Stanley Clarke - The Essential (2015)

An innovative jazz bass superstar, Stanley Clarke is an immensely adept and highly acclaimed performer, whose melodic and harmonically rich approach to playing the bass revolutionized its role from being simply a part of the rhythm section to becoming a front-stage lead instrument. Emerging in the 1970s as a founding member of Chick Corea's groundbreaking fusion band Return to Forever, Clarke helped redefine the sound of jazz, appearing on such landmark albums as 1971's Light as a Feather and 1975's Grammy-winning No Mystery. He also embarked on his own influential and commercially successful solo career, issuing albums like 1976's School Days and 1988's If This Bass Could Only Talk, many of which found him exploring a broad array of sounds, from funk and R&B to post-bop and modal jazz. In addition to his work with Corea, Clarke has often paired with his similarly inclined contemporaries. He scored a hit with "Sweet Baby" from 1981's The Clarke/Duke Project, his first of three albums with keyboardist George Duke. Other collaborations followed, including Animal Logic with the Police's Stewart Copeland, Rite of Strings with fellow RTF bandmate Al Di Meola and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, and Thunder, the debut from his bassist supergroup S.M.V. with Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten. A marquee draw on his own, Clarke continues to collaborate often, picking up a Grammy with Corea and RTF drummer Lenny White for 2011's Forever, and regularly leading the Stanley Clarke Band with an ever-evolving lineup of artists.