TITLE: The Toys of Men

ARTIST: Stanley Clarke

STARS: 3 Out of 5 Stars

SOUNDS LIKE: Re-hashed 1970s jazz rock fusion. Return to Forever style.

After much too many years of scoring movies and making lame smooth jazz albums, premier jazz bassist Stanley Clarke returns to his 1970s jazz fusion roots with “Toys of Men.”

It’s a refreshing return. And Clarke appears hell-bent on proving that he hasn’t lost his chops.

As both a solo artist and member of the 1970s jazz fusion group Return To Forever, Clarke was an innovator on the bass. His sound, a pure hybrid of jazz and rock was instantly recognizable. Some of his compositions like “School Days,” with its infectious hard rock riff, have become fusion standards.

On “Toys” Clarke switches between stand up acoustic and electric bass. And the songs run the gamut between the funky” Game” and “Bad Asses” to the almost classical sounding “El Bajo Negro” and “La Cancion De Sofia.”

Clarke is in classic form on “Bad Asses,” an electric slap bass tour de force. It’s a hard rocking bass and drum affair with Clarke out to reclaim his title as the jazz funk bassist.

While impressive, the title tune, an 11 minute, six part anti-war suite, sounds too familiar for older fusion fans. It sounds as if it was made from leftover parts off one of those old Return to Forever extended suites like “Romantic Warrior.” Same hooks, same bridges, same deja vu.

Although to someone born after 1970 this might sound fresh and exciting like new music. And overall “Toys of Men” is easily listenable and midly entertaining But you run out of musical surprises quickly. And there’s nothing to sustain your interest beyond a few listenings.

Make on mistake, Clarke’s playing and composing skills are as sharp as ever. And he joined by a crack lineup of young lions, Ruslan Sirota on keyboards, Mads Tolling on violin, Jef Lee Johnson on guitar and Ronald Bruner, Jr. on drums.

And Esperanza Spalding provides some stunning vocals on “All Over Again” the CD’s only non-instrumental track.

“Toys” is a nice return for Clarke to the style of music that made him famous. Too bad nobody told him you can’t re-create the past.