By Bernie Brink

Every August begins the slow decline of summer and, for many, marks the return to school.  This summer, go “back to school” with a quintessential jazz album, School Days by bassist Stanley Clarke.

First released in 1976, School Days appeared at the height of the jazz fusion movement amongst a cadre of indelible albums like Black Market by Weather Report, Inner Worlds by Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Romantic Warrior by Return to Forever (of which Stanley Clarke was also a member).  Though not his first effort as a bandleader, School Days was a breakthrough album for Clarke in that it presented a fully-realized compositional identity and placed Clarke’s bass front and center.  Speaking on his motivation for the music on School Days, Clarke pointed out that “It came out of something really simple.  I used to play in bands, and I’d be the only guy that could arrange the music, the only guy that could write. . . so I thought, ‘if I have all these abilities, why don’t I just write some [stuff] for the bass?’”  A revolutionary thought in itself as at that time you could count the number of bass-led recordings on one hand.

The album’s title track is grounded by an irresistibly catchy hook, followed by a quasi-disco ostinato that showcases Clarke’s prowess both as a bass technician and an improvisor.  Miraculously, after one false start, the tune “School Days” was recorded in a single take.  Clarke’s inventions are no less impressive on the more meditative cuts, “Quiet Afternoon” and “Desert Song.”  The influence of Chick Corea and Return to Forever is felt on the Brazilian-tinged “The Dancer,” and after the disco-funk “Hot Fun,” the album closes with “Life is Just a Game,” tour-de-force that pulls on all the levers to deliver a prime example of capital-“F” Fusion at its finest.

School Days was originally recorded in 4-channel quadraphonic sound – an early iteration of modern-day “surround sound” – but at the last minute, the record label opted in instead release only a standard 2-channel stereo version.  To this day, the complete quadraphonic recording has never been released.  Even so, Stanley Clarke’s School Days made a significant and lasting impression, reaching #2 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and remaining one of the seminal recordings in the fusion style and in Clarke’s catalogue.  So as you’re gearing up to go back to school this August, check out Stanley Clarke’s School Days and more incredible jazz fusion on Jazz 93.5.