Mr Peabody
02-23-2008, 09:08 PM
That's right, Stanley Clarke has taken bass virtuoso to a new level on his album The Toys Of Men. This album as a whole is one of his best, if not the best. The album is versatile and will keep your attention as you are pretty much in aw throughout. The first track is actually a progressive musical journey starting out with a Fusion type feel and transitioning into a more smooth traditional Jazz sound. There is a very good vocal track written and sang by Esperanza Spalding. One track is just explosive with only Clarke and drummer Ronald Bruner, it's incredible. Clarke has a few tracks with just him and a Victor Bailey acoustic bass, when you hear these tracks you will understand why I say the bar has been raised. Two of these tracks Clarke does a kind of Blues thing. On another he breaks into a Flemingo type improv and toward the end he arupts into a frenzy of slaps and chords and you are wondering, "wow, did I just hear what I thought I did?". Another track is a fairly traditional sounding piece with Clarke bowing his bass. On the solo tracks it was as if I could feel Clarke's emotion and intensity as he took the track further over the edge. I've been a long time Stanley Clarke fan as well as his contributions to Return To Forever and other Fusion artists, I really don't think I'm exaggerating how good this effort is from him. The virtuoso events on the album will clearly speak for themselves but to enjoy the album as a whole you will also need an appreciation of Jazz and Fusion in general.