A living fusion jazz legend. Bassist
Stanley Clarke (Philadelphia, 1951) started out as a rock musician, but was part of the well-known group Return To Forever at the beginning of the seventies, together with pianist Chick Corea, yet another monument of jazz history. Clarke made sure that the bass received a more prominent role in the sound of this fusion group. He achieved this with his special technique, that enables him to switch easily from electric bass guitar to the double bass. After 1977 Clarke worked with Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, Art Blakey, Paul McCartney, Jeff Beck, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, George Duke, and Herbie Hancock, among others. In 1998 he formed his own group Superband; he also caused a furor as a composer for movie and television projects. These past years Clarke has worked with very young musicians; he took on drummer Mike Mitchell and pianist Beka Gochiashvili in his band when they were 17 and 16 years old.
