Stanley Clarke – The Bass-ic Collection (1997)

Fifty pence in a charity shop last week brought me this compilation by jazz bassist Stanley Clarke. The shop assistant seemed miffed that I rebuffed her offer of 3 CDs for a pound, on the basis that there wasn't anything else I'd subject my ears to, on the shelves.

Clarke is a name I'd been aware of as a well regarded jazz bassist, without really hearing any of his stuff.

The album draws from the era from 1974's Stanley Clarke album to his 1990 collaboration with Zappa alumnus George Duke (one of three albums the duo did), and doesn't proceed chronologically, so there's no sense of evolution as the compilation proceeds.

But there are some decent tunes, obviously written to display the bassman's craft, generally without overpowering. We open with a jazz-rock epic School Days, from 1976, very much in the Weather Report style, followed by the funkier Wild Dog, from the first Clarke/Duke album. The funk continues with the first vocal piece here, 1980's We Supply, listenable without inspiring, and it's followed by the full on funk (written by George Clinton, Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell) of Mothership Connection, much more on the beat. Journey To Love is a bit more soulful, but the guitar appearance of Jeff Beck on Hello Jeff turns up the decibels. Then it's back to George Duke and the funk, with I Wanna Play For You, fairly sluggish and ordinary. Silly Putty, Hot Fun and Rock'n'Roll Jelly are from the 1970s jazz fusion albums, with Beck re-appearing on the third, more rock than jazz, and the most satisfying of the three.

The album flits about the years to the end, with the lively Jamaican Boy being the a fine listen, before two more pedestrian (previously unreleased) pieces from 1995, the compilation concluding with the brooding epic Life Suite, bringing it to a fine conclusion.

I've enjoyed this compilation much more than I expected, and might well check out more of Clarke's albums if I see them going cheap.

Link to album tracks

4* - some solidly enjoyable jazz rock and funk from the master bassman