Ron Carter – 2,200 Sessions and Counting…
In early 1963, Miles Davis hired bassist Ron Carter for what would be known as Miles’ second great quintet. It was a very smart decision that would not only help shape the sound of Davis’ own growing modal style of playing, but would – for the next five years – secure the steady services of possibly the best and definitely the most prolific bassists in music history.
Carter’s skill and versatility would make him the first choice for sessions with basically every jazz label in existence from 1961 through to today. He can be found as sideman or leader on classic albums from Blue Note, Prestige, Riverside, CTI, Milestone, Verve and far more than can be listed here.
The list of the jazz masters he has recorded with on one context or another including not only Miles Davis, but Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Eric Dolphy, Paul Desmond, Joe Henderson, Johnny Hodges and many, many more.
Initially studying cello at age ten, Carter switched to the bass by high school. After earning a B.A. at the Eastman School of Music and a Masters degree from the Manhattan School of Music, the bassist was quickly recruited by Chico Hamilton and a bit later by Eric Dolphy. The association with Dolphy led to Carter’s first LP “Where?”, recorded in 1961 with Dolphy and pianist Mal Waldron.
While Carter would step up his sideman recording activities throughout the 1960s, he would not record another LP under his own leadership until 1969. Most of that interim period would be taken up with the Miles Davis group, but by the time Miles went electric, Carter was ready to step out on his own.
Multiple albums for CTI, Milestone, Concord, Blue Note (via their Japanese “Somethin’ Else” label), Concord Jazz and others would fill out a schedule that included countless club and concert dates as well as teaching at City College in New York and later at Julliard.
In recent years, Carter has led two groups of note: The Golden Striker Trio and the quartet Foursight. Albums by both groups have been released on CD by In+Out Records in Germany and also to vinyl in 180 gram audiophile two LP sets containing the entire CD programs.
Arguably the best of the three In+Out LP releases is “Foursight Live in Stockholm Volume 1” featuring tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene, pianist Rene Rosnes and drummer Payton Crossley. While the entire album is superb, special mention must be made of Rosnes and Greene, whose solos are particularly captivating.
The second volume “Foursight Live in Stockholm Volume 2”, recorded the same night in November 2018, features a different program of tunes and performances by the same group and is highlighted by an excellent rendition of “My Funny Valentine”.
For a change of pace, “The Golden Striker” features Carter with pianist Donald Vega and guitarist Russell Malone. Starting off with fellow bass legend Oscar Pettiford’s composition “Laverne Walk”, the album has a lightness echoing the recordings Carter made with guitarist Jim Hall. Malone’s straight-ahead style, with it’s own echoes of Wes Montgomery, floats over and around Carter’s bass throughout the album – notably on the tracks “Golden Striker” and “Samba de Orfeu”. This set also features a very different and poignant trio rendition of “My Funny Valentine”, this time featuring pianist Vega, who replaced Rene Rosnes in the most recent version of the Foursight quartet.
In 2015, the Guinness Book of Records certified Carter as the most recorded jazz bassist in the world with 2,221 sessions verified as of that time. All three of the above albums represent a small part of a growing tally that continues on with no end in sight.
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