Stanley made a couple of stops at KPFK in recent months, first as a featured guest on Rock Profiles segment, and later, to talk about his work on the music for the new film “Halston”. Below are each of the two sessions.
Stanley Clarke traded his bass for a conductor’s baton — at least for some of the night on Sunday (Sept. 1) — as he presented music from his score for John Singleton’s 1991 film Boyz in the Hood to close out the 40th annual Detroit Jazz Festival.
It marked the first time, Clarke, the festival’s Artist in Residence, had given this kind of treatment to any of the 75 films he’s written music for, combining scenes from the film with 10 selections from the soundtrack, some played to accompany full scenes with dialogue, others on their own as stills from the movie were shown on a side-stage screen.
Node Records is pleased to release Stanley Clarke’s original score for the critically-acclaimed documentary “Halston” on Friday, June 7th, 2019, through all digital platforms. The film is being distributed by 1091 in select theatres on May 24th 2019 and nationwide on June 7th.
Halston Director Frédéric Tcheng (“Dior and I”) documents America’s first superstar designer’s rise to international fame in the 1970s through weaving archival footage and intimate interviews with Halston’s family, friends and collaborators including Liza Minnelli, Iman, Joel Schumacher, Lesley Frowick, and Jacqueline Kennedy. It is a behind-the-headlines look into the struggle between Halston’s artistic legacy and his fall to the pressures of big business. Halston is produced by Roland Ballester and Frédéric Tcheng, with producers Stephanie Levy and Paul Dallas, executive produced by T Dog Productions (Dogwoof) and CNN Films and music supervised by Tracy McKnight.
Frédéric Tcheng reflects, “The music that Stanley composed captures brilliantly the epic sweep of Halston’s career and the enigmatic aura of his persona, elusive yet intimate, a true American giant.”
Stanley Clarke is one of the most celebrated acoustic and electric bass players in the world, and an accomplished composer of more than 70 film and television projects including the Academy Award®-nominated “Boyz n The Hood,” the Tina Turner biopic “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” and “The Transporter.”
“’Halston’ was fascinating to work on due to the wealth of archival footage available,” explains Clarke. “Frédéric Tcheng sequenced the material in a manner that gave me an opportunity to maintain a storytelling continuity to the score. The soundtrack is melodic and is part jazz-combo dynamic and part orchestral with occasional elements of synthesized music acknowledging the era of the 1970s.”
Find out where to get the soundtrack here.
DETROIT – The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation proudly presents Stanley Clarke as its artist-in-residence for the 2019 Detroit Jazz Festival presented by Quicken Loans.
Clarke’s much anticipated return and performances will be a highlight at the festival, now celebrating its 40th year.
As the 2019 artist-in-residence, Clarke will support educational clinics for students across the region throughout the year and lead multiple performances during Labor Day Weekend. Clarke will also be featured during an April 2 preview luncheon at the Detroit Athletic Club to unveil the festival’s 2019 full lineup; and perform at a fundraiser at the Dirty Dogg Jazz Cafe that same night.
Previously, his scheduled sets during the 2014 and 2017 festivals were canceled due to inclement weather.
“Stanley Clarke is the perfect ambassador for our festivals during this banner year. His musical accomplishments, perennial career and commitment to the perseverance of jazz have unequivocally positioned him as a ‘living legend’,” said Chris Collins, president and artistic director of the Detroit Jazz Festival. “We’re fortunate to bring him back as the 2019 Artist-in-Residence for what will be an exceptional 40th year jazz celebration.”
Stanley was recently invited to be a guest on the Inside Out with Turner and Seth podcast while on tour. The interview starts at the 15:52 mark and ends at 1:03:33.
The Message (available June 29 via Mack Avenue Records) swells with an abundance of strength, soul and astounding musicianship. It’s a vision of fusion and funk, breakbeats and bass-interpreted cello suites with a little help from friends like rapper/beatboxer Doug E. Fresh and trumpeter Mark Isham. Backed by a young versatile band and a collection of tunes written in the midst of a tumultuous tour of Europe,
“I’m very excited about our work on this album. I wanted to include some of my band members’ contributions and the result is an album that is funky, melodic, musical, contemporary and fresh with a rich multi-genre influence,” Clarke commented. “The guys in this band are consummate young musicians with musical spirits that are very old.” The line-up he refers to is pianist Beka Gochiashivili, drummer Mike Mitchell and keyboardist Cameron Graves.
The band entered ICP Studios in Belgium and recorded an abundance of material. Clarke returned to his home in Los Angeles with the tapes and began to tinker. “Once I got the raw material, I fleshed it out. My ability is to orchestrate and arrange. I’m very good with taking anything and turning it into something.”
Much of the material from their Paris adventure is collected on this album but the affair opens with a homegrown homage to several soulful great friends that Clarke has lost in the last few years including George Duke, Al Jarreau, Tom Petty, Leon “Ndugu” Chancler and Prince. Clarke slaps out a funky riff for “And Ya Know We’re Missing You” while renowned beatboxer Doug E. Fresh lays down an intrepid beat. A rare pairing that seems instinctual upon first listen.
The Message is unmistakably a Stanley Clarke record.
Stanley is proud to announce his own channel of streaming music, Stanley Clarke’s Listening Gallery on Interactradio.com.
He will personally curate the selections himself to fuse together all different forms of music that inspire him, to inspire others. This station will be a revelation for curious individuals that like to think and listen outside of the box. Check it out now!
Bass Ball is the new album produced by Bunny Brunel and Stanley Clarke; and has been five years in the making. Bass Ball features Bunny and Stanley, as well as Billy Sheehan, Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Armand Sabal-Lecco (who also composed “Stand Out” on the album), and more.
The album features many great players from all over the world, particularly from Bunny’s home country of France, including trombonist Alex Perdigon, trumpeter Eric Giausserand, bass players Tony Bonfils, Dominique Bertram, Fifi Chayeb among others.
“Bass Ball” features a Who’s Who of drummers with Dennis Chambers, John Wackerman, Simon Phillips, Steve Ferrone, Johan Franzon, Ike Wiley, Clayton Cameron, and Bryan Cabrera. On Percussion are Chris Moraga and Monette Moreno. Playing keyboards on a few of the tunes is Nick Smith and Larry Dunn (Earth, Wind & Fire).
Bass players are truly the focal point of this album, on which, Stanley plays Alembic basses, piccolo bass, and acoustic bass. Bunny Brunel plays the ESP fretted bass, fretless bass, and piccolo bass.
“I like the fact that Bass Ball gives people an opportunity to hear some of the best bass players they’ve never heard before”, Stanley said of the production.
Check out more the album here.
