Fans of Clarke's first few solo records from the '70s — a mixture of finger-poppin' funk-jazz, ruminative acoustic ballads and throttle-down fusion wizardry — should cherish this kindred spirit, which Clarke claims will be "the last electric album I'm going to do for a while." Straight-ahead jazz fans may wince at a couple of the tracks — "I Wanna Play For You Too" mostly imitates the grooves of Bootsy and Zapp, and an otherwise accomplished fusion arrangement of "How Is The Weather Up There" is marred by sampled, phoned-in, mostly-clueless remarks about global warming. But that's an inevitable drawback from a collection of such stylistic breadth. Those who prefer Clarke's 2009 acoustic album, Jazz In The Garden, should revel in Clarke's latest addition to the quasi-concerto series for bass he's been composing over the years, "Bass Folk Song No. 10," which balances brash technique and simple beauty with dynamic changes of pace. Clarke also offers up a sparkling cover of Chick Corea's "No Mystery" from their days together in Return to Forever, altering the texture slightly without losing its essence or durable melody. "Soldier" (from Israeli keyboardist Ruslin Sirota) likewise uses a catchy chorus to accommodate both sprightly… read more »