Saw Stanley Clarke tonight. . .

[molan]

Got a ticket to see Stan the Man tonight at a smallish Jazz 'supper club' in San Diego. It's a 'first come, first served' seating arrangement & I wasn't desperately early so was amazed to be shown to a seat right down the front & bang in the middle! There was literally one person between me & Stanley - and she was tiny as well

It was very much a 'jazz' set and he played entirely on double bass all evening. The trusty Alembic was on its stand with red LED's aglow but he didn't reach for it once. It was one of those places with two sets per night so it's possible he was planning on using it for some variety in the 2nd set.

I have to say that he was simply astonishing to watch from such close range. The audience were near silent (apart from applause) and I could literally hear the sound of bass acoustically as well as through the, uniformly excellent, PA.

It wasn't just the amazing technique that impressed me but he had such a wonderful tone and feel to his playing. The range of sounds he extracted from the bass simply through plucking technique was seriously impressive as well - he was slapping away with all the speed and dexterity I'm used to hearing from him on electric bass. At times it even sounded like his Alembic (I'm sure the reverrse is actaully true and his Alembic sometimes sounds like a DB, lol).

Of course the rest of the band were stupidly good as well, Hiromi on piano was not only a fabulous player but also great fun - you could really see she was having a great time. However the drummer was simply breath-taking, a guy called Chris Coleman who I'd never heard of before - having now looked him up it seems he's all over YouTube so obviously a bit better known than I thought!

The rest of the band were really feeding off him all night, you could see them bursting out laughing at times at stuff he was doing and, on more than one occasion, they were all turning round just to watch him play

The only niggle for me was that I would ahve loved to see SC strap on the Alembic for just one of his old 'hits', anything really would have done but it wasn't to be.

So - the big decision now is whether to go and see Billy Cobham tomorrow night at a simialr venue in LA or not. I may be jazzed out already. . .

EDIT - Just found htis vid which gives an idea of Stanley on DB, it's not from tonight's gig but very similar:



Not sure what the sound quality is like as I'm viewing on iPhone, lol.

Edited October 22, 2010 by molan

[Rich]

Wow. The evening sounds like a blast. I agree, if I'd been there I would have liked him to reach for the brown bass at least once... just for a few minutes

[quote name='molan' post='996618' date='Oct 22 2010, 07:31 AM']So - the big decision now is whether to go and see Billy Cobham tomorrow night at a simialr venue in LA or not. I may be jazzed out already. . .[/quote]
When are you likely to get another chance to see him? How often does Billy play in Oxfordshire? G'wan, you know it makes sense...

[molan]

[quote name='Rich' post='996619' date='Oct 22 2010, 07:35 AM']When are you likely to get another chance to see him? How often does Billy play in Oxfordshire? G'wan, you know it makes sense...[/quote]

He'd better bloody play Stratus if I go, lol

Edited October 22, 2010 by molan

[51m0n]

Wow!

What a gig, Hiromi is just astonishing, and I saw SC at The Barbican last year, and he spent all night on the DB then as well (and was staggering!)

More than slightly green with envy here (and I dont really dig jazz - but SC is [b]so[/b] funky....)

[Kiwi]

I found his playing entertaining for sure, just wish he'd focus more on the funk and less on the frenetics.

[derrenleepoole]

You sir, are a bastard and I hate you! But in the nicest possible way

[Bassassin]

I thought I saw Stanley Clarke on Tuesday night. It was dark & I couldn't quite be sure, but when I yelled "OI - CLARKE, STAY OUT OF MY BINS!", he scuttled away, making an odd high-pitched squeaking sound - so I'm pretty sure it was him.

Jon.

[Chris2112]

Glad you had a good time! Sadly, I think Stan is tending to stay away from the electric bass now as he feels his last record is a fairly definitive electric statement and he wants to spend more time on the upright. Which is a shame as I've no interest in upright bass and Stan is one of my favourites on electric!

However, it could turn out to be like the early 90's when Jonas Hellborg declared that he prefered acoustic basses to electric ones, and still played the majority of his stuff with electric basses (yay!).

[Stingray5]

Does seem a bit of a tease for SC to have his Alembic 'all lit up and ready to go' and not actually lay a finger on it.
From your OP, it seems you missed a second set and I would imagine he must've played it then... (or not!?).
All the same, an excellent stroke of luck to have been front and centre for the gig.
Hope you remembered to pick your jaw/tongue up off the floor before you left!!!

[yorick]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='996824' date='Oct 22 2010, 10:48 AM']I thought I saw Stanley Clarke on Tuesday night. It was dark & I couldn't quite be sure, but when I yelled "OI - CLARKE, STAY OUT OF MY BINS!", he scuttled away, making an odd high-pitched squeaking sound - so I'm pretty sure it was him.

Jon.[/quote]

Sure it wasn't our very own funk-meister, Clarky?

[JamieBenzies]

I personally much prefer his upright playing, and don't really care for his electric playing. I saw him live with Chick Corea last year and that was awesome. He makes the instrument look like a breeze to play, I love it

[4 Strings]

Saw him at Ronnie Scotts a little while ago with Hiromi etc. I was equally dismayed when the upright came out (he played a couple on the electric) but he converted me. It was the most deeply moving musical experience I have ever had. I would love to repeat it.

So much music. (I know some will consider the fast stuff as histrionics but, to me, its all one and all and, after all, what jazz player doesn't go fast sometimes?) He is amazing, for the me, the best.