Stanley Clarke, Guitar, 1951, Philadelphia, Pa
Stanley began playing the accordion but quickly changed to violin and then cello and finally the double bass before making his final choice, the electric bass guitar. As a youth, Stanley played in rhythm-and -blues and rock bands. He left high school and moved to New York in 1970 to seek work in jazz, abandoning his earlier plans to study classical music. In the early '70s Stanley worked with Pharoah Sanders, then performed and recorded with Stan Getz. He next worked with musicians such as Dexter Gordon, Art Blakey, Gil Evans, Mel Lewis and Horace Silver. Around this time he met Chick Corea, and became a founding member of Corea's group, Return to Forever. Playing the electric bass guitar, Clarke recorded eight albums with Chick Corea. After leaving Corea in 1977, Stanley played with both, rock and jazz bands with equal success. Clarke was influenced early in his career by Charles Mingus, Paul Chambers, and Ron Carter. He was also greatly impressed with the rock musician Jimi Hendricks, and soul and funk singer James Brown. He plays rapid,and very precise, bass lines and has a technique that includes slapping the strings, a method that enlivens his syncopated phrasing.
Buddy Rich, Drums, 1917, New York, NY
Before his second birthday, Buddy Rich appeared on stage in his parent's vaudeville act. At age four he played drums and tap danced on the Broadway stage. When he was only eleven years old he made tours of the U.S. and even went to Australia where he led a band of his own. He went to work for Joe Marsala's band in 1937, and then played short stints with Bunny Berigan, Harry James, Artie Shaw, and Benny Carter. From 1939-42 Buddy played with Tommy Dorsey's band. Buddy was widely known to possess a particularly volitile personality. He was with Dorsey during the same period that Frank Sinatra sang with the band. Sinatra was known to have the same quick-tempered personality. Several times they actually had fights on stage that Tommy had to break up. Later in life Buddy and Frank became fast friends, with Frank actually financing several of Buddy's bands. Upon entering the service during the second world war, Buddy, who was already an established name in jazz, could have spent his time as a musician in special services, but instead chose to spend his time as a judo instructor in the Marine Corp. After the war, he again worked with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, and with groups of his own. There were times when Rich sang (in the style of Sinatra) as well as played when he led his own groups. From 1966 to 1974 Buddy had a big band that achieved much success in this country and in Europe. In the latter half of the '70s, Buddy performed mainly at the club he opened in New York. In 1980 he again formed a big band with which he toured and recorded. Rich's playing was characterized by phenominal speed, clarity and precision. Buddy Rich died in 1987.
Lena Horne, Vocalist, 1917, New York, NY
In 1934 Lena began her professional career singing at the Cotton Club, after which she spent two years singing for Noble Sissle's band, and then sang and toured with Charlie Barnet and Artie Shaw into the early '40s. From the mid '40s Horne's talent and striking looks took her into a string of films including "Cabin In The Sky" with Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong. Other films were "Two Girls And A Sailor" with Harry James and the "Zeigfield Follies" . Appeararances in films by Lena were sometimes "clipped out" for showing in the Southern states, but struck an early blow for black equality. In 1947 Lena married Lennie Hayton and by that period she was an international star, capable of topping the bill at London's Palladium, as well as all the best concert halls and clubs in America. During the 1950s she recorded such hits as "Love Me Or Leave Me", "Honeysuckle Rose", and the risque "New Fangled Tango". In 1957 she starred on Broadway in "Jamaica" with Adelaide Hall who was also in the cast. A quarter of a century later her one-woman show , "The Lady And Her Music", ran on Broadway for over a year. Since then Lena has continued to appear regularly , and to receive awards for her achievements in the entertainment field. Like Pearl Bailey, much of her recorded work is jazz-friendly rather than jazz as such, but the unique caustic quality of her singing makes her's a true jazz voice.
