this appear like a quickie
release, maybe one without much Clarke input. Regardless, the 14 tracks
compiled here are some of the bassist's best moments from notoriously
uneven albums recorded between 1974 and 1989, with two previously
unreleased tunes waxed in April 1995. As a jazz-funk bassist Clarke is
perhaps without peers, and his second, third, and fourth albums from
1974-1976 best captured that style before he deteriorated into
second-rate disco and watered-down R&B in the late '70s and '80s.
So it's not surprising that six cuts, including "School Days" (arguably
his most accomplished and energetic piece of playing and composition),
are drawn from these discs and encompass well over half the running
time. With help from veteran sidemen such as Jeff Beck, keyboardist
David Sancious, saxist Kirk Whalum, and of course shotgun-riding cohort
George Duke, the vibe sizzles and burns. Jazz fusion buffs will want to
start here to appreciate Clarke's nearly lead guitar-style command of
the bass. When Clarke finds his groove on P-Funk-inspired burners such
as "We Supply" and "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" (the latter
written by George Clinton and Bootsy Collins), he's unstoppable. Even
at his sappiest on the newly released "Between Love & Magic," and
the Earth, Wind & Fire-styled "Journey to Love," Clarke's precision
and intensity on his instrument are startling. Although he has enough
good-to-great moments for a double disc (even without digging into the
Return to Forever catalog), this is a logical first purchase and a
solid, if not terribly comprehensive, career overview of a bass guitar
legend.
Hal Horowitz - All Music Guide
Der Mann hat mit Gott und der Welt gespielt; Clarkes singendes,
swingendes, so markantes wie hochvirtuoses Baß-Spiel bildet das
Rückgrat für so manche Koryphäen-Session. Auf der
Retrospektive zwischen funky Soul-Fusion und härterer Rhythmik
à la "Rock'n'Roll Jelly" revanchieren sich Größen von
George Duke, Tom Scott und Steve Gadd bis Jeff Beck, Jan Hammer oder
Gerald Albright. Die zwölf remasterten Goodies ("School Days", "I
Wanna Play For You") plus zwei neue Titel führen echte Bass Power
vor. ** Musik.: 03-04