One of England’s most prestigious reissue CD labels, BGO has done a spectacular job on their 2010 reissue from America’s greatest jazz-rock bassist Stanley Clarke entitled Rocks, Pebbles And Sand / Let Me Know You. I suppose after all, my old music business nemesis Dave Love—the one time Oxymoron P&D employee turned Head's Up label honcho who ended up working on Clarke's 2007 CD The Toys Of Men—was right about Clarke. Stan’s bass playing and band leading skills have been praised to the max over the past 35 years—especially his groundbreaking mid '70s records with Return To Forever—but will wonders ever cease? The uninitiated will have a field day digging into this BGO release which pairs the two classic, and fairly commercial Clarke albums here—Rocks, Pebbles And Sand (from 1980) and Let Me Know You (from 1982). Although there’s plenty of instrumental jazz-rock sounds to marvel at, both albums also offer Stanley a showcase for his underrated vocal skills which come into play throughout the fifteen track 2 on 1, single disc CD from BGO. The sound quality is stellar throughout and 2010 liner notes from John O’Regan are really illuminating. The CD booklet features some key period piece photos, along with full credits of all the players here in addition to all the lyrics from the vocal cuts. The musicians on hand backing up Stanley are some of the best, including drumming legend Simon Phillips, guitarists Charles Johnson (on Rocks, Pebbles And Sand) and Michael Sembello and Carlos Santana (on Let Me Know You). Combining two essential fusion classics from the early ‘80s, this BGO CD remaster of Rocks, Pebbles And Sand / Let Me Know You is an all around winner and a real ear-opener for those fusion fans who might have missed these early Epic album classics from jazz-master Stanley Clarke. www.BGO-Records.com / www.StanleyClarke.com

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