WEO:STANLEYCLA*KE Vll JLZZ EX-PLOSION SUPERBANDWEERE: GRXEX THE-ATBSWnrN: SAT., JIJLY 3

7Tlh. summer of 1993 isI shaping up to be a busy

I on" t-oi award-winningjazz bassist, Stanley Clarke.Clarke has won more than 60awards and titles, including beingnarnel lazz Bassist Of The Yearin The Playboy Music Poll 10times. The Philadelphia native wasalso given a Hall of Fame awardby his hometown music founda-tion in 1989.But dont think he is going to rest

on his laurels. Despite the fact thatmany people think "end of ca-reer,' when tbe phrase Hall ofFame is mentioned, Clarke is en-joying his most active summer todate. He has done the scores fortwo of the summer's most antici-pated films, John Singleton'sPoe tic.l wtice, wtnClarke workedwith on Boyz 'N'The Hood, andWhat's Love Got To Do Vlith h,the biopic of fina Tirrner. ButClarke apparently still had a lot ofmusic left in him, as he is alsoreleasing his first new solo albumin five years this July.However, Clarke is not limiting

himself to studio work he is also

Part ofaj'zz g6rnbo currently ontour, wbo call themselves theJazzExplorion Superband. It maysound arrogant, but when you haveClarke on bass, Larry Carltonon guitar, Najee on sax and fluteand Billy Cobham on drums,who's going to argue with rheirnam€.WhenI spoke to Clarke by phone

from his l,os Angeles home afewweeks ago, he was finishing upthe scorc for Poertc Jwice andwas about to begin rehearsals forthe !our. Clarke has played withCarltoo and Cobham in the pas!but said he is looking forward tojamming with this particularcombo. As is often the case withbig-name performers getting to.gether to go on the road, the tourcame about though a promoter,who suggested thebandto eachofthe performers.

Clarke is no stranger to playingwith unfamiliarmusicians. He hasshown a unique chameleoo likeability to adapthimself to all genresof music, having played jaz4 hismost recognized style, withDexter Gordon, among others,and rock'n' roll with Jefi Beck- In,addition to his performing prow-ess, he has c+.wrinen music withPaul McCartney and pm4rcedrecords for Nstalie Cole..andBrendaRussell. ,_, ,.

Clarke sai4 "I feel sorry forpeople who limit themse'lves mu-sically.' He added, in biS tavelshe has corne across fans wto arcunaware of anything beyond theone style ofmusic they identi$with and it frustrates him they aremissing oul on so much. '

One thing that is clear aboutClarke is that he loves the music.For him it goes beyond ajob. Hespoke almost as eloquently abouttoda/s new rap acts as the je"?giants of the past.-Bj eombininghis love forall types ofmusic withhis desire for a challenge, it's easyto see why Clarke has not shiedaway fiom the opporunity to playwith some of the biggest names inmusic, regardless of what genre.

It's his love of a challenge thatprompted Clarte o get with filmscores. In the relatively short timehe has been involved with filmscorcs, Clarke has done morc thana dozen scores.

Among the hardships Clarkemust overcome when working ona score he saidarenearimpossiblcdeadlines, "like only three days rodo a score," and rising to the occa-sion of a particularly strong worlcAn example is the universally-acclaimed film, Boyz N The Hood.

Clarke said when working onthat movie, 'everybody involvedwith thc film knew it would besomething special and it createdmore prcssure for me."

However, there don't appeal tobe many challenges Stanley Clarkecan't meet. I

A fter two years as a solo

/l artist, singer Lou GrammI lis back with Foreigner, aband that achieved commercialsuccess in the late 70's and 80'swith megahits "Hot Bloode{"" Doub le Vis ior{ adtlre rock loveanthem"l WantTo Know Whatlnve Is;' Backed by abrand newrbythm section, Grarnnn says theband bas a vibrant and powerfolfeel'"Therels a lot of spontarcity.In.ierms of the performdiice, vctake thc stage with a lot of confi-dence and.the band really inter-acts." ' I ...:., : ..,:,,

WEO: F1OREIGNERWEERE: IJNTI|ERSAL

IVEEN: MON., JUltlE 2t

"Prisoner of lave" and "WirhHeaven on Our Side" are theby-products of their wort and arefeatured on their new alburn: For-eignen Tbe Yery Best-. AdBevondIn terms of Foreigner's new

sound, Gramm foresbei a retumto a more stripped dowo rocksormd. .'.1 .: '

"I like what we've done in thepast, as long ali wc stay tn.}e towhat we're good at, which isiootsrock and roll. I think our musicgoes from one extreme to anoth€nborderline metat really hard rock

LOUGRAMM

to kind of soft. melodic feel withnrck elements."

The show features full-on ar-rangemenn of all tbeir "big" songswith lots ofjamming. Gramm said."It's a very loose in yourface rockand roll show." SupportingGramm and Jones are bass player,Bruce Turgeon, drummer MarlSchulman, keyboardist JeffJacobs, sax, guitar and keyboardplayer Scott Gilman, and saxplayer Mark Rivera. As far aswhether this is a nostalgia tour.Gramm said it really is a neweffon on all fronts, as evidencedby the new band. "I think it'sreally important Mick and I sur-round ourselves with people whoare really confident and aggres-sive players. It's their role in theband to bring a new attirude to theold and the new songs- With theoid band, I felt we had reached aplateau. In spite of wtrat Mick andI did it was a little complacent."Cramm said the new Foreigner ir

COIIING TO TCIrIlN: S'TANI.EYCI"ARITD, FORDTGNPR

Steve Baltin w/ Stanley Clarkc; Pat Kramer w/ Lou Grammof Foreigner

Thii tourmSrks a rc-union: forGramm withForeignerfounder andguitaristMick Jonesafter a two-yeai split,Gramm leftthe band in1990, afterreleasingtwosolo albumsotr AtlanticRecords.Thefirst albumyielded thehit song*Midnight8/ue" whichbroughtGramm suc-cess as asongwriter, arole whichhefelt was notbeing fulfilled toward the end ofhis career with Foreigner. "I wasnot happy just being a singer. Iwanted more equity in the cre-ative inpuL" In addition, Grarnmsays his differences with MickJones extended to the dircctionthe music 1y1s rsking.. "I've al-ways thought that the priority andattention should be focused on'Foreigner, the rock band.' Iwanted to rock and the band wasnot rocking." Through his solowork, Cramm said he was able toestablish himself as a singer andsongwriter; a role that broughthim visibility as a performer.Though he was achieving successon his own, Gramm says workingwith Mick was rewarding also. "Ireally enjoyed working with Mick.When we were on the same wave-length, it was really tenifi c. We'vealways had a really intense cre-ative relationship." So in 1992,the two agreed to test the creativewaters again as a songwritingteam. The songs"Soul Doctor,"STANLEY CL-{RKE

** P.AGtlJ INTEFTAINMEMTODAY JUNE2s. 1993

alive and well.