''School Days'' is a solo album by

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

bassist

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...

, released in 1976. The album reached number 34 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' 200 chart and number 2 on the Jazz Albums chart.

Unreleased quadraphonic version

In his book ''Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust'',

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Ken Scott Ken Scott (born 20 April 1947) is a British record producer and engineer known for being one of the five main engineers for the Beatles, as well as engineering Elton John, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Duran Duran, the Jeff B ...

explains that the album was intended for release in 4-channel

quadraphonic sound Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for t ...

in 1976. However, at the last minute the record company decided to release only a standard 2-channel

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

version instead. This required Scott to create a "fold down" version from the 4-track mixes for the stereo release. The original quadraphonic version may still exist in the record company vault, but it has never been issued.

Critical reception

Dave Thompson, in ''Funk'', called the album a "masterful set dominated by its eight-minute title track."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Stanley Clarke. ;Side One # "School Days" – 7:51 # "Quiet Afternoon" – 5:09 # "The Dancer" – 5:27 ;Side Two # "Desert Song" – 6:56 # "Hot Fun" – 2:55 # "Life Is Just a Game" – 9:00

Personnel

* Stanley Clarke – electric bass guitar (1, 3, 5, 6), vocals (1, 6), handbells (1), acoustic piano (2, 3), piccolo bass guitar (2, 3, 6), humming (3), acoustic bass (4, 6), gong (6), chimes (6), arranger, conductor, producer *

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

– keyboards (6) * Ray Gomez – electric guitar (1, 3, 5), rhythm guitar (3) * Icarus Johnson – acoustic guitar (6), electric guitar (6) * John McLaughlin – acoustic guitar (4) *

David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on ''Human Touch'' (1992), '' Trac ...

– keyboards (1), Minimoog (2, 3), organ (3), electric guitar (5) *

Gerry Brown Gerry “The Gov.” Brown is a recording engineer, mixer and music producer based in Los Angeles, best known for his work with artists including Whitney Houston, John Legend, Earth, Wind & Fire, Madonna, Sting, Prince, Phil Collins, Marc ...

– drums (1, 3), handbells (1) *

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the ''Mode ...

– drums (6), Moog 1500 (6) *

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the '' Modern ...

– drums (2, 5) *

Milt Holland Milton Holland (born Milton Olshansky; February 7, 1917 – November 4, 2005) was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist, and writer in the Los Angeles music scene. He pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian percus ...

– percussion (3), conga (4), triangle (4) * Tom Malone, Dave Taylor – trombone *

Jon Faddis Jon Faddis (born July 24, 1953) is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator, renowned for both his playing and for his expertise in the field of music education. Upon his first appearance on the scene, he became known ...

Alan Rubin Alan Rubin (February 11, 1943 – June 8, 2011), also known as Mr. Fabulous, was an American musician. He played trumpet, flugelhorn, and piccolo trumpet. Early life and education Rubin was born in Brooklyn. He began attending Juilliard S ...

Lew Soloff Lewis Michael Soloff (February 20, 1944–March 8, 2015) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor. Biography From his birth place of New York City, United States, he studied trumpet at the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard Sc ...

– trumpet * Earl Chapin, John Clark, Peter Gordon, Wilmer Wise – horns *

Al Aarons Albert Aarons (March 23, 1932 – November 17, 2015) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography Aarons was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit. He began to gain attention as a trumpet player in 1 ...

, Stewart Blumberg,

George Bohanon George Roland Bohanon, Jr. (born August 7, 1937) is a jazz trombonist and session musician from Detroit, Michigan. In the early 1960s, he participated in Detroit's Workshop Jazz ensemble, with Johnny Griffith, Paula Greer, David Hamilton, Lefty ...

Buddy Childers Marion "Buddy" Childers (February 12, 1926 – May 24, 2007) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and ensemble leader. Childers became famous in 1942 at the age of 16, when Stan Kenton hired him to be the lead trumpet in his band. Biography ...

, Robert Findley, Gary Grant, Lew McCreary,

Jack Nimitz Jack Nimitz (January 11, 1930 – June 10, 2009) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist. He was nicknamed "The Admiral". Career A native of Washington, D.C., Nimitz started on clarinet in his early teens before playing alto saxophone. Dur ...

, William Peterson, Dalton Smith - brass * Marilyn Baker, Thomas Buffum, David Campbell, Rollice Dale, Robert Dubow, Janice Gower, Karen Jones, Dennis Karmazyn, Gordon Marron,

Lya Stern Lya W. Stern (born 1950) is a violinist, recording artist and violin teacher. Born Lya Weiss to a Jewish family in Cluj, Romania, Stern moved to the United States as a teenager. She is married to Larry Stern and has two children. Education Ste ...

, Ron Strauss, Marcia Van Dyke, John Wittenberg – strings

Production

* Lynn Dreese Breslin – art direction * Bob Defrin – art direction * Ken Scott – producer, engineer, remixing * Jerry Solomon – assistant engineer * Ed Thacker – assistant engineer * Michael Frondelli – assistant engineer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:School Days (Album) 1976 albums Stanley Clarke albums Albums recorded at A&M Studios Albums produced by Ken Scott Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios Albums produced by Stanley Clarke Epic Records albums Jazz-funk albums