Stanley Clarke: UP
Author: Andy Robson
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Up
Musicians: |
Alessandro Sgobbio (p, el p, elec) |
Label: |
Losen |
Magazine Review Date: |
June/2020 |
Media Format: |
CD |
Catalogue Number: |
LOS 225-2 |
RecordDate: |
July 2019 |
The title says it all. Clarke's renaissance of recent years continues with this massively energetic journey through all that is Stanley. It kicks off with a James Brown funk delight, ‘Pop Virgil’, and never relents. Much of the spark comes from Clarke's wise sidemen choices: Sirota and the animal that is Bruner Jr remain from his previous band, while current band members, the still teenaged Mitchell and Gochiashvili, play with an abandon that matches their mentor. The Harlem String Quartet also brings freshness to ‘Last Train To Sanity’ with a funked up Steve Reich-like figure. There are also three more of Clarke's glorious acoustic indulgences, his ‘Bass Folk Songs’, with ‘No. 5’ sonorously dedicated to Mingus. Mix in a lustrous duet with Corea, a live ‘La Cancion de Sofia’, and most Clarke devotees wouldn't ask for more. Well, unless it was a run out of ‘School Days’. Hey, you got it, replete with a smoking Herring solo and no less than Gerry Brown on kit. UP as high as you want it.

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