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The Stanley Clarke Trio with Hiromi and Lenny White, Jazz In The Garden (2009, Heads UP) |
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Written by Don Berryman
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Wednesday, 06 May 2009 |
 Assembling a trio most well known for fusion and 'beyond' jazz work, This week Stanley Clarke will release Jazz In The Garden, his first ever acoustic bass record. One of the best jazz bass players around, Clarke has only released records with electric bass (although he has appeared as a sideman on upright bass on many occasions). Joining Clarke on this straight-ahead jazz recording are Japanese superstar Hiromi Uehara (or simply "Hiromi") on piano and fellow Return To Forever alumnus Lenny White on drums. The record opens with Clarke's "Paradigm Shift (Election Day 2008)", followed by the Japanese folk song "Sakura Sakura" with Clarke opening with the melody on bass morphing into a vamp supported by White's boppish drum work, giving Hiromi ample space for increasingly complex improvisations upon the simple tune. What follows are more originals by Clarke ("3 Wrong Notes", "Bass Folk Song No. 5 & 6) and Hiromi ("Sicilian Blue", "Brain Food"), jazz standards ("Solar", "Take the Coltrane", "Someday My Prince Will Come", and "Isotope"), an improvised duet between Clarke and Hiromi ("Global Tweak"), and closing with a creative cover of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers' "Under The Bridge". Playing against type, this trio of virtuosi has produced a solid, swinging jazz record that is intelligent, fresh, and highly enjoyable.
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