Stanley Clarke

A seminal architect of jazz fusion with Return to Forever, Stanley Clarke played an instrumental role in bringing the bass out front with his classic solo album School Days. Referred to as “The Michael Jordan of the bass,” he is literally a professor at Funk University, the online school spearheaded by Bootsy Collins. His varied career has taken him from holding it down for Pharaoh Sanders, Art Blakey, and Horace Silver to scoring Undercover Brother, The Transporter, and Boyz n the Hood. Whether on acoustic or electric, Clarke is a master of the lower frequencies, where, to paraphrase Ellison, he just might speak for you.

April 22-27, 8 & 10:30 p.m., 2014