(5 / 5)
Now you are talking. The baddest bass man out there. Saw him on stage with George Duke opening for Cameo, at what was then called the Hammersmith Odeon, back in the early 80s, and man; he was the business.
Love his stuff. “School Days” one of the best things ever recorded, by anyone, in my book. Yep. The tune indelibly etched into my memory for eternity. I am humming it now as I type this review!
This two disc set is billed as “The Definitive Collection” of Stanley’s amazing career. And it covers a lot of his best stuff, for sure, from 1975 through to 1990. That includes the Clarke / Duke project, Fuse One and the Stanley Clarke Band eras.
This package features sleeve notes by Charles Waring, who interviewed Stanley specifically for this release. There’s a great insight into how some of the tracks were recorded and Stanley’s thoughts about certain tracks and the friends that played with him.
We get all the album versions, including the brilliant “School Days”, “We Supply” (which was co-written with Louis Johnson) and “Heaven Sent You” (featuring Shalamar’s Howard Hewett on vocals), along with the jazzier side to Stanley’s work, like “Concerto For Jazz” Parts 1 & 2. Two of my other faves are also here, “Hot Fun” and “Rock N’ Roll Jelly”, among this sizzling 32 track collection.
Stanley Clarke had a very successful period recording with his friend George Duke as the Clarke/Duke Project, and this package features five tracks from those albums, including the corking version of Parliament’s “Mothership Connection” and the hit “Sweet Baby”. A track that Stanley recalls in the sleeve notes, as being a real pivotal moment in their careers, as they had a Top 10 hit with it and toured for over five years on the back of it. A really welcome addition to my music collection…
By Simon Redley
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’
(4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’ (5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
