Stanley Clark performance

[Mlazarus]

Has anyone ever viewed the Stanly Clarke performance at the 2003 Newport Jazz festival? Wow, i always admired his playing, but i didn't know he is
that amazing. He played the upright like his Alembic series 2 bass! He has to be the "king of bass players" LOL.

[gearhed289]

I've watched a lot of Stanley on YouTube, but I'm not I've seen this one specifically. I just checked out a little bit, it's great! Been a Stan fan since about 1981. And yes, his upright playing is equally unbelievable to his electric.

[Mlazarus]

The king of upright. So. many say. I agree.

[keith_h]

I haven't seen the video but I've seen Stanley play a number of times from the original Return to Forever lineup to the Stanley Clarke Band with Hiromi. I think the two best shows I've seen were when he and George Duke did a tour in 2012 (?) and when he played as an acoustic duo with Hiromi at NC State University in 2011 (?). Even my wife liked the performance at NC State and she generally doesn't care for jazz or fusion. 

Here is a link to one of several videos of this performance (the same person posted more of the show):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1NSAHmkQ6I

[jazzyvee]

I've seen Stanley live many times since the first Clarke Duke Project tour in the early 80's to a number of different lineups through the reunion tour in 2008 with Chick Corea, Lenny White and Al Dimeola. More recently I've seen him at a Jazz festival here and some small & medium sized venues.  Each gig is a masterful event. But growing up with Return to Forever i would say that was the most rewarding from a nostalgic point of view but each concert has been breathtaking.
Also his live tone is the best bass sound i have ever heard at any live music event.

[Mlazarus]

IS THAT LIVE TONE CONTRIBUTED BY HIS ALEMBIC SERIES 2?

[jazzyvee]

Here is a clip I took at one of Stanley Clarke's gigs with his Series I bass. Considering it was so loud I had my on-stage earplugs in and  recorded it with my iPhone the sound is incredibly clear.

[adriaan]

IS THAT LIVE TONE CONTRIBUTED BY HIS ALEMBIC SERIES 2?

Most of his Alembics appear to have Series I electronics. He also usually goes through either a pair of F1-X preamps, or the custom 2 channel version he had made.

[keith_h]

He will also have a small guitar amp or two that he runs from the treble pickup to add some grit to his sound. I've seen him use Fender and Marshal combo's with one or two 12" speakers. 

[Mlazarus]

Thats what i decided to do, run a cable from the DS-5 treble out to another amp. I'm using two Mark bass "Littlemark" blackine 250w 15s. One from bass mono, the other from treble. Sounds clean and powerful.

[Mlazarus]

I noticed Stanley moved his pickup selector on that gorgeous series 2 to the other control areas. Seems a very common thing to have done.

[keith_h]

If you are referring to the bass in Jazzyvee's post that is a Series 1 that was originally built for me. I like the pickup selector in its original position so had it placed there. It looks like Stanley had it moved to the new location which would match his other basses. I will say that particular bass is one of the best sounding Alembics I've played or heard. If you are interested the factory build thread can be found here:

https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=7272.0