Stanley Clarke Wins Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album

Stanley Clarke Band Wins Grammy ® Award

Jazz bass legend
Stanley Clarke won a Grammy® Award in ceremonies held this evening at
the Staples Center in Los Angeles, streamed line online worldwide and
broadcast live in the US on CBS-TV. Clarke received his award in
Category 44, Best Contemporary Jazz Album, for the full-length album The Stanley Clarke Band on the Heads Up International label. For a complete
list of winners visit: www.grammy.com.

“I’m grateful on behalf
of the whole band for this honor. It’s humbling to be in such strong
company.” Clarke said while on tour with his seminal group Return to
Forever in Australia. “It’s so gratifying to see that jazz and
instrumental music remain such vibrant and exciting musical forms, and
that we could contribute to their vitality. I’d like to thank the
members of the Stanley Clarke Band: keyboardist Ruslan Sirota; drummer
Ronald Bruner, Jr.; pianist Hiromi Uehara and the rest of the performers
on this album. I’d also like to thank my wife Sofi, who’s been such a
strong supporter of my career, and my children, who are also making
their paths in the arts.” Members of The Stanley Clarke Band were on
hand to accept the award from the podium in Los Angeles.

Other
players on the Grammy-winning album include vocalist Cheryl Bentyne;
guitarists Charles Altura, Rob Bacon and Armand Sabal-Lecco; saxophonist
Bob Sheppard; bass synthesizer Lorenzo “Larry” Dunn; keyboardist Felton
Pilate; horn players Andrew Lippman and John Paperbook; and drum
programmers Chris Clarke and Jon Hakakian.

Clarke, whose prodigious
talent, 40 albums and 60 film scores have made him one of the most
recognized and respected names in the annals of contemporary music,
recently formed a music label, Roxboro Entertainment Group, named for
his Philadelphia high school. The first two artists on the
label—guitarist Lloyd Gregory and multi-instrumentalist Kennard
Ramsey—have just released albums; the next two albums will come from
keyboardist Sunnie Paxson and Ruslan Sirota, pianist, arranger and
keyboardist on The Stanley Clarke Band. Clarke also recently awarded two
$12, 000 scholarships to high school music students Zech Hogan and Jon
Williams through The Stanley Clarke Foundation.
www.stanleyclarke.com.