Stanley Clarke with 87-4431

[James L. Martin (malthumb)]

Okay, it's not concert footage, but it's one of my favorite pictures.  That's because as I type this, 87-4431 is an arm's length away from me, cooling down from a rousing session that included Strawberry Letter 23, Stomp, Mista Cool, Glory to Glory to Glory and an admittedly lame renditon of Marcus Miller's Power
 
TRIVIA: Strawberry Letter 23 & Mista Cool are both from the Brothers Johnson album that has Louis on the cover sporting an Omega Series I almost identical to 87-4431
 
Peace,
 
James
 

[blazer]

Funny to see Stanley play an other alembic than his signature models, it also seems to have much of its electronics removed.
 
Stan is a huge guy and given the fact that this bass seems to dwarf him a bit that must mean that this bass must be of big proportion too.

[malthumb]

Blazer,
 
This is a posed shot.  It was in an article (written in Japanese) that toured his home and included photos of all of his basses at that time.
 
The idea that the bass is dwarfing Stanley is a camera angle thing.  I'm a little guy (at least vertically speaking) and it doesn't dwarf me at all.
 
Peace,
 
James

[bracheen]

Debi & I had the chance to see Stanley a few months ago.  It was in a small venue at Jacksonville Beach called The Freebird Cafe.  What a show!  Debi had never heard him before was speechless.  He did a solo on a double bass that was the most amazing thing I'd heard.  What a talent!
I think every bass player in North East Florida was there.  The guys from Bass Central even came up from Orlando.
 
Sam

[palembic]

I saw SC playing upright in a duet with Barry Manilow on a TV show once. Great!!!
I also read that SC is a great bower on the upright too.
 
Paul the bad one

[adriaan]

Some friends took me to one of his shows about ten years ago. As much as you have to give him credit for his part in the emancipation of the bass guitar, I must say I was not terribly impressed by the music he played - ye olde fusion type of stuff.
 
On upright, he was just racing up and down the neck, and the sound was thin, but I can't (or won't) remember what his Alembic sounded like. Then again I did buy an Epic a year later ...

[bigbadbill]

Stanley to me expresses the sound of Alembic (if Alembic can be said to have a particular sound)better than anyone else I've ever heard, even including other such personal favourites as John Entwistle, John Paul Jones and Mark King. If someone asked me what an Alembic sounds like (other than answering like anything you want!), I would put on I Wanna Play For You. Although I admit to having been disappointed by the quality of his output during more recent years, the early albums (particularly the 1st brown album)were seminal moments for me. In fact I bought Stanley's 1st and Jaco's 1st on the same day,having not really heard anything by either previously and, possibly contrary to almost everyone else I've heard, was completely blown away by Stanley and left somewhat underwhelmed by Jaco. And a great part of what I loved was that sound.Stanley is one of the few players I've heard who can play just one note and send me into rapture....

[jazzyvee]

Bigbadbill, I agree with that sentiment of Stanley epitomising the sound of Alembic. He is the reason I now have one myself. When I started getting into return to forever and I wanna Play for you, i didn't know what bass it was only that I loved the sound.
 
It was when I saw him in concert in the UK at the time of the first Clarke Duke project album that I saw the bass he was using and then made the connnection with Alembic. From then I have been hooked on the tone.
 
I also remember seeing Stanley Clarke live at the Coachhouse in California when he was playing with Billy Cobham, Larry Carlton, Najee and Deron Johnson and i remember being totally blown away by his sound.
 
I do like Jaco's sound and I can get close to it tonally on my Alembic when I need to but my technique isn't really geared to playing like that and i haven't had any gigs where that sound was needed.  
 
I love the sound he gets on the Justice's Groove track off east river drive and also Anouche on the Vertu album.
 
There is a certain magic in his sound  which is very distinctive, much like Carlos Santana... when you hear their sound anywhere.... you always stop and listen and know who you are listening to.
 
Stan is the Man...

[rami]

 
 
(Message edited by rami on January 09, 2004)

[malthumb]

One minor detail I may have left out in my many tellings of the how I got this bass from Stanley story.
 
Back in the early '90s I was in downtown Detroit on business.  As I was driving down Woodward Ave., the radio station I was listening to announced that tickets for the Stanley Clarke / George Duke concert at The Fox were going to go on sale at 10:00 am at TicketMaster and at the Fox Box Office.  It was 9:40 something and I had just driven past the Fox.  I turned around, parked, and was like 7th in line.  Bought two tickets.  Second row.
 
My girlfriend (now wife) and I went to the concert.  The seat directly in front of us was empty.  Stanley started roaming through the crowd, jammin' like a maniac.  He stood on the seat in front of me and just totally went nuts on a solo.  I could have reached out and touched the bass had I not been in a total trance.  I remember clearly that the bass was not a small body, because I recalled it was different from the basses I was used to seeing him play.
 
I'm pretty certain that it was the bass I now own.  I asked him about that concert when I talked to him on the phone about buying this bass.  He remembered the concert, but couldn't clearly remember if he had this bass at that concert.  He did recall that he did use it ocassionally on tour with George Duke.
 
Peace,
 
James

[bob]

I just knew you were holding something back, James . Great story.

[bigbadbill]

James, I am not worthy! That is a great story.And to have one of Stanley's basses...wow.
 
Further to my earlier comments, I'd like to add that I obviously later came to appreciate Jaco as the phenomenal bass player he was, but ultimately I guess I'll always be a Stan man; something about his style and tone (and yes, definitely his choice of bass!) just spoke to me; and I guess that's the reason we all love the players we love, because they speak to us in some personal way. I'll never forget seeing him in London with George Duke; at one point he had 2 Alembics slung round his back, and was soloing on a 3rd....!!!  

[keavin]

does any body ever wonder why stanley doesnt play the alembic (sterling 25th anniversary alembic ?) after all he is the who should let us all see and hear one.

[adrian480]

Great clip with Stanley Clarke / Steve Gadd
Silly Putty and other stuff  
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je_iqbgGXFw

[newuser]

Saw him w. George Duke and Marcus Miller the other night. He had the upright, the short scale SI and a maple long scale 4 Omega with a   Fan 5 peghead. I was in the back so I couldn't see if it was a SI or SII. He used it on some of George's Brazilian material. For the encore (P-Funk medley) Marcus came out and played it.  
 
Last fall at World Cafe he used the upright and SI, the Dragon's Breath was sitting on a stand, but was unplayed during the two sets.
 
Have now seen drummer Ronald Bruner Jr. twice - this kid's the real deal. Each time Stanley has said This is a musician I have waited for. If the Clarke/Duke Tour hits your town check 'em out.
 
TV Alert: Marcus Miller will be featured on BET J's On the Road with Stanley Clarke on June 15. On June 22nd it's George Duke, Terence Blanchard and others. Times are 7AM PST/10AM EST, and again at 4PM PST/7PM EST.