Bass Legends Ron Carter, Buster Williams and Stanley Clarke Walk The Line at Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival

Ray Brown (1926-2002), a proud native son of Pittsburgh, was one of the founding fathers of modern jazz bass. So it's only fitting that the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival (PIJF) presents Ron Carter Foursight, Buster Williams & Something More, and Stanley Clarke N 4Ever - three lords of the lower frequencies.

RON CARTER (September 16, 8:00 pm, August Wilson African American Cultural Center, 980 Liberty Ave, followed by A Taste of Jazz)

If you've listened to any jazz or pop music recorded since 1959, chances are you've heard the Grammy Award-winning, NEA Jazz Master Ron Carter, the most recorded jazz bassist in history, with over 2,500 credits as a leader, and sideman. He was the foundation of Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet from 1963 to 1968, which featured Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Tony Williams, and he performed and recorded with a myriad of jazz greats, from the avant-garde and mainstream icons Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, and Bill Evans, to A Tribe Called Quest on their hip-hop masterpiece recording, The Low-End Theory. Carter's recordings as a leader include Uptown Conversation, Etudes, and his latest, Foursight: Stockholm 2, featuring his quartet: pianist Renee Rosnes, percussionist Payton Crossley and saxophonist Jimmy Greene. Carter and company will deliver a masterclass in swing, driven by the leader's glow-in-the-dark basslines.

BUSTER WILLIAMS & SOMETHING MORE (September 18, 3:30 pm, Highmark Stadium, Station Square, 510 W Station Square Dr.)

The Camden, NJ-born, Grammy award-winning, NEA Jazz Master bassist/bandleader Buster Williams has been the standard-bearer of his instrument for seven decades. Williams is one of the many great bassists from the Philadelphia region, including Jymie Merritt, Charles Fambrough, Percy Heath, Christian McBride, and Stanley Clarke. His formidable basslines made him an esteemed sideman with Art Blakey, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Jimmy Heath, Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, The Jazz Crusaders, Miles Davis, and Freddie Hubbard, among others. Williams was a member of Mwandishi, Herbie Hancock's pioneering, Afrofuturistic, jazz-fusion 70s ensemble, and was a founding member of Sphere, the 80s Thelonious Monk repertory group. With 15 recordings as a leader, including Pinnacle, and Buster Williams Live, Vol. 1., Williams comes to town with the latest version of his band Something More, featuring saxophonist Steve Wilson, pianist Brandon McCune and Miles Davis/Return to Forever drummer, Lenny White, all delivering something more, with the promise of inspiring and impeccable jazz.

Stanley Clarke N 4EVER (September 17, 8:45 pm, Highmark Stadium)

Bassist/film scorer Grammy Award winner and NEA Jazz Master Stanley Clarke, who heard Buster Williams growing up in Philadelphia, was also a bandmate of Lenny White in Chick Corea's ensemble, Return to Forever. His 1976 hit, "School Days," was a jazz-rock-fusion classic, and his collaboration with keyboardist George Duke - the Clarke/Duke Project - was a Quiet Storm radio favorite. With over 40 recordings as a leader that encompasses jazz, rock, R&B, and funk, Clarke comes to Pittsburgh with his latest group, N 4Ever: a cadre of young Turks featuring saxophonist Emilio Modeste, keyboardist Jahari Stampley, drummer Jeremiah Collier, and guitarist Collin Cook. It doesn't matter if he's playing the acoustic or electric bass, Stanley Clarke will make his instrument fluent in all of the myriad inventions and dimensions of jazz.

Tickets for Ron Carter Foursight at the AWAACC on Friday, September 16 start at $55, and are available for purchase here. Tickets for A Taste of Jazz, starting at $47.25, are available for purchase here.

One-day Jazz Fest passes for Saturday or Sunday are available starting at $45, and two-day Jazz Fest passes are available starting at $85 for performances taking place at Highmark Stadium. For more details, and to purchase tickets, please follow this link.

Student one-day passes for $30 and two-day passes for $55 will be available for purchase in-person at the venue, as well as $12 tickets for children (ages 4-12) and free Lap Passes for children under 3. These tickets must be purchased in person at the Highmark Stadium box office.