STANLEY CLARKE

Stanley Clarke's self titled second album is right up there with the best of the seventies' fusion albums. It should be. Clarke assembled a band made up of some of the greatest fusion musicians of the time. Bill Connors and Airto, both of whom had played with Clarke in Return To Forever, Jan Hammer, keyboardist extrordinaire from the Jeff Beck Group, and amazing drummer Tony Williams.

The songs, while all bass driven, are fantastic. Any one of them would have fit in perfectly on the classic RTF albums. "Lopsy Lu" has become a classic. As far as I know, it's one of the earliest fusion songs where you here a bass playing performing a rhythm and melody simultaneously on the same instrument, without overdubbing. This piece has been a staple of Clarke's live perfomances ever since.

"Spanish Phases for Strings & Bass" features an acoustic bass solo as only Clarke can play it. And the rest of the band is amazin throughout as well.

If you are a bass lover, or a fusion lover, this album is a must!