Stanley Clarke Interview - Talks About Return To Forever
This summer Return To Forever, Chick Corea (keyboards), Stanley Clarke (bass), Lenny White (drums) and Al Di Meola (guitar), reunite for an unprecedented return to the concert stage after more than 25 years apart.
Iconic electric bassist Stanley Clarke spoke to www.ijazz.org in depth about his influences and the origins of the band and how the music impacted on the 1970s music scene.
To commemorate the World Tour 2008 they have personally selected and overseen the careful remixing and remastering of their ground-breaking repertoire, The Anthology, which will be released by Concord Records on May 27, 2008. Clearly, contemporary bands like Medeski, Martin and Wood, Rudder, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, the Flecktones et al have felt the imprint of RTF's iconic canon.
Even the hip hop contingent has found riffs for clever sampling and artists including Lupe Fiasco and Dr. Dre acknowledge the power of the group's grooves. The packaging of this new collection is no less definitive than the music it exhibits. Designed by Peter Gabriel's (Real World) Creative Director, Marc Bessant the comprehensive and personal nature of this release is displayed in its ample parts. Never-before-seen photos of the band, individual recollections from each band member and a deeply honorific and entertaining narrative liner essay from Miles Davis reissue producer Grammy-winner Bob Belden all contribute to the top-notch treatment this collection exudes on every page (and every groove.)
There is a moment in a short clip (view at www.return2forever.com) where the band ensconced at famed Mad Hatter studios rips through a tune fueled by the stomp funk bedrock of Stanley & Lenny, ignited by Chick's analog keyboards and gem-cutting flurries from Al's beautiful inlaid wood guitar and you can't imagine it's been 25 years plus. It's as though they just stepped out for a cup of coffee (albeit a long one) came back in and (jazz) rocked out again. A brief reunion in 1982 set a seed in the collective field for this reassembly of talents whom now, almost organically find it the right time to play together again.
Long-time fans and new converts should also take heart that the ready for prime time again RTF is already talking about new material and recording as well as DVD projects and continued touring. This collection will relight the fires of the loyalists and find new cachet in the hip, musical youth of the jam generation.
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