Stanley Clarke & Ron Carter in San Francisco

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.

Ron Carter is an American jazz bassist and composer, born in 1937 in Ferndale, Michigan. He is best known for his work in Miles Davis’s 1960s quintet and can be heard on records including E.S.P., Miles Smiles and Nefertiti. His extensive studio career also includes Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage and Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil. In 1964, Carter toured Europe with Davis’s quintet, a period documented on Miles in Berlin. The group played Chicago’s Plugged Nickel in 1965, and those performances were later collected on The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965. Decades later, Carter celebrated his 85th birthday with a concert at Carnegie Hall in 2022. His own groups have played the Village Vanguard in New York, while his long relationship with Japanese audiences has brought him back to Blue Note Tokyo.