Stanley Clarke in Santa Barbara

Stanley Clarke is an American bassist and composer, born in Philadelphia in 1951, whose work spans jazz fusion, funk and rock. He became known as a member of Chick Corea’s Return to Forever and through solo records including Stanley Clarke and School Days; the title track of the latter became one of his signature pieces. In 1988, Clarke performed at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles with Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham, Najee and Deron Johnson; the concert was later issued as Live at the Greek. A 2004 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival became Stanley Clarke & Friends: Live at Montreux 2004, documenting another ensemble setting. In 2008 he toured with Chick Corea, Al Di Meola and Lenny White on the Return to Forever Returns tour.

Hiromi Uehara is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer, born in Hamamatsu in 1979. Her debut album, Another Mind, introduced an instrumental style shaped by jazz fusion, rock and classical music; later releases include Spiral, Time Control, Voice and Spectrum. During the 2000s, Hiromi Uehara toured with Hiromi’s Sonicbloom, a quartet featuring guitarist David Fiuczynski. She later led the Trio Project with bassist Anthony Jackson and drummer Simon Phillips. A 2017 duo concert with Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda at the Montreal International Jazz Festival became the album Live in Montreal. At the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, she performed “Spectrum” on solo piano.