Stanley Clarke - 1976 [1999] "School Days"

School Days is a solo album by jazz fusion bassist Stanley Clarke, released in 1976. The album reached number 34 on the Billboard 200 chart and number 2 on the Jazz Albums chart.

Every pro electric-bass player and their mothers wore out the grooves of this record when it first came out, trying to cop Clarke's speedy, thundering, slapped-thumb bass licks. Yet ultimately, it was Clarke's rapidly developing compositional skills that made this album so listenable and so much fun for the rest of us, then and now.

The title track not only contributed a killer riff to the bass vocabulary; it is a cunningly organized piece of music with a well-defined structure. Moreover, Clarke follows his calling card with two tunes that are even more memorable -- the sauntering ballad "Quiet Afternoon" and an ebullient, Brazilian percussion-laced number with a good string arrangement and a terrific groove, "The Dancer." Clarke also brings out the standup bass for a soulful acoustic dialogue with John McLaughlin on "Desert Song."

Evidently enthused by their leader's material, David Sancious (keyboards) and Raymond Gomez (guitars) deliver some of their best solos on records -- and with George Duke on hand on one cut, you hear some preliminary flickerings of Clarke's ventures into the commercial sphere. But at this point in time, Clarke was triumphantly proving that it was possible to be both good and commercial at the same time.

Stanley Clarke went from whiz kid to wizard in five short years. On School Days, he steps out of the shadow of Return To Forever to show us what he’s learned. Suffice to say that fusion fans took note(s). School Days is set up to showcase the many sides of Stanley: fusion, funk, smooth, classical, acoustic, R&B. For progressive fusion fans (i.e., the kind of people who only get jazzed about RTF, Frank Zappa, Brand X, etc.), School Days scores an A+ on the merit of the opening title track alone.

“School Days” is basically six feet of genius crammed into eight minutes of music. I walked away from that song thinking that Clarke had found a way to match the best progressive fusion artists of the day and make it look easy. “Quiet Afternoon” explores the romantic/smooth jazz side of Stanley Clarke, though it’s not as painful as you’d think. “The Dance” follows exotic fusion, “Desert Song” journeys into the arid world of acoustic jazz , “Hot Fun” is a crazy funk song that lives up to its name, and “Life Is Just A Game” brings out all the stops in a big fusion finale, including vocals.

Earlier albums showcased many of the same skills, but were partly weighed down by extended suites and occasionally weak arrangements. School Days is different, as Stanley Clarke scores extra credit with one great number after another. Is it his best record? Well, given what I’ve heard so far, that would be an educated guess.

Track listing:

1. School Days (7:50)
2. Quiet Afternoon (5:05)
3. The Dance (5:23)
4. Desert Song (6:53)
5. Hot Fun (2:50)
6. Life Is Just A Game (9:00)

Personnel:

    Stanley Clarke – electric bass guitar (1, 3, 5, 6), vocals (1, 6), handbells (1), acoustic piano (2, 3), piccolo bass guitar (2, 3, 6), humming (3), acoustic bass (4, 6), gong (6), chimes (6), arranger, conductor, producer
    George Duke – keyboards (6)
    Ray Gomez – electric guitar (1, 3, 5), rhythm guitar (3)
    Icarus Johnson – acoustic guitar (6), electric guitar (6)
    John McLaughlin – acoustic guitar (4)
    David Sancious – keyboards (1), Minimoog (2, 3), organ (3), electric guitar (5)
    Gerry Brown – drums (1, 3), handbells (1)
    Billy Cobham – drums (6), Moog 1500 (6)
    Steve Gadd – drums (2, 5)
    Milt Holland – percussion (3), conga (4), triangle (4)
    Tom Malone, Dave Taylor – trombone
    Jon Faddis, Alan Rubin, Lew Soloff – trumpet
    Earl Chapin, John Clark, Peter Gordon, Wilmer Wise – horns
    Al Aarons, Stewart Blumberg, George Bohanon, Buddy Childers, Robert Findley, Gary Grant, Lew McCreary, Jack Nimitz, William Peterson, Dalton Smith - brass
    Marilyn Baker, Thomas Buffum, David Campbell, Rollice Dale, Robert Dubow, Janice Gower, Karen Jones, Dennis Karmazyn, Gordon Marron, Lya Stern, Ron Strauss, Marcia Van Dyke, John Wittenberg – strings