D-Stringz Stanley Clarke

• 1Strech03:31
• 2To And Fro06:19
• 3Too Young To Go Steady07:30
• 4Bit Of Burd03:31
• 5Nuages05:17
• 6Childhood Memories05:41
• 7Blue Train06:16
• 8Paradigm Shift06:50
• 9Mercy, Mercy, Mercy06:34
• Total Runtime51:29

Info for D-Stringz

Unalloyed felicity is the best way to describe D-STRINGZ, the new disc by the cooperative trio – violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, bassist Stanley Clarke, and guitarist Biréli Lagrène. These three distinctive titans consolidate their singular voices while exploring vast stylistic idioms within jazz’s expansive realm, resulting in a cohesive sound that plays to the strength of each individual’s virtuosity and more importantly their keen sense of musical interactivity. Each of these musicians are renowned for their incredible work within the electric jazz realm; D-STRINGZ shows them venturing into the acoustic realm and exhuming four jazz gems while also contributing fetching originals that shine new light to their individual gifts as composers.

Given the ardent accord they display on the album, their history together as a unit is relatively short. The trio’s origins date back to 2012 when French jazz impresario and the disc’s associate producer François Lacharme, produced an all-star concert at Paris’ Chatelet Theatre to salute Ponty’s 50-year-long career. In addition to performing with an orchestra, Ponty organized two trios, one of which included Clarke – a longtime music collaborator – and Lagrène, whom neither Ponty nor Clarke had yet performed with prior. The three only performed five pieces during a 20-minute set, yet the performance’s impact was so immense that it inspired Lacharme to converse with Jean-Philippe Allard – jazz director of Universal Music France and general manager for Impulse! Records – about the prospects of recording them. Two years later, the three nestled inside the ICP studios in Brussels for four days to record D-STRINGZ.

The acoustic violin-bass-guitar setting isn’t new for Ponty or Clarke. The two released the critically acclaimed Rites of Strings disc in 1995 with the legendary Al Di Meola; but as Ponty notes, that trio focused solely on original compositions while also delivering music structures more aligned with jazz-rock. D-STRINGZ, in comparison, yields closer to straight-ahead jazz while also retooling a few jazz standards.

The first standard to appear on the disc is Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson’s 1955 ballad, “Too Old to Go Steady,” which was wonderfully rendered by John Coltrane on his classic 1963 Impulse Records! LP, Ballads. Here, Ponty articulates the composition’s lamenting melody as Lagrène strums alluring chords and Clarke anchors them with a simpatico counterpoint. Soon after, Lagrène takes the lead, alternating between single-note lines and succinct chordal strumming. D-STRINGZ references Coltrane again – and more directly – with its delightful reading of his 1957 composition, “Blue Train,” on which Ponty swings the melody masterfully, while animating it with capricious embellishments and sharp cries that demonstrate his fluidity in hard-bop. Clarke supplies the rendition with an ebullient walking bass line while Lagrène gussies up the rhythm with his spry comping before launching into a knotting improvisation, which gives way to Clarke’s blues-laden aside.

The trio tips its hat to French-Romanian jazz legend Django Reinhardt with an inventive makeover of his 1940 hit, “Nuages.” Ponty recasts the “hot jazz club” staple with a supple bossa nova undercurrent, initially powered by Lagrène’s spidery accompaniment and Clarke’s dancing pulse. Josef Zawinul’s 1966 “Mercy Mercy Mercy,” which became a smash hit for Cannonball Adderley, rounds out the standards on D-STRINGZ. The idea to cover the soul-jazz classic was rather impromptu after the trio had challenged itself with Coltrane’s “Blue Train.” While taking a break, the song popped into conversation, which led Ponty to search for it on YouTube . Then voilá; the trio delved into the gospel-infused tune.

The original tunes from the band are equally mesmerizing. D-STRINGZ kicks off with a splendid take on Lagrène’s intrepid “Stretch,” which first appeared on his 1990 disc, Acoustic Moments. After the trio tackles the compositions’ tricky introduction, the updated version takes on a more groove-laden pulse as the trio ricochets snippets of melody with blinding speed. The funk continues with Ponty’s “To and Fro,” an original that he penned in 2005 for another trio with Clarke and banjo player Belá Fleck. The trio retains the original’s electronica dance feel by asserting its serrating rhythm with Lagrène first tickling out 12-note riff, followed by Ponty then Clarke. The song also allows Lagrène to showcase his affinity for R&B-inspired rhythmic guitar comping and soulful melodic improvising.

The enigmatic “Childhood Memories (Souvenirs D’Enfance)” is the other original that the violinist contributed to the session. It’s a tune that he wrote several years ago but hadn’t made it onto a recording until D-STRINGZ. The ballad is noteworthy in how Ponty switches the roles of lead voice and accompaniment with Clarke; it begins with Ponty plucking an intriguing pizzicato figure while Clarke bows a stunning melody on arco bass. When Lagrène enters, alternating between crisp chord strumming and single-notes, the song takes on a cinematic, Latin-tinge sensibility, which is heightened by Clarke’s second upright bass solo.

Clarke contributed two compositions as well. He pays homage to two of his bebop heroes – pianist Bud Powell and alto saxophonist Charlie Parker – with the vivacious “Bit of Burd,” which utilizes familiar bebop chord changes. As Clarke steers the composition with a brisk mid-tempo, it becomes a splendid vehicle for all three to craft writhing improvisations while also demonstrating each member’s knack for comping. Clarke’s frisky “Paradigm Shift” first appeared in 2008 on Jazz in the Garden, a trio disc with drummer Lenny White and pianist Hiromi. The bassist penned the composition to commemorate the election of President Barack Obama, the United States’ first African-American president.

Considering the collective prestige each trio member has in the electric jazz realm, the communal empathy and at times, the sizzling interactions demonstrated on D-STRINGZ will undoubtedly attract a wide spectrum of music fans. Hopefully these three iconic jazz figures will reunite for yet another rewarding rendezvous – this time, more sooner than later.

Stanley Clarke
Four-time Grammy Award winner Stanley Clarke is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated acoustic and electric bass players in the world. What’s more, he is equally gifted as a recording artist, performer, composer, conductor, arranger, producer and film score composer. A true pioneer in jazz and jazz-fusion, Clarke is particularly known for his ferocious bass dexterity and consummate musicality. Unquestionably, he has attained “living legend” status during his over 40-year career as a bass virtuoso.

Clarke’s creativity has been recognized and rewarded in every way imaginable: gold and platinum records, Grammy Awards, Emmy nominations, virtually every readers and critics poll in existence, and more. He was Rolling Stone’s very first Jazzman of the Year and bassist winner of Playboy’s Music Award for ten straight years. Clarke was honored with Bass Player Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award and is a member of Guitar Player Magazine’s “Gallery of Greats.” In 2004 he was featured in Los Angeles Magazine as one of the Top 50 Most Influential People. He was honored with the key to the city of Philadelphia, a Doctorate from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts and put his hands in cement as a 1999 inductee into Hollywood’s “Rock Walk.” In 2011 he was honored with the highly prestigious Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival for his entire body of work. Most recently Clarke won the 2013 and 2014 Downbeat Magazine’s Reader’s and Critic’s Poll for Best Electric Bass Player.

In 2011 Clarke Clarke won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, The Stanley Clarke Band, with Ruslan Sirota and Ronald Bruner, Jr., featuring pianist Hiromi. He was also nominated for the “No Return” cut as Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The same year Clarke won a Latin Grammy for Best Instrumental Album with Return to Forever’s Forever, along with group members Chick Corea and Lenny White. Forever went on to win him the 2012 Grammy award for Best Instrumental Album.

Clarke’s eagerly awaited new CD, The Stanley Clarke Band: UP, was released on Mack Avenue Records September 30, 2014. Entirely produced by Clarke, he considers UP to be the most energetic, fun, rhythmic and upbeat album that he has ever done. Unlike his predominant acoustic bass work on the last few albums, UP is almost equal electric and acoustic bass. It has already garnered rave reviews. Clarke has been nominated for a 2015 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Arrangement Instrumental or A Cappella for the song “Last Train to Sanity” from UP. The CD also has garnished him a 2015 NAACP Image Award nomination for Best Jazz Album.

Stanley Clarke was barely out of his teens when he exploded into the jazz world in 1971. Fresh out of the Philadelphia Academy of Music, he arrived in New York City and immediately landed jobs with famous bandleaders such as Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Pharaoh Saunders, Gil Evans and Stan Getz among others. As a young prodigy he was immediately recognized for his sense of lyricism and melody, which he had distilled from his bass heroes Charles Mingus, Scott LaFaro and others, as well as non-bass players like John Coltrane.

Clarke fired the bass “shot heard round the world” that started the ‘70s bass revolution and paved the way for all bassists/soloists/bandleaders to follow. In 1974, he released his eponymous Stanley Clarke album, which featured the hit single, “Lopsy Lu.” Two years later, he released School Days, an album whose title track is now a bona fide bass anthem. The song, “School Days,” has since become a must-learn for nearly every up-and-coming bassist, regardless of genre.

Leading the bass liberation movement, Clarke envisioned the bass as a viable, melodic solo instrument positioned at the front of the stage rather than in a background role and he was uniquely qualified to take it there. A pioneer at 25, he became the first jazz-fusion bassist in history to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and craft albums that achieved gold status. He was also the first bassist in history to double on acoustic and electric bass with equal virtuosity, power and fire. In his ongoing efforts to push the bass to new limits, he invented two new instruments, the piccolo bass and the tenor bass. The piccolo bass is tuned one octave higher than the traditional electric bass. The tenor bass is tuned one fourth higher than standard. Both of these instruments have enabled Clarke to extend his melodic range to higher and more expressive registers.

One of Clarke’s musical visions became a reality in the early 1970’s when he met Chick Corea and eventually formed the seminal electric jazz/fusion band Return To Forever. RTF was a showcase for each of the quartet’s strong musical personalities, composing prowess and instrumental voices. In additions to their recent Grammy Award winning Forever CD, the band recorded eight albums, two of which were certified gold (Return To Forever and the classic Romantic Warrior). They also won a Grammy Award (No Mystery) and received numerous nominations while touring incessantly. In 2011 Clarke reunited with founding members, Chick Corea and Lenny White, for the highly anticipated and extremely successful Return To Forever 2-year, 90-city world tour.

Always in search of new challenges, Clarke turned his boundless creative energy to film and television scoring in the mid-1980s. He has become one of the elite in-demand composers in Hollywood. Starting on the small screen with an Emmy-nominated score for Pee Wee’s Playhouse, he transitioned to the silver screen and now has well over 65 film and television credits to his name. As composer, orchestrator, conductor and performer he has scored such blockbuster films as Boyz ‘N the Hood, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, The Transporter, Romeo Must Die, Passenger 57, Poetic Justice and The Five Heartbeats just to name a few. He even scored the Michael Jackson video Remember the Time, directed by John Singleton. Most recently he scored the 2013 box office buster, Best Man Holiday. Clarke has been nominated for three Emmys and won a BMI Award for Boyz ‘N the Hood. In 2014 he accepted an invitation to become a member of the exclusive Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

“Film has given me the opportunity to write large orchestral scores and to compose music not normally associated with myself,” says Clarke. “It’s given me the chance to conduct orchestras and arrange music for various types of ensembles. It’s been a diverse experience for me musically, made me a more complete musician, and focused my skills completely.” His 1995 release, Stanley Clarke at the Movies, is a testament to this heightened level of musicianship.

In addition to touring with his own band, Clarke has always enjoyed the challenge of collaborating with other artists on tour. Clarke teamed up with keyboardist George Duke in 1981 to form the Clarke/Duke Project. Together they scored a top 20 pop hit with “Sweet Baby,” recorded three albums. Over the last decade he toured with George Duke in 2006 and the Clarke/Duke 4: Bring It Tour in 2012 and 2013, until Duke’s untimely death. Clarke’s involvement in additional projects as leader or active member include: Jeff Beck (world tours, 1979), Keith Richards’ New Barbarians (world tour, 1980), Animal Logic (with Stuart Copeland, two albums and tours, 1989), the “Superband” (with Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham, Najee and Deron Johnson, 1993-1994), The Rite of Strings (with Jean-Luc Ponty and Al Di Meola, 1995 and 2004) Vertu’ (with Lenny White, 1999) and “Trio!” (with Bela Fleck and Jean Luc Ponty, 2005.) In 2008 Clarke teamed up with fellow bass titans Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten – collectively known as S.M.V. – and released Thunder, their earth shaking debut collaboration. In 2012 he toured jazz festivals with Stewart Copeland (Police drummer) in Europe in addition trio dates with Chick Corea and legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette.

Not one to rest on the laurels from his various pursuits as a composer, performer and recording artist of more than 40 albums and 60 film scores, the Fall of 2010 marked Clarke’s launch of his own record label, Roxboro Entertainment Group. This business venture includes music publishing for his own and other musicians’ work, as well as the development of various projects aimed at music education. So far Roxboro Entertainment has released CDs from guitarist Lloyd Gregory, multi-instrumentalist Kennard Ramsey. keyboardist Sunnie Paxson, Ukrainian-born pianist, arranger and keyboardist Ruslan Sirota and 16-year-old jazz piano prodigy Beka Gochiashvili from Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. It will soon be releasing singer Natasha Agrama’s CD, The Heart of Infinite Change.

Clarke passionately believes in giving back to help young musicians hone their skills. He and his wife Sofia established The Stanley Clarke Foundation thirteen years ago as a charitable organization, which offers scholarships to talented young musicians each year. Clarke strongly feels that those who have had success in realizing their own vision have a duty to help others in their struggle to emerge. Early in 2007 Clarke released a DVD entitled Night School: An Evening with Stanley Clarke and Friends chronicling the third annual Stanley Clarke Scholarship Concert with proceeds going to the fund. The concert features diverse group of musicians that include Stevie Wonder, Wallace Roney, Bela Fleck, Sheila E., Stewart Copeland, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, Wayman Tisdale, Marcus Miller and so many more. The DVD has garnered outstanding reviews since it’s release.

Stanley Clarke, to this day, remains as passionate about music as that young teen prodigy from Philly with big dreams. Like the man himself, his biography is a continuous work in progress. Legend is a word that has been associated with Stanley since he was 25, yet he remains unpretentious, preferring simple pleasures in the peaceful canyons where he resides in Los Angeles.

Booklet for D-Stringz