High Score
Bass Player|Holiday 2019
Stanley Clarke is known for his work in many musical fields. We talk to him in this issue about his career as a composer for film and television… and where the bass fits in
Alison Richter
High Score

Soundtracks aren’t new to Stanley Clarke; he has been scoring for movies and television programs since the 1980s, with more than 70 projects to his name—everything from the Academy Award-nominated Boyz N The Hood [1991], to an episode of Angela Lansbury’s detective series Murder, She Wrote. That experience doesn’t mean the process has become routine for the legendary bass player. In fact, his recent project, the soundtrack for director Frederic Tcheng’s critically acclaimed Halston, released alongside the film back in June, was his first time writing for a documentary of its kind.

Halston chronicles the American designer’s beginnings, international success in the 1970s, and tragic end. Tcheng combined archival footage and interviews with the fashion icon’s family, friends, and colleagues to tell the story. Clarke’s role was to tell that same story instrumentally, providing an emotional tapestry that enhances the film’s visuals and dialogue without overshadowing either, and connecting scenes for seamless continuity as the story progresses.

“As a film composer, you’re not a standalone artist deciding what music you’re going to put out there,” he says. “The film composers that last long, and definitely as long as I have, understand that you’re a part of an overall package of many different elements, and the people that are in charge of those elements have one goal, which is a picture that has some sort of message that people sitting in a theatre will understand. Writing for film is a great art form. It’s not a traditional musical art, because you’re part of all these different elements that go into making a film, but sometimes it can be extremely artistic, especially when you’re dealing with something brand new.

This story is from the Holiday 2019 edition of Bass Player.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the Holiday 2019 edition of Bass Player.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM BASS PLAYERView All
Freekbass
Bass Player

Freekbass

The funk master talks us through five career high points.

time-read
1 min  |
Holiday 2021
ASHDOWN RM-800-EVO ll
Bass Player

ASHDOWN RM-800-EVO ll

What a lightweight! Kev Sanders tests the new head from Ashdown

time-read
3 mins  |
Holiday 2021
DUVOISIN Standard 5
Bass Player

DUVOISIN Standard 5

Mike Brooks gives this Swiss-style five a road test…

time-read
3 mins  |
Holiday 2021
I WAS THERE!
Bass Player

I WAS THERE!

A historic moment in bass world – recalled by those who were there to see it

time-read
2 mins  |
Holiday 2021
BAREFACED - One10T Cabinet
Bass Player

BAREFACED - One10T Cabinet

A new Barefaced cab? Kev Sanders feels the quality

time-read
3 mins  |
Holiday 2021
KRIST NOVOSELIC
Bass Player

KRIST NOVOSELIC

It’s 30 years since the release of Nirvana’s era-defining album, Nevermind, and high time that we revisited this 2011 chat with the great bassist turned political activist, Krist Novoselic, a musician who witnessed a truly chaotic period in music history

time-read
10+ mins  |
Holiday 2021
BASS PLAYER AWARDS 2021
Bass Player

BASS PLAYER AWARDS 2021

After a year off thanks to the pesky virus, BP’s annual Lifetime Achievement Awards return—and this time we add a new category. Raise your glass to this year’s winners, Marcus Miller, Gail Ann Dorsey, John Taylor and Charles Berthoud.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Holiday 2021
RUSH TO READ
Bass Player

RUSH TO READ

Rush’s Geddy Lee will release an “epic” memoir in 2022

time-read
2 mins  |
Holiday 2021
STAYING POWER
Bass Player

STAYING POWER

Tal Wilkenfeld’s recent album Love Remains features a five-string in tenor tuning with a capo. Ellen O’Reilly finds out why…

time-read
5 mins  |
Holiday 2021
Bass Player

TONEWOODS EXPLAINED

Do woods really determine tones?

time-read
3 mins  |
Holiday 2021