Ron Carter

Sweet, Sweet Spirit

Ashburn

The epitome of class and elegance without the stuffiness, Ron Carter is a world-class bassist and jazz icon. Famously, he was a member of <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis</a>' second great quintet of the '60s, but is also among the greatest accompanists of all time, and has made many albums exhibiting his prodigious technique. A brilliant rhythmic and melodic player, Carter uses everything in his bass and cello arsenal, including walking lines, thick, full tones, drones, and strumming effects. Almost exclusively an acoustic player, he is nearly as accomplished in classical music as jazz, and has performed with symphony orchestras all over the world. Along with playing on classic albums by <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Davis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0ZqhrTXYPA9DZR527ZnFdO">Wayne Shorter</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:38C3okxv3fyyOIQUVPCdGX">Lee Morgan</a>, and others, he has regularly issued his own eclectic albums like 1978's A Song for You with four cellos, 1995's Mr. Bow-Tie, and 2011's Ron Carter's Great Big Band. He is the winner of three Grammy Awards, including for the song "Call Sheet Blues" from the 1987 film 'Round Midnight and has joined other musicians on a number of engaging duet and trio recordings, including a classic 1972 session with <a href="spotify:artist:1nJ6xAezipbTOdKAqOKIoP">Jim Hall</a>, Alone Together, 1989's Duets with <a href="spotify:artist:4JHlHSUko0ivu6fXYT8J2q">Helen Merrill</a>, 2002's Dialogues with <a href="spotify:artist:16Xx0WCnAKOA9mwPPSUJmr">Houston Person</a>, and 2016's The Purity of Turf with <a href="spotify:artist:1S4iuO3CO7qD8l4wTetMQH">Ethan Iverson</a>. Active well into his eighties, Carter leads his quartet with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:7ixjaiJXnC2cxrbIE3WugD">Renee Rosnes</a> on Foursight: The Complete Stockholm Tapes and the 2022 documentary soundtrack Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes.

Born in 1937 in Ferndale, Michigan, Carter began playing cello at ten and switched to bass while in high school in Detroit. He played in the Eastman School's Philharmonic Orchestra, and gained his degree in 1959. From there, he moved to New York and played in <a href="spotify:artist:31NF3yc9DoAdh2bgR6mY04">Chico Hamilton</a>'s quintet with <a href="spotify:artist:6rxxu32JCGDpKKMPHxnSJp">Eric Dolphy</a>; he also enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music. He made some of his earliest recordings during this period, including playing on <a href="spotify:artist:6rxxu32JCGDpKKMPHxnSJp">Dolphy</a>'s Far Cry. Carter earned his master's degree in 1961. After <a href="spotify:artist:31NF3yc9DoAdh2bgR6mY04">Hamilton</a> returned to the West Coast in 1960, Carter stayed in New York and played with <a href="spotify:artist:6rxxu32JCGDpKKMPHxnSJp">Dolphy</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6sPeUcMcOc2n0M7m1qHAer">Don Ellis</a>, cutting his first records with them. He worked with <a href="spotify:artist:6Cx6WhEWHJWPeiFspDCwDR">Randy Weston</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4PDpGtF16XpqvXxsrFwQnN">Thelonious Monk</a> while playing and recording with <a href="spotify:artist:7pZNp3BIssAHQ9jJZssq3Y">Jaki Byard</a> in the early '60s. Carter also toured and recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:0xRqtLGIVSzXM9yg2wFMLC">Bobby Timmons</a>' trio and played with <a href="spotify:artist:5v74mT11KGJqadf9sLw4dA">Cannonball Adderley</a>. He joined <a href="spotify:artist:4L9xEztn5PKQIO5WnI5W3u">Art Farmer</a>'s group for a short time in 1963 before he was tapped to become a member of <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis</a>' band. 

Carter remained with <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Davis</a> until 1968, teaming with bandmates <a href="spotify:artist:2ZvrvbQNrHKwjT7qfGFFUW">Herbie Hancock</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1TW90GjShgkjySrxBxcwQe">Tony Williams</a> to craft a new, freer rhythm section sound. Together, they appeared on every one of the trumpeter's crucial mid-'60s recordings including E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Nefertiti, and others. The high-profile job led to the reputation that's seen Carter become one of the most recorded bassists in jazz history. He's been heard on an unprecedented number of recordings; some sources claim 500, others have estimated it to be as many as 1,000. The list of people he's played with is simply too great to be accurately and completely cited. Carter has been a member of the New York Jazz Sextet and <a href="spotify:artist:0VJleR1nspHzLRjvhNKbnH">New York Jazz Quartet</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6IBKvZuNRQhfrZUNSrgcgx">V.S.O.P. Tour</a>, and Milestone Jazzstars, and was in one of the groups featured in the film Round Midnight in 1986. 

Carter has led his own bands at various intervals since 1972, using a second bassist to keep time and establish harmony so he's free to provide solos. He even invented his own instrument, a piccolo bass, which he featured on 1977's Piccolo. He has contributed many arrangements and compositions to both his groups and other bands, and made duo recordings with <a href="spotify:artist:7DCTgrI6aDK3nBRZm5RUKT">Cedar Walton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1nJ6xAezipbTOdKAqOKIoP">Jim Hall</a>, and others. In 1987, he won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for the song "Call Sheet Blues," from the soundtrack album The Other Side of Round Midnight. Carter picked up a second Grammy Award in 1994 for his contributions to the reunion album A Tribute to Miles. He has recorded for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Embryo%22">Embryo</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atlantic%22">Atlantic</a>, CTI, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Milestone%22">Milestone</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Timeless%22">Timeless</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22EmArcy%22">EmArcy</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Galaxy%22">Galaxy</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elektra%22">Elektra</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Concord%22">Concord</a>, and eventually landed at <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Note%22">Blue Note</a> for LPs including 1997's The Bass and I, 1998's So What, and 1999's Orfeu. 

At the dawn of the new millennium, Carter remained an active, in-demand artist, releasing a steady stream of albums and keeping a busy live schedule. When Skies Are Grey surfaced in early 2001, followed in 2002 by Stardust, Carter's tribute to the late bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3DuKJapiJ2AUvoIJq1ZJFb">Oscar Pettiford</a>. That same year, he joined saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:16Xx0WCnAKOA9mwPPSUJmr">Houston Person</a> for the duo's third album of standards, Dialogues. In 2006, another tribute album was released, Dear Miles, dedicated to <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis</a>, also on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Blue+Note%22">Blue Note</a>. Several more small group solo albums followed including 2007's Japan-only It's the Time and 2008's Jazz and Bossa. 

In 2011, Carter delivered his first effort with big-band music, Ron Carter's Great Big Band, featuring arrangements by conductor <a href="spotify:artist:2ScoMsZypOg2rn5gFvEP2k">Robert M. Freedman</a> and a bevy of name players including pianist <a href="spotify:artist:6Zq5ky484xYTgxE6dQ8yHh">Mulgrew Miller</a> and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:2v2TVDl1P2YDSy9jXntWFt">Lewis Nash</a>. The following year, he was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame. He then joined drummer <a href="spotify:artist:5nFa30CKryWWIsEnsl3aSV">Gerry Gibbs</a> for two albums, 2013's Thrasher Dream Trio and 2014's We're Back. Also in 2014, Carter was backed by <a href="spotify:artist:5oldzkZrHypxJpr1ri05Fu">the WDR Big Band</a> on My Personal Songbook. In 2016, the bassist once again joined saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:16Xx0WCnAKOA9mwPPSUJmr">Person</a> for the duo album Chemistry. That same year, he also joined pianist <a href="spotify:artist:1S4iuO3CO7qD8l4wTetMQH">Ethan Iverson</a> on the trio date The Purity of Turf. Another <a href="spotify:artist:16Xx0WCnAKOA9mwPPSUJmr">Person</a> collaboration, Remember Love, arrived in 2018. The following year, Carter collaborated with novelist, poet, and painter <a href="spotify:artist:66sf2fB8vIDY92HtFv9tIz">Danny Simmons</a> for the Brooklyn multimedia concert The Brown Beatnik Tomes: Live at BRIC House. A several-volume concert series featuring the bassist's quartet with <a href="spotify:artist:7ixjaiJXnC2cxrbIE3WugD">Renee Rosnes</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3j768jlsTvAm20LvqIJlqO">Jimmy Greene</a>, and Payton Crossley also appeared around the same time, later collected as Foursight: The Complete Stockholm Tapes. In 2022, Carter was the subject of the PBS documentary Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes, for which he also supplied the soundtrack. ~ Ron Wynn, Rovi

Albums on which the Maestro, Ron Carter, led the band.

Maestro the Band Leader

Here are some tunes from some of jazz&#x27;s great trumpeters that I think are well worth your consideration.  Check back - I will be adding more!

Ron Carter's Salute to Great Trumpeters

Ron Carter's Recent Features

Sir Ron has played bass on over 2400 recordings, in multiple genres, and set a Guinness World Record for it!

Ron Carter's Fan Favorites

Ron Carter: Paradise Jazz Series Recommended Listening

Ron Carter's Personal Projects

Celebrate Ron Carter&#x27;s 88th Birthday with a selection of songs chosen by the Maestro himself!

Ron Carter's 88th Birthday Celebration Playlist

Albums that Sir Ron has played on as a leader or co-leader.

Ron Carter's Planet Elegance

From Miles Davis to A Tribe Called Quest, from Bach to rock and of course, the great jazz canon. 

Ron Carter

Sweet, Sweet Spirit

Grand Company

Bitter Head

Finding the Right Notes

Remembering Bob Freedman

Skyline

Parfait

A Song for You

Anything Goes

Foursight - The Complete Stockholm Tapes

Pass Me Not

Sweet, Sweet Spirit

Mía

Monkey Bars

Drop Me Off In Harlem

More From Sweet Basil

It's About Time (Reprise)

Acting Up

My Funny Valentine (Trumpet lead)

When Love Is New (Radio version)