STANLEY CLARKE - School Days (1976-2007) RM / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

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. by Richard S. Ginell  
Tracklist:
1 School Days 7:50
Drums, Handbell [Handbells] – Gerry Brown
Electric Bass, Handbell [Handbells], Vocals – Stanley Clarke
Guitar – Raymond Gomez
Keyboards – David Sancious
2 Quiet Afternoon 5:05
Drums – Steve Gadd
Piano, Bass Guitar [Piccolo With Instant Flanger], Electric Bass – Stanley Clarke
Synthesizer [Mini-moog] – David Sancious
3 The Dancer 5:23
Drums – Gerry Brown
Organ, Synthesizer [Mini-moog] – David Sancious
Percussion – Milton Holland
Piano, Electric Bass, Humming – Stanley Clarke
Rhythm Guitar, Guitar – Raymond Gomez
4 Desert Song 6:53
Acoustic Bass – Stanley Clarke
Acoustic Guitar – John McLaughlin
Congas, Triangle – Milton Holland
5 Hot Fun 2:50
Drums – Steve Gadd
Electric Bass – Stanley Clarke
Electric Guitar – David Sancious, Raymond Gomez
6 Life Is Just A Game 9:00
Drums, Synthesizer [Moog 1500] – Billy Cobham
Electric Bass, Bass Guitar [Piccolo], Gong, Chimes, Acoustic Bass, Vocals – Stanley Clarke
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Icarus Johnson
Keyboards – George Duke
Credits:
Brass – Albert Aarons, William Peterson, Robert Findley, Buddy Childers, Dalton Smith, Gary Grant, George Bohanon, Jack Nimitz, Lew McCreary, Stuart Blumberg
Strings – David Campbell, Dennis Karmazyn, Gordon Marron, Janice Adele Gower, John Wittenberg, Karen Jones, Lya Stern, Mareia Van Dyke, Marilyn Baker, Robert Dubow, Rollice Dale, Ronald Strauss, Thomas Buffum