SMV Stanley Clarke – Marcus Miller – Victor
Wooten Thunder
HUCD3163
UPC: 0-53361-31632-7
Release Date: August 12th 2008
S.M.V.
STANLEY CLARKE, MARCUS MILLER AND VICTOR WOOTEN
CONJURE A STORM ON NEW HEADS UP RELEASE
Thunder includes guest artists Butterscotch, Chick
Corea,
George Duke, Patches Stewart and more
In the hot days of August, a low rumbling sound off in the
distant sky usually means something powerful is rolling in.
This summer, when an ominous reverberation makes its way across
the landscape and rocks everything in its path, be ready for
a storm of a different kind.
Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten – each
a powerful force of nature in his own right – have done
more in recent decades to redefine the electric bass and push
the limits of its potential than any other musician alive
today. When these three titans – collectively known
as S.M.V. – converge on the low frequencies, the results
are no less than earth shaking. Thunder (HUCD 3163),
their debut collaboration set for release on Heads Up International
on August 12, 2008, is a high-energy phenomenon whose impact
is guaranteed to resonate throughout every corner of the jazz
world.
“We wanted to make a bass record with a sound that would
be somewhat unexpected to the listener,” says Clarke,
the elder statesman of the three-man crew, all of whom share
songwriting credits on the recording. “The biggest hurdle
was to make a record with three basses – very low-end
instruments, by definition – that would still be as
musical as possible, and I think we achieved that.”
The initial idea behind Thunder goes back a few years,
but the final push came after the three bassists played together
for the first time in October 2006 at the Bass Player
Live! concert in New York City. In addition to the historic
convergence of three monumental bass talents on one stage
in the same night, the event also included the presentation
of the Bass Player Lifetime Achievement Award to
Clarke. read more
S.M.V.
STANLEY CLARKE, MARCUS MILLER AND VICTOR WOOTEN
CONJURE A STORM ON NEW HEADS UP RELEASE
Thunder includes guest artists Butterscotch, Chick Corea,
George Duke, Patches Stewart and more
In the hot days of August, a low rumbling sound off in the distant
sky usually means something powerful is rolling in. This summer,
when an ominous reverberation makes its way across the landscape
and rocks everything in its path, be ready for a storm of a
different kind.
Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten – each
a powerful force of nature in his own right – have done
more in recent decades to redefine the electric bass and push
the limits of its potential than any other musician alive today.
When these three titans – collectively known as S.M.V.
– converge on the low frequencies, the results are no
less than earth shaking. Thunder (HUCD 3163), their
debut collaboration set for release on Heads Up International
on August 12, 2008, is a high-energy phenomenon whose impact
is guaranteed to resonate throughout every corner of the jazz
world.
“We wanted to make a bass record with a sound that would
be somewhat unexpected to the listener,” says Clarke,
the elder statesman of the three-man crew, all of whom share
songwriting credits on the recording. “The biggest hurdle
was to make a record with three basses – very low-end
instruments, by definition – that would still be as musical
as possible, and I think we achieved that.”
The initial idea behind Thunder goes back a few years,
but the final push came after the three bassists played together
for the first time in October 2006 at the Bass Player Live!
concert in New York City. In addition to the historic convergence
of three monumental bass talents on one stage in the same night,
the event also included the presentation of the Bass Player
Lifetime Achievement Award to Clarke.
“Vic had this idea to do a bass thing a while back, but
we really didn’t know when we’d do it,” Miller
explains. “After we jammed at the award ceremony, it was
clear that it would be pretty easy to do musically. Each one
of us found a space to operate that didn’t compete with
the other. We fell into it pretty naturally. I saw Stanley at
the airport the next day and said, ‘You know we should
do this soon, right?’ he agreed. We knew Vic was down,
because it was his idea in the first place.”
Wooten was definitely down: “That performance made us
realize how easy it was to play together,” he says. “We
knew that we had to do it again. We were able to naturally find
our own space with and around each other. That’s not always
easy, especially when three people are all playing the same
instrument.”
But Thunder isn’t entirely about the low end.
Adding a little – and sometimes more than a little –
to the top is a group of talented guest artists that include
keyboardists Chick Corea and George Duke, trumpeter Michael
“Patches” Stewart and vocalist/beatboxer Butterscotch
(aka Antoinette Clinton).
The set opens with the intricate and layered “Maestro
de las Frecuencias Bajas,” written and arranged by Clarke.
“This track is cool because it starts out orchestrally
and really takes its time building the drama before the basses
come in,” says Miller. “Stanley arranged it so that
Vic plays the melody line first, then Stanley comes in with
the same line in harmony, then I come in to add a second harmony
line. The horn section plays the same line completely harmonized.
The arrangement really takes you on a trip.”
The title track, though written by Miller, features a classic
Stanley Clarke melody from his power rock days, with vocals
by Butterscotch. “The tune has a contemporary sound to
it, but you can really hear each guy’s sound,” says
Miller. “Butterscotch introduces each player, and halfway
through we all start slapping away together. This kind of thing
usually doesn’t work with three bass players, but it works
here, and it’s pretty funky.”
The churning and funky “Hillbillies on a Quiet Afternoon,”
written by Wooten, is likely to sound familiar to fans of Clarke’s
earlier recordings. “Hillbillies” is based on the
melody from Clarke’s “Quiet Afternoon” (a
track from his now-classic School Days, released in
1976).
Atmospheric and evocative, “Milano” features Clarke
on upright bass, played with a bow in a register so high that
the resulting sound resembles a cello more than a bass. “This
is a track that stands out in my mind,” says Wooten, “because
I’ve always been a fan of Stanley’s upright bass
playing. The cadenza that he plays is remarkable.”
“Pendulum” follows a moody, late-night groove, with
astonishing vocal beatbox work courtesy of Butterscotch that
defies any listener to distinguish between her and a drum machine.
The set closes with “Grits,” a track by Miller which
he calls “a down-home, funky thang.” Clarke takes
the final solo, wherein “he sounds like an old blues guitarist”
says Miller.
More than just a musical collaboration, Thunder was
an opportunity for all three musicians to get to know and understand
each other on a newer and much deeper level. “It’s
not until you really work intimately with another musician that
you really find out what’s going on with that person,”
says Clarke. “One of the things about this project that
was a pleasant surprise was finding out how deep these guys
are, and how far they’ve come in their careers. We couldn’t
have made this record ten years ago. It just wouldn’t
have been the right time. Each of us has reached a certain point,
and I think we’re all celebrating what we’ve accomplished
with the bass. This record is a picture of three guys moving
forward, both as individuals and as a group.”
With that forward motion comes a deep and powerful vibration
– not just in your ears, but under your feet, all around
you, and in the very air itself.
S.
M. V.
STANLEY CLARKE – MARCUS MILLER – VICTOR WOOTEN
Profile
STANLEY CLARKE
Stanley Clarke is nothing short of a living legend, having liberated
the bass in much the same way that Louis Armstrong and Charlie
Parker liberated their instruments decades earlier.
Born in Philadelphia, Clarke headed to New York City right after
college as a classically trained bass virtuoso. He quickly made
his mark on the New York jazz scene by gigging with Stan Getz,
Joe Henderson and Horace Silver before joining Getz pianist
Chick Corea to form the seminal, GRAMMY-winning fusion outfit
Return to Forever in 1972. As the band took more of an electric
focus (with Al Di Meola and Lenny White), Clarke not only split
his time between upright and electric bass, but also launched
the high-end boutique bass guitar market via his use of custom
made Alembic basses.
Taking issue with the narrow perception of the bass as a support
rather than solo instrument, Clarke released a string of solo
albums, beginning with Children Forever in 1973. The
watershed recording, School Days, came three years
later, with a title track that served as the first bona fide
bass anthem. Clarke also pushed the tonal range of the electric
bass upward, inventing the piccolo and tenor basses in an effort
to speak in the range of his musical hero, John Coltrane.
Having solidified his solo career, Clarke moved on to more acclaimed
pairings, including the Clarke/Duke Project (with keyboardist
George Duke), the New Barbarians (with Keith Richards and Ron
Wood), appearances on two Paul McCartney albums, Animal Logic
(with Police drummer Stewart Copeland) and Rite of Strings (with
Jean-Luc Ponty and Al Di Meola).
The late ‘80s brought new opportunities, as Clarke was
hired to score the TV series Pee Wee’s Playhouse.
This led to his first movie score for the film Boyz ‘N’
the Hood, and what has become his second career as an acclaimed
film composer. Other notable soundtracks include Passenger
57, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, Poetic Justice, The
Transporter and the Showtime series, Soul Food.
Having stated repeatedly that the bass is a permanent, internal
part of him, Clarke continues to live up to his moniker of Lord
of the Low Frequencies. Of late, he has been on the road with
the Clarke/Duke Band, Rite of Strings and McCoy Tyner, as well
as his own group. In addition, the summer of 2008 also marks
the highly-anticipated Return To Forever reunion tour.
In 2007, Clarke’s Roxboro Entertainment signed with Heads
Up International and released Night School, a star-studded
DVD tribute concert touching on all aspects of his career, and
Toys of Men, his commercially and critically acclaimed
war-conscious CD.
MARCUS MILLER
Striking a chord with music fans and music critics
has been a consistent thread running through Marcus Miller’s
GRAMMY-winning career. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Miller was
raised among jazz royalty (his second cousin is Miles Davis
pianist Wynton Kelly) in nearby Jamaica, Queens. Inspired by
his father, church organist William Miller, young Marcus played
piano, organ, clarinet and sax, before gravitating to bass guitar
by age 13 in order to get gigs with local bands. He made his
professional debut at 16, with flautist Bobbi Humphrey, and
then hit the road with drummer Lenny White.
Returning from the road, Miller planted some important seeds:
In addition to cracking New York’s lucrative jingle and
session scene, he joined the bands of Saturday Night Live
and Roberta Flack, where he met David Sanborn and Luther Vandross.
Both Sanborn and Vandross quickly tapped Miller’s writing,
producing, and multi-instrumental gifts to come up with a steady
string of hit records and tours. Soon after, Miles Davis came
calling with an invitation that led to six albums – three
of which Miller produced, most notably the landmark Tutu.
Firmly established as a producer, Miller guided recordings by
Vandross (including the 1991 GRAMMY-winning R&B Song of
the Year, “Power of Love/Love Power”), Roberta Flack,
Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Wayne Shorter and Al Jarreau, while
at the same time contributing killer bass lines (his peers nicknamed
him the Thumbslinger) to discs by Donald Fagen, the Brecker
Brothers, Grover Washington, Jr., Paul Simon, Don Grolnick,
Was (Not Was) and countless others. He also formed the Jamaica
Boys (with Lenny White and Mark Stevens), and broke into film
composing with scores for Siesta, House Party and Boomerang.
In 1992, Miller turned his focus to his solo career with the
release of The Sun Don’t Lie. Armed with the
unmistakable sound of his ’76 Fender Jazz Bass, Miller
accepted the torch passed by Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius
and reignited the spark for solo bass albums, setting a new
standard in the process. Miller’s seven subsequent solo
efforts include the GRAMMY-winning M2, in 2001 (making him the
only solo bassist to have ever won a GRAMMY for Best Contemporary
Jazz Album), plus the biographical DVD, Master of All Trades.
Miller continues to keep numerous creative irons in the fire,
scoring for films as well as the Chris Rock TV show, Everybody
Hates Chris. He hosts the North Sea and Playboy Jazz Cruises,
all while keeping up a rigorous touring pace for his latest
CD, Marcus.
VICTOR WOOTEN
Like Marcus, “Victor” is the lone name among bass
fans that signals the last great hero of the instrument, Victor
Wooten. Also like Miller, Wooten’s musical reach extends
far beyond the four-string. Born in Idaho to a military family,
raised on the island of Oahu and on the West Coast, Wooten received
bass lessons at age 3 from his brother, Regi. By the age of
5, he had made his stage debut with his four older brothers,
collectively known as The Wootens. The family act spent the
’70s opening for high-profile groups like Curtis Mayfield
and War, and eventually settled in Newport News, Virginia, in
the early ’80s. There, the brothers landed steady gigs
at the Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, and began meeting
musicians from Nashville and New York.
In 1988, Wooten moved to Nashville, where he worked with vocalist
Jonell Mosser and met New Grass Revival banjo ace Béla
Fleck. Within a year, Fleck, Wooten, Wooten’s brother
Roy (a.k.a. Futureman) and Howard Levy formed the Flecktones,
and were on their way to their first of three GRAMMYs to date.
Wooten continued his bass focus, first forming Bass Extremes
with fretless 6-string savant Steve Bailey, and then releasing
the shot heard ’round the bass world: his remarkable 1996
solo debut, A Show of Hands.
Meanwhile, seemingly everyone wanted the award-winning and poll-winning
bassist to appear on their recording projects. Wooten’s
recording and/or touring credentials quickly expanded to include
a range of artists like Branford Marsalis, Dave Matthews, Bruce
Hornsby, Prince, Mark O’Connor, Gov’t Mule, Susan
Tedeschi, Bill Evans, Vital Tech Tones (with Scott Henderson
and Steve Smith), the Jaco Pastorius Word Of Mouth Big Band
and India.Arie.
In addition, Wooten took big steps forward in the field of education,
offering music and life lessons though his popular Bass Nature
Camps in his home base of Tennessee, and his enlightening novel,
The Music Lesson. He currently maintains an ambitious
dual solo/sideman pace, regularly recording and touring with
the Flecktones (who have released a dozen albums), Mike Stern
and Chick Corea’s Elektric Band. With each new solo CD
(six so far), Wooten has expanded his musical focus and knack
for genre-uniting via his songwriting, producing and multi-instrumental
skills – all while maintaining a stellar level of bass
playing. This has never been more evident than on Palmystery,
his most recent CD on Heads Up.
