Ron Carter
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox musical artist
Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937)<ref name="feather">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He has won three Grammy Awards,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> and is also a cellist who has recorded numerous times on the instrument.<ref name="wynn">Template:Cite web</ref> In addition to a solo career of more than 60 years, Carter is well-known for playing on numerous iconic Blue Note albums in the 1960s, as well as being the anchor of trumpeter Miles Davis's "Second Great Quintet" from 1963-1968.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Beginning with Where? in 1961, Carter's studio albums as leader also include Uptown Conversation (1969), Blues Farm (1973), All Blues (1973), Spanish Blue (1974), Anything Goes (1975), Yellow & Green (1976), Pastels (1976), Piccolo (1977), Third Plane (1977), Peg Leg (1978), A Song for You (1978), Etudes (1982), The Golden Striker (2003), Dear Miles (2006), and Ron Carter's Great Big Band (2011).
Early life
[edit]Carter was born in Ferndale, Michigan.<ref name="feather" /> His father was a bus driver for the city of Detroit.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref>
At the age of 10, he started playing the cello, switching to bass while at Cass Technical High School.<ref name="wynn" /> He earned a B.A. in music from the Eastman School of Music (1959) and a master's degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music (1961).<ref name="feather" /> While at Eastman, Carter began the shift from classical to jazz when he, Pee Wee Ellis and other friends put together a house band to play at the Pythodd Room, a club on Clarissa Street in segregated Rochester, where he met players on the Chitlin Circuit who encouraged him to go to New York City.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Carter's first jobs as a jazz musician were playing bass with Chico Hamilton in 1959, followed by freelance work with Jaki Byard, Cannonball Adderley, Randy Weston, Bobby Timmons, and Thelonious Monk.<ref name="feather" /> One of his first recorded appearances was on Hamilton alumnus Eric Dolphy's Out There, recorded on August 15, 1960, and featuring George Duvivier on bass, Roy Haynes on drums, and Carter on cello. The album's advanced harmonies and concepts were in step with the third stream movement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In early October 1960, Carter recorded How Time Passes with Don Ellis, and on June 20, 1961, he recorded Where?, his first album as a leader, featuring Dolphy on alto sax, flute, and bass clarinet; Mal Waldron on piano; Charlie Persip on drums; and Duvivier playing basslines on tracks where Carter played cello.
Career
[edit]1960s–1980s
[edit]Carter was a member of the second Miles Davis Quintet in the mid 1960s, which also included Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and drummer Tony Williams.<ref name="LarkinJazz">Template:Cite book</ref> Carter joined Davis's group in 1963, appearing on the album Seven Steps to Heaven,<ref name="LarkinJazz" /> and the follow-up E.S.P., the latter being the first album to feature only the full quintet. It also featured three of Carter's compositions (the only time he contributed compositions to Davis's group). He stayed with Davis until 1968<ref name="LarkinJazz" /> (when he was replaced by Dave Holland), and participated in a couple of studio sessions with Davis in 1969 and 1970. Although he played electric bass occasionally during this era of early jazz-rock fusion, he has subsequently stopped playing that instrument, and in the 2000s plays only double bass.
Carter also performed on some of Hancock, Williams and Shorter's recordings during the 1960s for Blue Note.<ref name="LarkinJazz" /> He was a sideman on many Blue Note recordings of the era, playing with Sam Rivers, Freddie Hubbard, Duke Pearson, Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hill, Horace Silver, and others. He also played on soul-pop star Roberta Flack's album First Take and Gil Scott Heron's Pieces of a Man, including the iconic bass-line on "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
After leaving Davis, Carter was for several years a mainstay of CTI Records, making albums under his own name and also appearing on many of the label's records with a diverse range of other musicians. Notable musical partnerships in the 1970s and 1980s included Joe Henderson, Houston Person, Hank Jones, Gabor Szabo and Cedar Walton. During the 1970s he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1986, Carter played double bass on "Big Man on Mulberry Street" on Billy Joel's album The Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1987, Carter won a Grammy for "an instrumental composition for the film" Round Midnight.<ref name=":0" />
1990s–2000s
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In 1994, he won his second Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Group for a tribute album to Miles Davis.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He appeared on the alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest's influential album The Low End Theory on a track called "Verses from the Abstract".<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> Carter also recorded as a member of the jazz combo the Classical Jazz Quartet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1994, Carter appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African-American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by TIME.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2001, Carter collaborated with Black Star and John Patton to record "Money Jungle" for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Beginning in the 1990s, Carter became a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the music department of City College of New York, having taught there for 20 years,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in spring 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He joined the faculty of the Juilliard School in New York City in 2008, teaching bass in the school's Jazz Studies program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Carter made an appearance in Robert Altman's 1996 film, Kansas City, at the center of which is a jazz club called the Hey Hey Club.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film's end credits feature Carter and fellow bassist Christian McBride duetting on "Solitude"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> at the club, owned by a black gangster called Seldom Seen, who was played by a "show-stealing" Harry Belafonte.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (In a 2023 tribute, Carter would reveal how it came about that Belafonte had been his landlord.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>)
Carter sits on the advisory committee of the board of directors of The Jazz Foundation of America and on the Honorary Founder's Committee.<ref name="Ron Carter and the JFA">Template:Cite web</ref> Carter has worked with the Jazz Foundation since its inception to save the homes and the lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians including musicians that survived Hurricane Katrina.<ref name="Ron Carter_ JFA Board">Pt. 2 Jazz Angels Jazz Foundation of America's Wendy Oxenhorn on HammondCast KYOURADIO.</ref>
Carter appeared as himself in an episode of the HBO series Treme entitled "What Is New Orleans".<ref name=":1" /> His authorized biography, Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes (Template:ISBN), by Dan Ouellette, was published by ArtistShare in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2010s and later
[edit]In 2010, Carter was honored with France's premier cultural award, the medallion and title of Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Carter was elected to the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In August 2021, Carter was the featured guest in a 47-minute video interview with YouTuber and musician Rick Beato.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2021, the Japanese government honored Carter with The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. Japanese officials credited Carter with helping to popularize jazz in Japan and facilitating cultural exchange.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2022 Carter sat in with Bob Weir at Radio City Music Hall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In May 2022, Carter celebrated his birthday by releasing a Tiny Desk Concert recorded at the Blue Note Jazz Club featuring Russell Malone and Donald Vega.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Carter continues to record as a sideman, most recently appearing on Daniele Cordisco's 2023 album "Bitter Head."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2024 he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Documentary films
[edit]Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes is a documentary film about Carter's career,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> produced and directed by Peter Schnall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was released in November of 2022 on PBS.
Personal life
[edit]Carter was married to Janet Hasbrouck Carter, a champion of African and African-American art; she died in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had two sons, Ron Carter Jr and Myles Carter who was a painter and graffiti artist. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Myles’ death, from a stroke, is discussed in the Documentary "Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes."
He describes himself as a science fiction enthusiast.<ref name=":2" />
Discography
[edit]- Where? (New Jazz, 1961)
- Uptown Conversation (Embryo, 1969)
- Alone Together (Milestone, 1972) with Jim Hall
- Blues Farm (CTI, 1973)
- All Blues (CTI, 1973)
- Spanish Blue (CTI, 1974)
- Anything Goes (Kudu, 1975)
- Yellow & Green (CTI, 1976)
- Pastels (Milestone, 1976)
- Piccolo (Milestone, 1977)
- Third Plane (Milestone, 1977)
- Peg Leg (Milestone, 1978)
- A Song for You (Milestone, 1978)
- 1 + 3 (JVC, 1978)
- Carnaval (Galaxy, 1983) with Hank Jones, Sadao Watanabe and Tony Williams – recorded in 1978
- Pick 'Em (Milestone, 1980) – recorded in 1978
- Parade (Milestone, 1979)
- New York Slick (Milestone, 1979)
- Patrão (Milestone, 1980)
- Parfait (Milestone, 1982) – recorded in 1980
- Empire Jazz (RSO, 1980)
- Super Strings (Milestone, 1981)
- Heart & Soul (Timeless, 1981) with Cedar Walton
- Etudes (Elektra/Musician, 1982)
- Live at Village West (Concord Jazz, 1984) with Jim Hall – recorded in 1982
- Telephone (Concord Jazz, 1984) with Jim Hall
- All Alone (EmArcy, 1988)
- Something in Common (Muse, 1990) with Houston Person – recorded in 1989
- Duets (EmArcy, 1989) with Helen Merrill
- Now's the Time (Muse, 1990) with Houston Person
- Eight Plus (Victor (Japan), 1990)
- Panamanhattan (Dreyfus Jazz, 1991) with Richard Galliano – recorded in 1990
- Mr. Bow-tie (Somethin' Else, 1995)
- The Bass and I (Somethin' Else, 1997)
- So What? (Somethin' Else, 1998)
- Orfeu (Somethin' Else, 1999)
- When Skies Are Grey... (Somethin' Else, 2000)
- Dialogues (HighNote, 2000) with Houston Person – recorded in 2000
- Stardust (Somethin' Else, 2001)
- The Golden Striker (Somethin' Else, 2002)
- Just Between Friends (HighNote, 2008) with Houston Person – recorded in 2005
- Dear Miles (Somethin' Else, 2006)
- Chemistry (HighNote, 2016) with Houston Person – recorded in 2015
- An Evening with Ron Carter and Richard Galliano (In+Out, 2017) with Richard Galliano
- Remember Love (HighNote, 2018) with Houston Person
Filmography
[edit]- 2003: Ron Carter & Art Farmer: Live at Sweet Basil with Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- 2002: Herbie Hancock Trio: Hurricane! with Ron Carter and Billy Cobham<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- 2019: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
- 2022: Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Pages with broken file links
- 1937 births
- 20th-century American guitarists
- 21st-century American double-bassists
- African-American guitarists
- African-American jazz musicians
- American jazz bass guitarists
- American jazz cellists
- American jazz double-bassists
- American male bass guitarists
- American male jazz musicians
- Blue Note Records artists
- Cass Technical High School alumni
- Chesky Records artists
- City College of New York faculty
- Classical Jazz Quartet members
- CTI Records artists
- Eastman School of Music alumni
- EmArcy Records artists
- Grammy Award winners
- Guitarists from Detroit
- Hard bop double-bassists
- HighNote Records artists
- Jazz musicians from Michigan
- Living people
- Mainstream jazz double-bassists
- American male double-bassists
- Manhattan School of Music alumni
- Miles Davis Quintet members
- Milestone Records artists
- New York Jazz Quartet members
- Orchestral jazz double-bassists
- People from Ferndale, Michigan
- Post-bop double-bassists
- Prestige Records artists
- RSO Records artists
- Soul-jazz bass guitarists
- Sunnyside Records artists
- The 360 Degree Music Experience members
- The Tony Williams Lifetime members
- Third stream double-bassists
- V.S.O.P. (group) members
- Verve Records artists
- 20th-century American double-bassists
- DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members
- NEA Jazz Masters