Clarke's bass a bridge between jazz, fusion and funk

Happy 59th birthday to bassist Stanley Clarke.

He's got the background. Played with guys like Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Gil Evans and Stan Getz, was probably best know for his work for Return To Forever, Chick Corea's band. Playboy Magazine chose him as top jazz bassist 10 years in a row. He helped bridge the gap between jazz and fusion, along with all the genres that sprung from there.

That slap-and-pop technique, really more a funk sound than a jazz sound, is something that Victor Wooten, that killer bassist with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, does so well. 

Here's another vid, with Clarke sharing bass time with Wooten and Marcus Miller. It's interesting hearing the bass take a lead guitar role here. So kick the bass up and rip the knobs off:

###

Happy Father's Day!

Horace Silver's "Song For My Father."

It's your day, Dad. Enjoy it.

###

Everyone needs some Rahsaan in their lives

Something from one of the greatest, all-time:



That's Rahsaan Roland Kirk on tenor sax, manzello, stritch, flute, nose flute, siren, and who knows what else he has in his pockets.

You'd think a blind guy who plays this kind of style must be more novelty than anything else, until you listen. That's when you realize he was the real deal. Rahsaan was the total musical package.

This clip is from a concert in Bologna, Italy in 1973. He's doing the songs "Three For The Festival" and "Volunteered Slavery." In the first cut he's also playing a passage from "One Mind/Seasons."

Did solve a mystery here. The clip ends with the intro to "Passion Dance," and I recognize it. That version shows up on Kirk's "Dog Years In The Fourth Ring," and a guy named Kenny Rogers (no, not the same one) was playing baritone sax there. And he kicks butt.

Anyway, enjoy! Had to spread a little Rahsaan into people's lives.

###

More Rahsaan: