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Ever since Art Blakey broke down the beat to a wide-eyed Stanley Clarke in 1971, the bassist-composer and pioneering band leader has been a force for individualism. A cultural architect, Clarke remains a transitional figure at the intersection of acoustic and amplified sounds.
The four-time Grammy Award winner has helped usher in new eras of music, from his time as a Jazz Messenger through his history with Chick Corea and Return to Forever to his most recent releases “The Message” (Mack Avenue, 2018) and “Halston (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (Node Records, 2019).
As this year’s Detroit Jazz Festival Artist-in-Residence, he’ll perform three times this weekend, including a Friday set centered on his 1978 album, “School Days,” a main stage performance with his band on Sunday and a Monday appearance with the Detroit Jazz Festival String Orchestra that will explore his score for the film classic “Boyz n the Hood.”
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Clarke spoke with Detroit Free Press about the festival’s 40-year legacy, the importance of mentoring young musicians and critical lessons he learned from those celebrated artists who came before him. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
QUESTION: Was there a moment when you realized, as the bass player — as the foundation — that you had the power to influence the entire direction of the music?
ANSWER: That’s a good question. I think when it was when I recognized I was a composer. Throughout history, people that have been in the position to effectively direct music, for the most part, have been composers — and not necessarily composers in the “normal” sense. At that very young age, I was interested in writing music for the bass and having musicians play music that featured the instrument.
Q: What impact did your time as a Jazz Messenger have on your desire to feature the instrument and your impetus to lead?
A: Art Blakey taught me how to swing. He sat me down and said, “You need to improve that.” And he was a master at having a band and arranging (for his band). Leadership is really important — to have the will and the strength to say, “No. Let’s do it this way.” It’s not that everyone doesn’t have that ability, because we all do. Some of us are just more predisposed to leadership.
Q: As a composer, you’ve been this pivotal figure in the lineage, but you really started writing orchestrally when you began scoring for film. In what ways have your orchestral composing and arranging informed your sound?
A: Composition is a very artistic way of organizing sounds and events and emotion and technical expertise. Being a film composer, you have the luxury of experimenting with all sorts of music. Years ago, I was called to do two TV specials for “Murder, She Wrote” with Angela Lansbury. I watched it and made a comment to the producer: “This show is about Celtic music. I’m a black guy from Philadelphia. Why would you call me?” The writer and the producer talked, then came back and said, “You’re a composer, right?” I said, “Yeah, I’m a composer.” They said, “Go do your research.” That was it. So I learned another lesson: All music can be understood. When you’re a musician and you’re open-minded, you can go research anything.
Q: The Philly sound — your hometown sound — is its own thing but has certain similarities to the Detroit sound. How would you contrast the Philly sound and the sound coming out of the Detroit lineage?
A: There is a distinction between musicians who come from these specific areas. Absolutely. In my day, I noticed a difference between West Coast and East Coast music. I used to joke with George Duke and say, “You guys are so floating, man.” Back East, it was just so urgent. You played like it was the last day you were ever going to play — right after the last note, death. There is some truth in that. Just the ability to survive in New York was tougher, or it appeared to be tougher than California. Same with Detroit. That can affect your playing.
Q: What’s so electrifying about the Detroit Jazz Festival?
A: The Detroit Jazz Festival is, if not the best, then one of the best jazz festivals in the United States because it feels like a real jazz festival. You have all the different types of jazz — only a few festivals around the world have that. Jazz is, in many ways, an undefined term. It can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. I think the organizers understand that, and they do a great job presenting its fullness. And being in Detroit is great. When I come to Detroit, the first thing I do is look for a Vernors ginger ale (laughs).
Q: Your recent recording “The Message” integrally features Beka Gochiashvili, Mike Mitchell (whom many know as Blaque Dynamite) and Cameron Graves. Why is it important for you to continue the apprenticeship tradition by inviting younger artists on your projects?
A: It’s a little irresponsible to just play. You gotta tell somebody something. When I came to New York, it seemed like everybody that ever played jazz was there. Dizzy Gillespie told me it isn’t the radio stations and the press that propel our music through time. Even the fact that jazz music sounds so good, that’s not what really propels it. What propels it, is passing it down from generation to generation. Lenny White is a guy that’s very knowledgeable about the language of jazz. When you understand that language, you can teach it. And you do the best job you can to pass it on. It’s a beautiful unspoken code, particularly among jazz musicians. (As far as leaders go), Art Blakey was kind of the hard-hat jazz musician. He was solid as a rock. He was crazy as hell, but it was impossible not to learn something from him.
Q: Blakey and Horace Silver were architects of a new sound with those early Messengers records. You started in Blakey’s band, then became an architect yourself with Chick Corea and Return to Forever — even creating bass instruments for that sound. What was it like to help summon a sound revolution?
A: One should never be defined musically by the instrument. All instruments have a defined job: drummer keeps time, bass player is the person that brings harmony and rhythm together. But when you’re getting the band together with all the nuts and bolts and moving parts, you recognize very quickly that the instrument the guy plays really has very little to do with (his contributions). The drummer could have some of the greatest harmonic ideas.
Q: As Artist-in-Residence, you’ve helped facilitate a series of clinics throughout the year. What’s most inspiring to you about this next generation of artists?
A: The enthusiasm. Enthusiasm, along with confidence and skill is a great recipe for a budding artist with potential to do great things. The only thing that stops that are the vices — drugs and alcohol. I understand all the temptations that young people have; I was there with them best of ’em. And I’m old enough that I’ve seen a few generations of young musicians. The thing that hurts more than anything is to see a young musician in his early 20s ready to conquer the world, and then seeing him in his late 30s slow, upset and extremely high. And it happens. So the best thing about young musicians is they’re fresh and clean and ready to take over the world. And my hope is that they stay as clean as possible.
It’s a very powerful thing, being an artist. The whole artist community is like a big quilt that lays on top of the planet. Some of the pieces are bigger, some are smaller. The point is, everyone is linked together as artists. And it’s really what keeps this planet from blowing itself up.
Stanley Clarke
Three performances as the Detroit Jazz Festival’s Artist-in-Residence
- Back to “School Days,” 9 p.m. Fri., JPMorgan Chase Main Stage
- A night of jazz with the Stanley Clarke Band, 6 p.m. Sun., JPMorgan Chase Main Stage
- “Boyz n the Hood” with the Detroit Jazz Festival String Orchestra, 7 p.m. Mon., Carhartt Amphitheater Stage
Detroit International Jazz Festival
7-11 p.m. Fri. (with pop-up performances beginning at 10 a.m.), 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat., 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun., 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.
Downtown Detroit, with most performances at Cadillac Square and Hart Plaza
Free, though there are paid VIP passes
There are also late night jam sessions Friday, Saturday and Sunday beginning at 11 p.m. at the Ambassador Ballroom at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center
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