Stanley Clarke Band Nominated for Two Grammy Awards

WEBWIRE – Thursday, December 2, 2010

CLARKE GETS NODS FOR BEST POP INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMANCE AND BEST CONTEMPORARY JAZZ ALBUM FOR THE STANLEY CLARKE BAND

Hollywood, CA, December 2, 2010—Jazz bass legend Stanley Clarke has earned two Grammy® Nominations last evening in a nomination concert held in Los Angeles. Clarke received nominations in two categories: The first came in Category 9, Best Pop Instrumental Performance for solo, duo, group or collaborative performances without vocals for the song No Mystery, a track from The Stanley Clarke Band album. The second was in Category 44, Best Contemporary Jazz Album (for albums containing predominately instrumental tracks) was the full-length The Stanley Clarke Band on the Heads Up International label. For a complete list of nominations visit: www.grammy.com/files/53rdpresslist113010.pdf. CBS will broadcast the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards from Los Angeles February 13, 2011.

“Thank you thank you thank you. It really IS an honor just to be nominated,” Clarke said while on tour in Japan. “It’s the Stanley Clarke Band, that was nominated though; not only Stanley Clarke,” “I may have been the band leader, but I share this nomination in gratitude with keyboardist Ruslan Sirota, drummer Ronald Bruner, Jr., featured pianist Hiromi Uehara and the rest of the players on this album. We’re pleased in both categories to be in the company of such a diverse range of talent as our fellow nominees.” Other players on the nominated 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 is about to release a music video of I Wanna Play for You Too from the Stanley Clarke Band album, the second directed by Frank Aleph Agrama.
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