Concert Review: Stanley Clarke

Lots of good shows around Albuquerque/Santa Fe recently. Richard Thompson at the Kimo in Albuquerque was quite good, and he's probably one of the best guitarists living. Son Volt at Santa Fe Sol put on an excellent show (July 12); they sound more and more like a country band these days. But the really amazing show was Stanley Clarke, July 21st at the Lensic in Santa Fe.
Stanley is unquestionably a virtuoso, and may be the best bassist I've ever seen, though people like Buster Williams and Dave Holland make it difficult to compare. His walking-bass playing is surely the best I've seen. His solos are phenomenally inventive, and not just flashy but full of heart. He played acoustic for most of the night, only using the electric bass in the encore, with references to his classics School Days and Rock and Roll Jelly. He played some Return to Forever material, but most of the set list was new, and fantastic stuff. The kind of jazz that makes your hair stand on end. It had the standard jazz form of theme statement followed by a series of solos, recapping the theme at the end, but otherwise there was nothing much predictable about it.
On top of all that, it seems he's an excellent bandleader, the kind of guy who's a joy to work for. (I had the same impression of John McLaughlin a couple years ago.) His band consisted of three other virtuosos, and the excellent violinist Zach Brock was the least of them. He sounded a great deal like Jerry Goodman with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, but didn't leave that neighborhood much. John Beasley on keyboards was consistently startling, just about as inventive as Stanley. The astonishing thing which made the show most memorable was the drummer - 18-year-old Mike Mitchell. This cat is a cross-dresser, or at least a really weird dresser, and has a perfectly ridiculous hairdo. Stanley's first words about him were, "Don't let the hairdo fool you." Well, it didn't fool anybody. He could wear a Mr. Potato suit and it wouldn't matter. In his first few minutes of playing, I was thinking it sounded like he had the Max Roach style down pretty well. Before long he had gone way beyond that. I've seen Buddy Miles, Billy Cobham, Carl Palmer, many other great drummers, but the only ones who outshone Mike Mitchell were Cindy Blackman and McCoy Tyner's drummer Aaron Scott. Give Mike 5 years or so, and who knows?
Stanley took a 10-minute bass solo towards the end of the show loosely based around 'Spanish Phases' from his early Stanley Clarke album (his 2nd I think). It was mesmerizing, but then he let his drummer outshine him with a 10-minute solo of his own which was as unpredictable as it was delightful. He even featured Mike more than himself in the encore. A very generous man.
All'n'all, a top-drawer show for sure, which pleased the audience and the band about equally. If Stanley comes to your town, don't think twice.