STANLEY CLARKE TO BE HONORED WITH THE MILES DAVIS AWARD

Stanley Clarke will be the 18th recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival June 26, 8:00 p.m., Salle Wilfrid-Peiletier venue. The award will be presented before his festival performance with Return To Forever. The Miles Davis Award was created in 1994 to honor a great international jazz musician for the entire body of his or her work and for that musician’s influence in regenerating the jazz idiom. Awards such as this make me remember and appreciate all the work I’ve done over the past forty-plus years. Personally, I have to thank those who gave me opportunities such as Horace Silver, Stan Getz, Art Blakey and Dexter Gordon,” says Clarke. “I also thank my early collaboration with Chick Corea for laying the foundation to who I am today as a musician. It is an honor to now be included among such an acclaimed group of past winners of the Miles Davis Award.” A polyglot artist, equally fluent in electric and acoustic jazz, with an unparalleled skill, Stanley Clarke had already been proclaimed a legend by the age of 25! Clarke led the “bass revolution” of the ’70s, bringing the instrument to the height of respectability and paving the way for its use by soloists. Among his many accomplishments, Clarke is credited with pioneering the slap technique and inventing two new instruments: the piccolo bass and the tenor bass. His incredible mastery on both electric and acoustic bass and his creativity have been recognized with numerous awards and rankings among the world’s best bassists. This year he won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, The Stanley Clarke Band. The first bassist to headline international tours, he was sought out by the likes of Jeff Beck, Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards for numerous projects. He is also a composer, arranger, producer, bandleader and performer of over 60 film and television scores including Boys N the Hood, What’s Love Got to Do With It, Romeo Must Die and The Transporter among so many others. Not one to rest on the laurels, Clarke launched the Roxboro Entertainment Group label in 2011, featuring debut albums from guitarist Lloyd Gregory; multi-instrumentalist Kennard Ramsey; keyboardist Sunnie Paxson; and keyboardist Ruslan Sirota. His Stanley Clarke Foundation continues to award scholarships to educate promising young musicians. Clarke is the latest in a series of Miles Davis prizewinners. He follows Sonny Rollins (2010), Ornette Coleman (2009), McCoy Tyner (2008), Mike Stern (2007), Brad Mehldau (2006), Dave Holland (2005), Keith Jarrett (2004), Joe Zawinul (2003), Chick Corea (2002), Michael Brecker (2001), Charlie Haden (2000), Cassandra Wilson (1999), John Scofield (1998), Herbie Hancock (1997), Wayne Shorter (1996), Pat Metheny (1995) and John McLaughlin (1994)

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