Stanley Clarke

Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American jazz musician known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass. He was introduced to the bass as a schoolboy when he arrived late on the day instruments were distributed to students and acoustic bass was one of the few remaining selections. When playing electric bass, Clarke places his right hand so that his fingers approach the strings much as they would on an upright bass, but rotated through 90 degrees. To achieve this, his forearm lies above and nearly parallel to the strings, while his wrist is hooked downward at nearly a right angle. In addition to an economical variation on the Larry Graham-style slap-n'-pop technique, Clarke also uses downward thrusts of the entire right hand, striking two or more strings his fingernails.

A few minutes earlier and he might have been a trumpet player.