Stanley Clarke- East River Drive

Listening to Stanley Clarke’s East River Drive is so stimulating.

About eight years back, I was floored by his bass work on that album. I was not aware that Stanley already had 13 albums and a movie soundtrack Passenger 57 as recorded output apart from his otherwise impressive bass credentials as sideman. I started to explore Stanley Clarke because he was well regarded as a bassplayer in magazines, as well as by word of mouth.

Stanley along with Jaco Pastorius redefined the role and the sound of the electric bass in the 70’s. Stanley pioneered many of the techniques showcased on all his albums which included slapping, thumping, chording, double stops, glisses, open string and chord harmonies, squealing harmonics; the works. He was prolific and very active playing music all through the 70’s, the 80’s, the 90’s and these days, you either him on some of those Hollywood movies like Romeo Must Die and The Transporter or on live tour dates where some of the finest young jazz cats get their real jazz stint. Recently, a friend told me that Stanley was blowing up audiences with Bela Fleck and Al diMeola…

At this time, I have heard most of the Clarke discography but East River Drive highlights both areas of Stanley’s impressive abilities; working as a sideman and working as a soloist/band leader. East River Drive has a credits sheet that reads like the who’s who of the jazz world. Many of the artists in here may be accused of playing smooth jazz etcetera, but I want to point out that I rarely take the reviews critics write seriously; they assume some otherworldly understanding of jazz with the tags they attach to its history, its cultural affinity with the blues, the American idioms, the fast life, the icons; as far as good music is concerned, it always sounds good, and maybe the intellectual content in smooth jazz is a little staid but in the end, a good artist with a vision and a sound will only seek to break all of these genre specific barriers. I always thought Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, and even Marcus Miller did some smooth jazz and like Stanley, only the jazz critics steeped and mucked with traditional jazz history and iconography dislike them. For the rest of us, every album no matter what it is features at least one facet that is worth accumulating the knowledge for.

I tried to be specific with reviews for each track and then I realized that it really wouldn’t be fair to a new listener. Instead, I’ll just go through some of the highlights of the album and what you could look for, especially in the bass context.

Stanley used a lot of different basses to get his sounds on this album; prominently featured are his Alembic piccolo bass, an upright bass (on which Stanley really is a monster), and a Fyffe acoustic bass guitar. Coupled with some 90’s style synthesizer bass sounds, Stanley was able to achieve a multitude of cool sounds. You can hear this when he solos on his piccolo and his Fyffe acoustic bass; while trading solos with other artists on the album such as Hubert Laws, George Duke, Poncho Sanchez, and Jean Luc Ponty, Stanley is able to achieve such an articulate, expressive, bright bass sound. This has been his trademark sound using the piccolo bass since the early 80’s but it is only by the time of East River Drive where it is less aggressive and more refined.

Even on R&B laced tracks like Justice’s Groove and Fantasy Love, Stanley makes some smooth but hip choices and his sound as usual is top notch; there are some nice melodic statements in here and the urbanity of his grooves in the context of film scores is evident.

More striking is the increased use of synthesizers on the album and Stanley’s tendency to double keyboard low end using his basses along with his harmonic squeals and upper register probing. The sounds were definitely heartfelt; there is no Return to Forever kind of manic riffing and ‘catch the ball’ games here. Some sounds are closer to the Clarke-Duke project.

Zabadoobeedé? (Yabadoobeeda) and I’m Home Africa are funky African groove based tracks complete with relentless basslines and Gospel shout style vocals. I haven’t heard any afro funk from Stanley in the earlier albums; most of the that work was also technique intensive and come to think of it; the main reason why this album got me hooked and made me search out every Stanley album was his funk approach as opposed to his jazz approach. Clarke was a big funk guy in the 70’s as well; his technique basically expanded off of Larry Graham; P-Funk also made a big impression on Stanley; however, the funk we hear in East River Drive is a modern edged funk with more emphasis on urban vibes and feel rather than the late 70’s/ early 80’s outrageousness. Still, it’s a good idea to seek out those earlier albums; they’ll work if you like P-Funk.

I’m Home Africa has some wonderful inspiring choruses and a killer bassline happening with the addition of James Earl; it also has an incredible, must hear saxophone solo by Doug Webb. I always get goose bumps when this track is played; I can’t explain it.

The title track East River Drive is a relaxed piece, very orchestrated and cleverly arranged with great soloing from all the artists involved; this concept is extended to another three cuts on the album; What If I Forget The Champagne, Christmas in Rio, and Never Lose Your Heart/There Lies The Passion. The latter two tracks are latin tinged and show Stanley moving in a different direction as opposed to his otherwise heavy jazz approach; these are easy listening tracks; the solos are musical, each of the soloists plays through the changes gracefully and innovatively; Stanley fulfills ensemble playing in a way that would make jazz bass players proud. More importantly, I could feel some substance in the compositions; they have depth which was lacking in the earlier albums.

He is also a great leader as is amply showcased here;gracious in giving so much solo space to the artists involved; in that sense, East River Drive as an album is really only Stanley with a little help from his friends; most of the tracks are well crafted and embellished with George Duke (with whom Stanley has worked on many occasions) and the masterful drummers Dennis Chambers (in a funk context), Gerry Brown (in a pop/contemporary jazz context), Carlos Vega (in a latin context), and the great J.R Robinson (in a contemporary pop context). Carlos Vega is a delight with his crisp playing and inimitable snare drum work; his drum sound on Christmas in Rio is awesome.

The core funk tracks are the bass and percussion only Illegal and Lords Of The Low Frequencies on which percussionist Bill Summers and Munyungo Jackson team up with Stanley and Armand Sabal Lecco (who has credits with Brecker Brothers). For the bassplayer, these are sick tracks; both bassplayers are on top of the game playing clean sounding basses with Stanley plucking his piccolo bass melodically to the African slap funk rhythms of Armand Sabal Lecco. The percussion is intense and the whole effect is confounding; there are a ton of rhythms here and the lack of a melody instrument such as a saxophone or a guitar is not felt. When I first heard these tracks, I remember being in awe of Stanley’s ability to dictate melodic phrases and repeat certain figures that would make the solo sound so musical; this has been a big influence. The last of the funk tracks is Funk Is Its Own Reward with Dennis Chambers, Paul Jackson Jr., and Stanley assuming a P-Funk and a Meters like vibe while laying it down; the track has some great glisses by Stanley and also mixes in some Larry Graham style slapping and funky chordal work; Dennis’ sound isn’t so great; this was also when he was experimenting with electronic drums but Paul Jackson Jr. is well represented and his funky guitar figures grab you.

East River Drive is a diverse album; you can not only check out some of Stanley’s most inspired bass playing, but you can also see what a gifted band leader he is in the tradition of Charles Mingus; the fact that he has experimented with so many different musical styles such as Film Scores, Contemporary Jazz, Hip Hop, Funk, Pop, Latin, and Afro in one album with contemporary jazz musicians, still managing to sound fresh, is a continual testimony to the bassist who straddles the acoustic and the electric bass worlds. The album cannot be a summative evaluation of Clarke’s career but many of the things he is known for appear here.

Stanley Clarke has always been a musical innovator but it is my guess that he will be remembered for his approach to the bass, both acoustic and electric, and literally turning the jazz world around in the process.

Check out Stanley’s informative website and blogs at http://www.stanleyclarke.com/

To view a brief history of Stanley, view http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Stanley%20Clarke.html

Credits for Stanley Clarke – East River Drive

Abraham Laboriel - Bass (Electric)
Alexis England - Vocals (Background)
Allen Sides - Engineer
Alphonso Johnson - Bass (Electric)
Anjani Thomas - Vocals (Background)
Armand Sabal-Lecco - Bass (Electric), Guitar, Piccolo, Piccolo Bass, Programming, Vocals (Background)
Bill Hughes - Copyist, String Contractor
Bill Summers - Percussion
Brian Gardner - Mastering
Carlos Vega - Drums
Caroline Greyshock - Photography
Charles Fambrough - Bass, Bass (Acoustic)
Dan Humann - Engineer, Mixing
Darryl Jackson - Percussion
David Coleman - Art Direction
Dennis Chambers - Drums
Deron Johnson - Keyboards
Doc Powell - Guitar
Doug Webb - Sax (Soprano)
George DelBarrio - Conductor, String Arrangements
George Duke - Keyboards, Piano
George Howard - Bass, Sax (Soprano)
Gerald Albright - Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano)
Gerry Brown - Drums
Howard Hewett - Vocals
Hubert Laws - Flute
James Earl - Bass (Electric)
Jean-Luc Ponty - Violin
John "J.R." Robinson - Drums
Kenny Kirkland - Piano
Laura Robinson - Vocals (Background)
Michael Hart Thompson - Guitar (Electric)
Michael Thompson - Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Munyungo Jackson - Percussion
Pancho Sanchez - Conga
Paul Jackson Jr. - Guitar
Poncho Sanchez - Conga
Ramon Banda - Percussion
Stanley Clarke - Arranger, Bass, Main Performer, Producer, Programming, Sequencing, String Arrangements, Tenor Bass, Vocals (Background)
Steve Hunt - Keyboards
Steve Sykes - Engineer, Mixing
Todd Cochrane – Keyboards