Clarke/Corea/Henderson/Hubbard/White - The Griffith Park Collection 2: In Concert (1983)

A 2 CD live version of the group's 1982 studio album, recorded Friday, April 3, 1982 at the Circle Star Theater, near San Francisco. The band performs 4 of the tunes from that first album and takes the opportunity to stretch out - everybody gets a solo! - doubling and sometimes tripling the length of the tunes: the shortest track clocks in at 12 minutes, the longest almost 20. As drummer/producer Lenny White writes in his liner notes, Freddie Hubbard steals the show and "reaffirms his claim to fame as the premier trumpeter in the world." I could use less saxophone, but think it's a better overall album than the earlier studio release. Plus we're treated to great cover art, a 1937 oil painting entitled "Sheridan Theatre" by one of my favorite artists, Edward Hopper.

Stanley Clarke - bass
Chick Corea - piano
Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet & flugelhorn
Lenny White - drums

Press of the time:

• Downbeat (★★★★½): "It's great to hear these guys hitting their stride on some fiercely creative extended jamming."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: did not chart
• CashBox Jazz: #29

Tracks: The first four tracks are taken from the first album and includes what I think is the group's best original, Why Wait. The final two tracks are I Mean You, written by Thelonious Monk, and Here's That Rainy Day, a 1953 standard written by Jimmy Van Heusen for the short-lived, quickly forgotten musical Carnival In Flanders. 

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but on April 3, 1982, I was recovering from a bad case of the measles. More on those adventures here: Adventures in One Act Play - Spring 1982. But that really doesn't have much to do with this live album other than coincidental timing, so never mind. As you were.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Griffith Park Collection (1982)

Clarke/Corea/Henderson/Hubbard/White - The Griffith Park Collection (1982)

It's the old rhythm section from Return To Forever, but this time they've gone acoustic with the help of the addition of a couple of notable horn players. More post-bop and hard-bop instead of RTF's usual fusion. The same personnel on this album, plus singer Chaka Khan, recorded the throwback standards album, Echoes Of An Era, during the same recording sessions. The recording for The Griffith Park Collection was more spontaneous as the musicians played with minimal rehearsal. As described by the Elektra/Musician label:

and from the February 13, 1982 issue of CashBox magazine, p. 27:

I don't love it and that's because of the inconsistent material, not the performances (except when the musicians inexplicably try to coax nonidiomatic sounds out of their instruments). Maybe they should have stuck with standards?

Original album liner notes by Lenny White.

Stanley Clarke - bass
Chick Corea - piano
Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet & flugelhorn
Lenny White - drums

Reviews/ratings:

• Musician: "I for one would like to see more of this"
• Downbeat (★★★): "a good album that could be much better"
• Stereo Review: "An invigorating exercise in the arts of improvisation and teamwork." Also designated a Recording of Special Merit and received 'honorable mention' by the magazine in its Record of the Year Awards for 1982.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #35
• CashBox Jazz: #26
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #29

Tracks: The better cuts are Why Wait (written by Stanley Clarke) and Remember (written by Steve Swallow).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. This CD was purchased in an effort to collect all the releases on the Elektra/Musician label, 1982-84. Best estimates have me currently at 45 of 55 releases on either vinyl, CD, or both formats.

The Clarke/Duke Project - Volumes I, II & III (1981, 1983, 1990)

EU Import

A 3-fer set from BGO Records. Clarke is a bass player who was a founding member of the jazz fusion group Return To Forever. Duke was a keyboard player whose background was with Frank Zappa and Jean-Luc Ponty and would go on to work with the likes of A Taste of Honey, Jeffrey Osborne, Deniece Williams, Anita Baker, The Pointer Sisters, Smokey Robinson, et. al. Solo artists in their own right, these three efforts saw the duo striving for a more mainstream, commercial, R&B sound.

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Volume 1 (1981)
9 tracks, 37 minutes

A mixed bag, but not too bad overall. Starts off with a funky little instrumental, followed by one of the more puzzling covers of Louie Louie I've ever heard, followed by one the "shoulda charted higher" singles of '81. That single is Sweet Baby (#19 pop, #6 R&B), four minutes of smooth goodness written and sung by Duke and featuring one of the few Top 40 appearances of an electric sitar solo (courtesy of Clarke). Of the remaining tracks, I don't care much for Let's Get Started, despite a nice chorus. I was previously familiar with track 8, the ballad Touch And Go, from it's inclusion on the Clarke-produced album, Hollywood, by Maynard Ferguson. I dig the album closer, Find My Way, an uplifting tune both lyrically and musically.

This album was nominated for Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, eventually losing to The Dude.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: Best of the month

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #33
• Billboard Jazz: #1
• Billboard R&B: #7
• CashBox: #31
• CashBox Jazz: #1

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Volume 2 (1983)
9 tracks, 38 minutes

The duo adds some New Wave sounds/drum machine/production - reminds me quite a bit of Richard Perry's production on Pointer Sisters releases of the time. The opener, Put It On The Line, is high energy and wouldn't have been out of place on the '84 Olympic compilation album. The singles released from this album were The Good Times and Heroes (#37 R&B) and, like most of the album, are pleasant, just not very memorable. For me, the highlight of the album is I've Got Every Reason To Smile. Not only is it an upbeat tune with great bass work from Clarke, we treated to vocals from Jefferey Osborne, Howard Hewlett of Shalamar, and Lynn Davis. It's so good that even the kid 'vocals' don't bother me much. Again, the album closer is a winner - this one a pulsating instrumental from Clarke.

About this album, Duke once wrote,

Although there were some special moments on this LP, overall it didn't make a statement and as a result was a failure as far as I'm concerned. The year was 1983. I was exerting so much energy producing Deniece Williams, Jeffrey Osborne and others, that in terms of focus, I let this one slip away.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "fresh fusions with dazzling virtuosity"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #146
• Billboard Jazz: #19
• Billboard R&B: #44
• CashBox: #133
• CashBox Jazz: #3

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3 (1990)
12 tracks, 46 minutes

Music of its time, the first half of this album is heavily-produced dance late '80s R&B/hip-hop/rap. Things calm down and get slightly more jazzy in the second half, but the sweet spot here is tracks 5-8: a cover of Parliament's Mothership Connection, Right By My Side with vocals from Gerald Alston (The Manhattans), a tasty but brief Clarke instrumental titled From The Deepest Corner Of My Heart, and a smooth Duke feature, Lady.

Press of the time:

• CashBox: "boasts some dope R&B thangz"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #7
• Billboard R&B: #52

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, although I really don't have a good excuse as to why I didn't buy the Sweet Baby single back in '81.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Hideaway (1986)
A Brazilian Love Affair (1980)

Stanley Clarke - Hideaway (1986)

Clarke made his bones as a jazz sideman, earning his reputation with the likes of Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon and, of course, Return To Forever. However, there's very little jazz to be found on Hideaway, which is essentially a pop/r&b album - Billboard tagged it as "quiet storm." But, labels aside, I find this disc to be enjoyable, if not slightly uneven. Clarke certainly grabbed the guest stars: Stanley Jordan, George Howard, Angela Bofill, Herbie Hancock, David Sancious, Larry Graham, Stewart Copeland, etc. I like it better than his earlier solo output, not only because of that great supporting cast, but I think the songwriting here is better than his earlier solo work. Now that I mention it, I think that earlier solo output is about due for a revisit.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #15
• CashBox Jazz: #8

Tracks: Seven instrumental tracks and three tracks with vocals. My picks are the title track, a cover of the Stevie Wonder tune Overjoyed (featuring Stanley Jordan), and the upbeat Basketball. The most commercial smooth jazz track here is My Love Her Inspiration, a tasty ballad featuring George Howard. Nothing to skip here, not even in the slightly more experimental middle part of the disc. I could do without the drum machine on a few tracks, but it was the mid-'80s [shrug].

Overjoyed was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Performance, losing to the Top Gun Anthem, while The Boys Of Johnson Street was nominated in the category of Best R&B Instrumental Performance, losing to And You Know That.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. I didn't own this album in '86, but it is certainly in line with some of the stuff I was listening to at that time.