Slap Happy

What were you doing with your sorry life at 21? Binge-drinking in your mommy’s basement? Watching endless hours of elimiDATE and all of those other lame-o UPN shows? Sweating bullets that you just got your girlfriend preggo?

At age 21, world-renowned bassist Stanley Clarke, the dude who basically invented the funk-slap percussive technique, was gigging with Pharoah Sanders, Horace Silver, Stan Getz, and Art Blakey. Then, at age 22 — the year you ditched your baby and yo baby’s momma — Clarke teamed up with the seminal Chick Corea to form the fusion tornado known as Return to Forever.

Now, at age 56, while you’re still bogged down with that monthly child support, Clarke is touring in support of another stellar album, The Toys of Men.