Hiromi and Stanley Clarke will team up again for a week at the Blue Note (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Blue Note
131 West Third St.
September 28 – October 3, $25-$45, 8:00 & 10:30
212-475-8592
www.bluenote.net
www.stanleyclarke.com
summerstage slideshow
Back in late June, the Stanley Clarke Band, joined by Japanese pianist wunderkind Hiromi, played an inspiring free show at SummerStage as part of the Carefusion Jazz Festival, with legendary promoter George Wein in attendance. Clarke was in great spirits, wandering across the stage from keyboardist Ruslan Sirota to drummer Ronald Bruner Jr. to Hiromi, part fan, part orchestra leader. Clarke moved from electric to stand-up bass effortlessly, playing the fusion that has made him one of the jazz world’s best for four decades. As on that beautiful night in Central Park (which was opened by the amazing McCoy Tyner), the quartet will be featuring songs from their latest album, simply titled THE STANLEY CLARKE BAND (Heads Up, June 2010), which includes such tracks as “Soldier,” “Fulani,” “Labyrinth,” and “How Is the Weather Up There?” The record also contains the superbly titled “Larry Has Traveled 11 Miles and Waited a Lifetime for the Return of Vishnu’s Report” and a horn-laden tribute to Sonny Rollins on the occasion of the saxophone colossus’s eightieth birthday. Clarke and his band will be at the Blue Note for twelve shows over six nights from September 28 through October 3, offering plenty of opportunities to catch this terrific group, sounding as good as ever.