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Our Ears Are Open

Stanley loves each and every one of his fans because you have all influenced him greatly. He wants to connect with you and for you to feel connected to his journey as he continues to grow and expand musically. Our job here on the Stanley Clarke Web Team is to use this forum in a way to accomplish those goals. As we move forward, we are looking into rebuilding our site into something more modern, interactive, with further in depth content. So since it’s you who we are aiming to accommodate, we would love to hear your thoughts. Stanley and the team here have some great ideas and additions we would like to make but most importantly we want to know what would you like to see! What is it that you want to know about Stanley or see on this site? More videos? Articles? Pictures? You let us know! Please send over your thoughts and valued opinion to StanleyClarkeRaffle@gmail.com or tweet Stanley @mrstanleyclarke because your input is greatly valued.

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Win A Chance to See Stanley Clarke and Friends at the Blue Note

Want to see Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, and Ruslan Sirota play the iconic Blue Note New York venue for free next week? We have a once in a lifetime offer happening right now! Wednesday night (April 16th) we are choosing three winners to receive a free pair of tickets for this show. To enter this raffle, go on our Facebook Page, share our raffle post photo, then send your email address and phone number to this address, StanleyClarkeRaffle@gmail.com . Good luck!

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Lenny White and Stanley Clarke

http://youtu.be/jDTdXODP5u0

Since the beginning of time, drummers and bassists have had a special bond. You can see this affinity in the way that Stanley Clarke and Lenny White play together creating a power house rhythm section no matter who they’re playing with whether it be Joe Henderson, Return to Forever, or in their own duo. Even in the video up above you can see Stanley and Lenny maintaining eye contact and strong communication throughout the whole performance as Joe Henderson and Chick Corea decorate their rhythms. Not only do the two virtuosos have chemistry as musicians, they have also known each other for quite some time developing a lifelong friendship. “I met Lenny when I was playing with Horace Silver. I was about seventeen or eighteen when Lenny came up to me and introduced himself in some seedy jazz club (Which Lenny informed me was actually the landmark East Village club called Slugs). Lenny was kind of looking out for me I think making sure I didn’t go down the wrong path. Lenny was that dude.” Said Stanley. Since this day the two have worked on several projects and toured many times together. When I asked Stanley what their most memorable times were together he said “Playing with Joe Henderson because that’s where we cemented our relationship and Return to Forever reaped the benefits of Lenny and I having spent a couple years playing together. When Lenny came in the band it was like the band exploded because we had something that was pretty tight. I didn’t have to learn to play with Lenny.” For one week in April, Stanley and Lenny will be reuniting once again at The Blue Note in New York with Ruslan Sirota and a few other special guests throughout the week (April 22-27, 2014). I am personally looking forward to this show very much and if you’re going to be in town I highly recommend that you check it out! See our TOURS page for further info on tickets and dates.

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Beka Gochiashvili: Getting To Know The Band

Name: Beka Gochiashvili

Age: 17 years old

Birthplace: Republic of Georgia

Instrument: Piano

Education: Juilliard

What brings you to the states?

“To make my living in music.”

When did you start playing with Stanley?

“My first gig with Stanley was at the Blue Note for a week with Lenny White in 2012. I was sixteen.”

How has your experience been playing with Stanley and Mike Mitchell?

It’s a great experience to be with Stanley. It’s a great experience to hang with the legends like Stanley and Lenny White. I’m excited to be working with Mike at the beginning of his career because he’s already a great drummer and is only going to get better. We’re both getting great experience with Stanley. Stanley is following a jazz tradition to help out young great musicians and for that I am very grateful.

What do you like about playing with Stanley?

He’s Stanley Clarke! I don’t feel that there is an age difference, I love his openness, I love his sense of humor. He jokes like he plays! It’s almost the same level. He’s a great person. I love him so much as a person and a musician. I love and respect everyone Stanley is surrounded by.

What’s one of your favorite songs?

I love Brazilian Love Affair by George Duke. It’s a huge responsibility for me to play that song because I’m filling in his spot! So every single note, I dedicate to him when I’m playing that song.

Anything else you would like to say to the fans?

My every note is dedicated to Georgian people, for my country. They’re my pride, I’m proud to be Georgian. I want to thank these people for supporting me and supporting each other.

 

(Check out Beka’s self titled album available now!)

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Stanley Clarke ACME Studio Pen

In a collaboration with ACME Studios, Stanley created a design for his very own pen. The top half of this sleek black pen has a gorgeous illustration of the headstock of his famous Alembic Electric Bass. When you flip the pen over, contrasting the electric bass, is the head of an acoustic bass. If you didn’t know, although Stanley’s career is most well known for playing the electric bass in ways unheard of, he was classically trained his whole life playing the upright acoustic bass. This pen captures Stanley’s musicality perfectly. Check out Stanley’s video talking about the pen!

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Stanley Plays on Morning Phase

Beck recently released his twelfth album titled Morning Phase which features Stanley on many of the tracks. Stanley has known Beck for many years and stated “Yea he’s really talented that guy. I think that he’s always been on the cutting edge of whatever he’s doing and that’s what I’ve always liked about him.” To read more about the album click here to read what The LA Times had to say.

 

 

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School Days Tour

“It is great to revisit the School Days album. When that album was released it changed my life as an artist” – Stanley

Stanley as well as his loyal fans across the decades are ecstatic to be experiencing School Days live once again. Check out our Tours page to see where he will be performing this classic album. For more about this tour, click here to read an awesome interview with Stanley.

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Catalina

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    Stanley on a solo

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    Harlem String Quartet, Stanley, Mike Mitchell (dums)

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    Harlem String Quartet

Two weeks ago, Stanley played six sensational shows with Beka Gochiashvili, Mike Mitchell, and The Harlem String Quartet at The Catalina in Los Angeles. This team of musicians allowed Stanley the musical freedom on the acoustic bass to express his classical roots as well the jazz artistry we all know and love. For more about the show see what State of The Art Magazine had to say about it here.