STANLEY CLARKE — School Days (review)

STANLEY CLARKE — School Days album cover Album · 1976 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
darkshade
One of Stanley Clarke's best albums. By 1976, jazz-fusion was starting blend with the oncoming trend of disco, or it was beginning to mean "smooth jazz". But at this point, there was still good fusion coming out, and Stanley Clarke released School Days. The title track is a fusion classic, and one of Clarke's more famous bass lines. There is a hint of disco influence on that one (or is it the other way around?), but it's more because it's fast and funky. The melodies are well developed, and you can kind of hear Clarke's influence in Return To Forever when you hear this album, or the previous two solo albums of his. A favorite of mine is "Hot Fun", a short funky little number, with some nice funky horns, but the best thing about this album is probably the final "Life Is Just A Game", a jazz-rock suite that goes from orchestrated movements, to technically impressive jazz-fusion, showing off the band's chops, particularly Clarke's. This one, along with the previous two solo albums, are his best solo albums, and essential for any real collector of 70s jazz-fusion. Not to be missed.

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Rokukai wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Great review

Lots of funky stuff here

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