Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951 in Philadelphia) is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores.
Clarke was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was introduced to the bass as a schoolboy when he arrived late on the day instruments were distributed to students and acoustic bass was one of the few remaining selections. [1] Having graduated from the Philadelphia Academy of Music, he moved to New York City in 1971 and began working with famous bandleaders and musicians including Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Gato Barbieri, Joe Henderson, Chick Corea, Pharoah Sanders, Gil Evans and Stan Getz. Clarke is 190cm (6'3") and his Alembic basses tend to be short-scale (in this case, 78cm (30-3/4") versus a typical 86cm (34")).
During the 1970s he joined the jazz fusion group Return to Forever led by pianist and synth player Chick Corea. The group became one of the most important fusion groups and released several albums that achieved both mainstream popularity and plaudits from critics. Clarke also started his solo.