Philly native Stanley Clarke showcases bass virtuosity at Prince Music Theater tomorrow

Bassist Stanley Clarke is the rare low-end master to be equally virtuosic on acoustic and electric bass. The Philly native has worked with such legendary jazz bandleaders as Horace Silver, Art Blakey, and Dexter Gordon, while providing heavy pyrotechnics to the pioneering fusion band Return to Forever (in all of its varied incarnations) alongside his old friend, keyboardist Chick Corea.

His wide-ranging tastes and talents hardly stop there, however. Clarke has become an in-demand film score composer, with credits including Boyz n the Hood, Romeo Must Die, Soul Food, and most recently The Best Man Holiday. He’s also worked with a variety of artists from the rock world, including Jeff Beck, Ron Wood, and Police drummer Stewart Copeland, with whom he formed the band Animal Logic in the late eighties.

Clarke returns to his hometown this Saturday at the Prince Music Theater leading his trio featuring drummer Michael Mitchell and 17-year-old Georgian piano prodigy Beka Gochiashvili. For the occasion, the band will be supplemented for the first time in Philly with the Harlem Quartet. The young string ensemble specializes in music that bridges the worlds of jazz and classical, which makes them an ideal fit for Clarke’s challenging compositions.

The Stanley Clarke Trio will perform accompanied by The Harlem Quartet at the Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut Street, Saturday January 11th at 7 p.m. Tickets and information on the all-ages show can be found here.