JAZZ / DIRK SUTRO : Stanley Clarke’s Bass Notes Sound Way for Jazz Group

Bassist Stanley Clarke, who plays the Bahia Resort Hotel on Mission Bay New Year’s Eve, belongs to a generation of young jazz musicians linked to Miles Davis’ seminal album “Bitches Brew.” That early ‘70s recording, which included such players as Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, marked the first time a true jazz musician such as Davis had gone electric and blended his ideas so forcefully with elements of rock.

Subsequently, Zawinul and Shorter formed Weather Report, Hancock recorded a number of funky jazz albums and Corea soon put together Return to Forever, with Clarke--barely out of his teens--on bass. Together with Lenny White on drums and Al Dimeola on guitar, the band had a scorching, technically awesome sound, built around Corea’s complex compositions. Even if the music wasn’t always emotionally engrossing, the band pioneered directions now being rehashed with little inventiveness by today’s so-called “Contemporary Jazz” musicians.

Bass players do not make logical band leaders. Playing such a thumping anchor of an instrument, it’s tough for them to use the bass out front as a prime source of melody. Clarke tries. He’s had piccolo and tenor basses built to help him in his quest, and there’s no doubt he’s one of the most technically able bass players alive.

Borrowing the funky slap style from Larry Graham, Clarke turned it into a catchy punctuation he applies in many contexts. On acoustic bass, his long, narrow fingers seem to glide over the heavy strings, and he’s especially graceful when bowing the instrument. But, ever since his first solo album, “Stanley Clarke,” released in the early ‘70s, his search for the right setting in which to display his prowess has often been disappointing.

His new album, “If This Bass Could Only Talk,” is no exception. Although it includes such prestige players as saxman Shorter and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and though, as always, the playing is technically amazing, there’s a raw emotional element lacking. It’s whatever makes a blues record by John Lee Hooker, only an average guitar player, an emotional gut buster.

The new album is one of Clarke’s personal favorites.

“I think the main reason I like it is because the record company said, ‘Make an album that you like and don’t worry about radio or record sales.’ ”

Clarke has been busy on other fronts. He’s doing music for television, including the show “Night Watch.” He also produces, his most recent effort being Brenda Russell’s new album.

Clarke’s San Diego performance is just part of the New Year’s Eve Lites Out Jazz orgy KIFM is hosting at the Bahia and the Catamaran.

Sharing top billing with Clarke is pianist David Benoit. He will be the main attraction at the Catamaran. Benoit’s new album “Every Step of the Way” has moments of prodigious playing but, overall, dies of terminal blandness.

Local bands Fattburger, Hollis Gentry’s Neon, The Mark Lessman Band and Flight 7 are also part of the KIFM package.

Tickets range from $30 to $65, depending on how much music you want to hear.

ELSEWHERE ON NEW YEAR’S EVE: Jazz-blues violinist Papa John Creach does his thing at Elario’s in La Jolla. . . . San Diego State University Jazz Ensemble member Ira B. Liss brings his Big Band Jazz Machine to Solana’s in Solana Beach. . . . Brazilian jazz and flamenco dancing are among the simultaneous choices at the Copacabana. . . . For a mere $100 per person, you can graze at a lavish seafood bar and hear music including the Jazz Thieves Band at Vic’s in La Jolla. . . . Diego’s Loft offers San Diego sax player Joe Marillo with his quartet.

Jazz singers are having a tough time of it, with the loss of their best venues. The Bella Via went out of business, and Our Place, Vic’s, Pax (now Presto) and the Porthole Lounge have either eliminated jazz or cut back drastically. Reportedly, Diego’s Loft in Pacific Beach, a prime spot for local talent, has been designated as primarily a horn room by management. The ordinance prohibiting amplified music in many downtown clubs has kept jazz spots like Croce’s and the Horton Grand from booking singers.

San Diego vocalist Coral Thuet is among those fallen on slower times. Such singers as Cath Eckert, Elliot Lawrence, Denise Jeter and Kevyn Lettau have also found little work of late. “I think it’s just temporary,” Thuet said. “I think club owners will wake up and realize that singers want to be heard and people want to hear them.”

Collegiate jazz ensembles have long been a prime training ground for new talent, and San Diego State has one of the finest. With the hiring of Bill Yeager as its first full-time jazz professor four years ago , the university showed its commitment to developing a first-class program, which now includes several jazz bands and a full range of classes. The effort has paid off. Last year, Yeager’s “A” ensemble was chosen top jazz band from among the best in the nation by the National Assn. of Jazz Educators. The prize was a gig at Epcot Center in Florida, on a bill with Wynton Marsalis, Louis Bellson and other jazz heavies. On Jan. 13, the jazz ensemble will be the only collegiate band appearing on the main stage with such talents as Charles McPherson and Bill Watrous at the opening evening of the National Assn. of Jazz Educators convention at the Town & Country Hotel.

RIFFS: Manhattan Transfer-ish jazz vocal group Pastiche plays the Bacchanal Friday night, Dec. 23.