Stanley Clarke & Stewart Copeland: School Days

[Dr. Cheese]

This was just recorded Saturday, May 9. School Days is fifty years old this summer and Stanley Clarke is still playing this song with the energy of a young man!

I see the great Armand Sabal-Lecco is on the stage with his Sabre. He and Stanley Clarke have been playing together since the Eighties.

 

[Les Fret]

Stanley never gets tired of that song!

 

[Watchootognbout]

What a coincidence!
They say things happen in threes!
Stanley was THE man that made me pick up the bass.
This is THE piece that He played that made me pick up the bass.
And Armand Sabal-Lecco is playing the EXACT same MM sabre model and color bass that I started playing with.
Complete with a maple neck.

Go figure!

 

[murphy]

School Days was one of my very first pieces I learned on the bass.
One of my first basses was a Sabre....I now have another Sabre...40 years later

 

[Mrmatt1972]

Look at alll the SWR!

 

[Mrmatt1972]

Stanley is having a blast with all those cats up there

Stuart Copeland is my all-time favourite drummer

 

[ImTheOnlyOne]

Look at alll the SWR!

And a Boss Katana?

 

[J Wilson]

It somehow always tickles my Irony Bone that Mr. Clarke is so accomplished he hired a bass player to play 'regular' bass parts while he goes about his business and that he plays short-scale Alembics with broomstick shaved necks with NBA-sized hands.

A hugely accomplished player and composer, and learning 'School Days' became a rite of passage for many.

The OTHER SC in this had almost a Van Halen-esque effect on drummers when The Police hit. The norm had been big, deep snares (I once played with a guy who took the strainer off the bottom and the top head off an identical second one, and joined them together at the lugs), some guys even had marching snares in their kit, and all of a sudden here's Stewart with those very shallow, brass shell snares (they sounded like pistol shots), not to mention his very 'different' drumming style. And while there were seriously accomplished newcomers in those days (think Pete Erskine and guys like that in fusion realms), here was something completely different in a major-selling hit band.

The Police were a revelation in those days and had a big influence on a lot of people. I loved Sting's playing, he always sounded like Paul McCartney IF Paul had grown up with Miles Davis instead of Little Richard, that big singular, simple style, but his note choices, informed by his jazz background, could be exquisite.

 

[jerry]

Stanley never gets tired of that song!

..........on the other hand!

 

[Les Fret]

Too bad the bass is so loud that you hardly hear the drums or any other instrument....

 

[Dr. Cheese]

..........on the other hand!

I never tired of good renditions of School Days. The Maestro is clearly more up for it on some days than others. I think Stewart Copeland is a good spark for Stanley Clarke.

 

[Lo-E]

Being one of my favorite drummers, I wish I could hear Copeland better. He and Stanley have worked together a lot and have a great rapport.

I love Stanley’s electric playing and his jaw-dropping ability but give me Stanley on upright any day!

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Someone swat the phone out of the guy in the front row’s hand.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I wonder what Sting would say?

 

[Les Fret]

I wonder what Sting would say?

Stanley messes up the intro a bit He is human after all. Too bad the sound really sucks. Almost no drums to be heard…

 

[burk48237]

I loved their collaboration in the band Animal Logic. "Spy in the house of Love" is a great tune. Stanleys violinist is Detroit native Evan Gar, smoking player, I've seen him around town in some small clubs.

 

[jerry]

Some more of that concert, guitarist is a beast.

 

[CaptainLeisure]

I loved their collaboration in the band Animal Logic. "Spy in the house of Love" is a great tune. Stanleys violinist is Detroit native Evan Gar, smoking player, I've seen him around town in some small clubs.

Both Animal Logic albums are terrific. Deborah Holland has gone on to release multiple solo albums over the years, all good. Personally, I like the songs on the first album (dogs) a little more, but the second (polar bears) has looser arrangements with more space for solos.

 

[Les Fret]

Both Animal Logic albums are terrific. Deborah Holland has gone on to release multiple solo albums over the years, all good. Personally, I like the songs on the first album (dogs) a little more, but the second (polar bears) has looser arrangements with more space for solos.

I like almost everything from Stanley Clarke. Have listened to Animal Logic a few times trying to like it. But it doesn’t jell with me. Any specific songs that you can recommend? So I can give it another shot.