No one can accuse Stanley Clarke, one of the most celebrated acoustic and electric bass players in the world, of doing anything “half-assed.” Clarke, featured in a new Scientology Network Signature Performances documentary, Stanley Clarke: Forever, was captured on film creating—along with his youthful band 4EVER—his latest album, Last Train to Sanity.
Clarke explains that this particular piece of music, “Medieval Overture,” a classic from his days playing with Chick Corea and the groundbreaking fusion jazz group Return to Forever, “is a very complicated song. It’s not the kind of song you can wake up in the morning as a musician and go, ‘Eh, I’m going to play this thing.’ You could end up in the hospital doing that,” he laughs.
“I wanted to have a young band so they could keep up with me.”
Clarke’s young band members have no problem taking instruction from the legend. They’re thrilled to be there—breathing the same air and making immortal music with the one and only. Twentysomething keyboardist Jahari Stampley was caught off guard when he got the phone call. “I would never have seen myself getting the chance to play with someone like Stanley Clarke,” he said. “He could call anyone in the world, but he’d go out of his way to find someone young.”
Stanley Clarke’s connection with younger musicians stems from his deep awareness that the fate and the future of jazz rests with them, as well as his memory of how he himself was helped along his own road by the likes of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Stan Getz.
And Chick Corea.
Young Stanley was at a crossroads in his life. He’d become adept at both acoustic bass—the instrument of choice for that section of a concert orchestra—as well as electric bass—the tool no rock, R&B or jazz band can do without. He was preparing for an audition for the prestigious Philadelphia Orchestra when Chick, with whom he’d already forged a musical marriage (as Clarke put it), said: “Why do you want to do that?”
Clarke explained the job stability, the house on a hill, the great salary, not to mention the prospect of becoming the first African American to play in the Philly Orchestra. Chick answered: “Man, look! There’s Bach and Beethoven. Man, there’s Corea and Clarke! We could go write music! Corea and Clarke! Why not?!”
It’s a conversation that would change the trajectory of Clarke’s life—and jazz itself. He took the plunge, threw in with Chick and the two made history with Return to Forever, music Clarke describes as “a spiritual canvas that had no boundaries.”
Clarke’s new band, 4EVER, is both an homage to those Return to Forever days and a door-opening into what the future holds for the ever-evolving miracle that is jazz. But it’s not so much a passing of the torch as it is a brisk and energized step forward in time. Or, as Clarke grinned, “I wanted to have a young band so they could keep up with me.”
“With Stanley, all you actually need is one note.”
A visually stunning and emotionally compelling chronicle of his journey, Stanley Clarke: Forever introduces Clarke’s genius to new fans, deepens the appreciation of longtime admirers, pulls back the curtain on his creative process, and offers behind-the-scenes footage and candid interviews that reveal his attention to detail and passion for storytelling through sound.
The documentary has already garnered over a million streams, clearly striking a chord with audiences worldwide and setting social media ablaze with admiration. Fans, fellow musicians and industry professionals offered tributes, reflections and glowing praise—expressing their love for Clarke through a flurry of emojis, from popcorn and musical notes to dynamite and flames. “Nothing in the history of music like legend maeeeestrooooo Stanley!!!” one exclaimed. “Very, VERY cool! Excellent production about an excellent and inspirational musician,” wrote another. Messages like, “We love you maestro Clarke!” poured in, with fans expressing how profoundly the documentary touched them, calling it a tribute worthy of the legend. (They seemed to use half of the more than 3,700 approved emojis in the Unicode Standard to make that case.)
But at the end of the day, there’s a reason Clarke is so celebrated: He elevated the bass from a supporting role to a leading instrumental voice in music, earning Grammys and other accolades along the way. Honored as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, Clarke was dubbed by that prestigious institution “one of the most influential players in modern jazz history.”
As renowned artist, producer and two-time Grammy-winner Marcus Miller, who appears in the film, put it: Clarke “plays with such a distinctive tone that, you know how somebody will say, ‘Hey, man, I can name that bass player. I can name that musician in three notes.’ With Stanley, all you actually need is one note.”
As for Clarke, his purpose for his fans, old and new, is simple: “I want them to have a good time listening to some music that gives them a sense of journey.”
“I can’t stand careful music,” he adds with a chuckle.
Brrrrrrrrrrr… BANG!
