Monday, August 18, 2008

At Wolf Trap on Saturday night, Stanley Clarke recalled conversations he had with two late jazz greats -- fellow bassists Charles Mingus and Jaco Pastorius. They all agreed that one day someone should form a "bass army."

Three bassists may not qualify as such, but Clarke's summer "Thunder" tour with Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten makes up in force and virtuosity what it lacks in numbers. Featuring keyboardist Federico Pena and drummer Derico Watson, S.M.V.'s Wolf Trap performance was driven by a resounding convergence of rhythm and harmony.

Still, each of the bass guitarists projected a distinctive personality. Miller's slinky, biting, reverberating tone generated waves of funk propulsion, while Clarke and Wooten generally took the high ground, contrasting melodic passages and blues-guitarlike flourishes with sharply syncopated flights, quick-fingered digressions and pedal-triggered atmospherics. At one point Wooten used a digital loop and some trademark sleight of hand to delight the crowd, but nothing proved more compelling or dazzling than "Milano." A Miller composition, it allowed Clarke to display his mastery of the acoustic bass in a solo setting, using fingers and bow to conjure everything from chamber jazz sonics to windmill, Pete Townshend-like chordal swipes.

While the sound mix didn't always give Wooten a fair shake, he was at his groove-happy best when serving up "Grits," another tune drawn from the trio's recent debut album. And Miller briefly punctuated the show with a lyrical rendition of "When I Fall in Love," played on bass clarinet and soulfully shaded by Pena.

-- Mike Joyce