Ron Carter

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Ron Carter

| image = Ron Carter Berkeley1.jpg

| caption = Carter performing at Berkeley Jazz Festival in May 1980

| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist

| birth_name = Ronald Levin Carter

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1937|05|04|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Ferndale, Michigan, U.S.

| genre = Jazz

| occupations = {{flatlist|

Musician
educator}}

| instruments = {{flatlist|

| years_active = 1959–present

| label = {{flatlist|

| past_member_of = {{hlist|Miles Davis Quintet|The Tony Williams Lifetime|New York Jazz Quartet|The Great Jazz Trio|V.S.O.P.|Classical Jazz Quartet}}

| associated_acts = Miles Davis Quintet, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Jim Hall

| website = {{URL|roncarterjazz.com}}

}}

Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937){{cite encyclopedia |last1=Feather |first1=Leonard |last2=Gitler |first2=Ira |title=Carter, Ron (Ronald Levin) |encyclopedia=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |pages=115}} is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history.{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2016/1/ron-carter-earns-world-record-as-the-most-recorded-jazz-bassist-in-history-411828|title=Ron Carter earns world record as the most recorded jazz bassist in history|date=January 7, 2016|author1=Rachel Swatman|publisher=Guinness Book of World Records|access-date=August 2, 2016}} He has won three Grammy Awards,{{Cite web|date=2019-11-19|title=Ron Carter|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/ron-carter|access-date=2020-07-13|website=GRAMMY.com|language=en}} and is also a cellist who has recorded numerous times on the instrument.{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ron-carter-mn0000275832/biography |title=Ron Carter Biography |last=Wynn |first=Ron |website=AllMusic |access-date=October 26, 2020}} 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.{{cite web|title=A tribute from the anchor|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 11, 2007 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-11-et-carter11-story.html|accessdate=April 23, 2024}}

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

Carter was born in Ferndale, Michigan. His father was a bus driver for the city of Detroit.{{Cite web |title=Interview with Ron Carter |url=https://www.maxraskin.com/interviews/ron-carter |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=Interviews with Max Raskin |language=en-US}}

At the age of 10, he started playing the cello, switching to bass while at Cass Technical High School. 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). 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.{{cite web |author1=Partisan Pictures |title=Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes |url=https://www.pbs.org/show/ron-carter-finding-right-notes/ |website=PBS.org |publisher=PBS Documentaries |access-date=July 26, 2024 |pages=36:52–37:28 |format=Video |date=2022 |quote=“In my senior year, a couple of friends of mine put together a little band to play in the club in the Black part of Rochester. In playing in the house band opposite these groups–Dizzy’s band, Carmen McCrae’s band, J.J. Johnson’s band–they assured me that if I came to New York that New York’s always looking for a good bass player.”}}{{cite web |last1=Hoeffler |first1=Paul |date=1958 |title=After Hours at the Pythodd |url=http://spiritofthepythodd.digitalscholar.rochester.edu/resources/after-hours-at-the-pythodd/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615012127/http://spiritofthepythodd.digitalscholar.rochester.edu/resources/after-hours-at-the-pythodd/ |archive-date=2021-06-15 |website=rochester.edu |publisher=University of Rochester, Rare Books & Special Collections |format=Photograph |quote=Ron Carter (bass), Pee Wee Ellis (saxophone), Richard (Dickie) Boddie |location=Pythodd Room, corner of Troup and Clarissa Street, Rochester, NY}}{{cite web |last1=Hoeffler |first1=Paul |date=1958 |title=No Dancing at the Pythodd |url=https://archives.lib.rochester.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/164703 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726140738/https://archives.lib.rochester.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/164703 |archive-date=2024-07-26 |website=rochester.edu |publisher=University of Rochester, Rare Books & Special Collections |format=Photograph |quote=Ron Carter (bass), Pee Wee Ellis (saxophone) |location=Pythodd Room, corner of Troup and Clarissa Street, Rochester, NY}}

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. 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/hdp2 |title=Eric Dolphy Out There Review |last=Marsh |first=Peter |date=2002 |website=BBC.co.uk|access-date=June 26, 2020}} 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

=1960s–1980s=

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.{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-580-8|page=78}} Carter joined Davis's group in 1963, appearing on the album Seven Steps to Heaven, 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 (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. 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".{{Cite web |url=https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/08/27/ron-carter-favorite-recordings-jazz/88483434/ |title=Famed jazz bassist Ron Carter picks 10 faves from his 2,200 recordings|website=Detroit Free Press |first=Mark |last=Stryker|date=August 27, 2016|access-date=June 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026022422/http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/08/27/ron-carter-favorite-recordings-jazz/88483434/ |archive-date=October 26, 2017 |url-status=dead }}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-york-jazz-quartet-mn0000398904/biography|title=New York Jazz Quartet | Biography & History|website=AllMusic|access-date=July 25, 2021}} In 1986, Carter played double bass on "Big Man on Mulberry Street" on Billy Joel's album The Bridge.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-bridge-mw0000194333/credits|title=The Bridge - Billy Joel | Credits |website=AllMusic|access-date=July 25, 2021}} In 1987, Carter won a Grammy for "an instrumental composition for the film" Round Midnight.

=1990s–2000s=

File:Ron Carter photo 1.jpg

In 1994, he won his second Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Group for a tribute album to Miles Davis.{{Cite web|date=2017-11-28|title=37th Annual GRAMMY Awards|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/37th-annual-grammy-awards-1994|access-date=2020-07-13|website=GRAMMY.com|language=en}} 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".{{Cite web|title=Ron Carter and the Low End Theory|url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/10137113/ron-carter-and-the-low-end-theory|access-date=2020-07-13|website=KQED|date=June 4, 2014 |language=en-us}} Carter also recorded as a member of the jazz combo the Classical Jazz Quartet.{{Cite web|title=The Classical Jazz Quartet Catalog|url=https://www.jazzdisco.org/the-classical-jazz-quartet/catalog/|access-date=2020-07-13|website=www.jazzdisco.org}} In 1994, Carter appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool.{{Cite web|last=Kohlhaase|first=Bill|date=1994-12-16|title=ALBUM REVIEW : VARIOUS ARTISTS, "Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool" ( GRP ) ***|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-12-16-ca-9815-story.html|access-date=2020-07-13|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite magazine|date=1994-12-26|title=The Best Music of 1994|language=en-US|magazine=Time|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982060,00.html|access-date=2020-07-13|issn=0040-781X}} 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.{{Cite web|title=Red Hot {{!}} Red Hot + Indigo|url=https://redhot.org/project/red-hot-indigo/|access-date=2020-07-13|website=redhot.org|language=en}}

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,{{Cite web|title=Jazz Studies at City College|url=https://jazz.ccnysites.cuny.edu/history/|website=Jazz at City History|access-date=May 26, 2020}} and received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in spring 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.berklee.edu/about/honorary.html|title=Honorary Degree Recipients | Berklee College of Music|website=Berklee.edu|access-date=June 4, 2016}} He joined the faculty of the Juilliard School in New York City in 2008, teaching bass in the school's Jazz Studies program.{{Cite web|date=2010-12-24|title=Ron Carter|url=http://journal.juilliard.edu/journal/ron-carter|access-date=2020-07-13|website=The Juilliard School|language=en}} 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.{{cite web|url= https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/kansas-city-124362/|title=Kansas City|first=Peter|last=Travers|website=Rolling Stone|date=August 16, 1996|access-date=January 21, 2024}} The film's end credits feature Carter and fellow bassist Christian McBride duetting on "Solitude"{{Cite web|last=Rosenbaum|first=Jonathan|title=Let the Music Do the Talking|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/let-the-music-do-the-talking/Content?oid=896246|access-date=2020-07-13|website=Chicago Reader|date=May 7, 1998|language=en}} at the club, owned by a black gangster called Seldom Seen, who was played by a "show-stealing" Harry Belafonte.{{cite news|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/kansascitykemp.htm|title= 'Kansas City': All Over the Map|first=Rita|last=Kempley|newspaper=Washington Post|date=August 16, 1996}} (In a 2023 tribute, Carter would reveal how it came about that Belafonte had been his landlord.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FYORekrBLo|title=Ron Carter - Tribute to Harry Belafonte|date=July 28, 2023|via=YouTube}})

Carter sits on the advisory committee of the board of directors of The Jazz Foundation of America and on the Honorary Founder's Committee.{{cite web|url=http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/mainHTML.cfm?page%3Dstorfer.html|title=Archived copy|access-date=October 13, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713104437/http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/mainHTML.cfm?page=storfer.html|archive-date=July 13, 2011}} 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.Pt. 2 Jazz Angels Jazz Foundation of America's Wendy Oxenhorn on HammondCast KYOURADIO.

Carter appeared as himself in an episode of the HBO series Treme entitled "What Is New Orleans". His authorized biography, Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes ({{ISBN|978-0989982511}}), by Dan Ouellette, was published by ArtistShare in 2008.{{Cite web|last=Schu|first=John|title=Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes by Dan Ouellette|url=https://jazztimes.com/archives/ron-carter-finding-the-right-notes-by-dan-ouellette/|date=September 18, 2020|access-date=2020-07-13|website=JazzTimes|language=en-US}}

= 2010s and later =

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.{{cite web|date=February 17, 2010|title=Ron Carter Receives Recognition from French Government|url=https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/ron_carter_receives_recognition_from_french_government|access-date=July 21, 2017|website=BMI.com}} Carter was elected to the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2012.{{cite web|title=DownBeat Announces 2012 Readers Poll Results|url=http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=news&subsect=news_detail&nid=2027|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121209064712/http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=news&subsect=news_detail&nid=2027|date=October 29, 2012|archive-date=December 9, 2012|access-date=June 4, 2016|website=Downbeat.com}}

In August 2021, Carter was the featured guest in a 47-minute video interview with YouTuber and musician Rick Beato.{{Cite web|title=The Ron Carter Interview|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2vqJ78VA4g|first=Rick |last=Beato | website=YouTube |language=en|date=August 4, 2021|access-date=2021-10-14}}{{Cite web|date=2021-09-11|title=Ron Carter with Rick Beato|url=https://jazzonthetube.com/video/ron-carter-with-rick-beato/|access-date=2021-10-14|website=Jazz on the Tube|language=en-US}} 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.{{cite web |title=Conferment of Decorations for 2021 Autumn |url=https://www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/decorations/2021/2/index.html?id=eng |website=Consulate General of Japan in New York |access-date=16 December 2021 |language=ja}} In April 2022 Carter sat in with Bob Weir at Radio City Music Hall.{{Cite web |last=Chiu |first=David |title=Bob Weir And Wolf Bros Deliver An 'Ace' Performance At NYC's Radio City Music Hall |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidchiu/2022/04/04/bob-weir-delivers-an-ace-performance-at-nycs-radio-city-music-hall/ |date=April 4, 2022|access-date=2022-04-14 |website=Forbes |language=en}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Ron Carter: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert | website=YouTube | date=May 4, 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ix2DCAzDp0 |language=en |access-date=2022-05-05}}

Carter continues to record as a sideman, most recently appearing on Daniele Cordisco's 2023 album "Bitter Head."{{Cite web |access-date=2024-03-30 |title=Daniele Cordisco, Ron Carter – Bitter Head |website=Discogs |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/26367248-Daniele-Cordisco-Ron-Carter-Bitter-Head}} In August 2024 he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame{{cite news |last=Stuart |first=Shauna |date=2024-08-07 |title=Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Reopens in Birmingham; Iconic Bassist Ron Carter Inducted |url=https://www.birminghamtimes.com/2024/08/alabama-jazz-hall-of-fame-reopens-iconic-bassist-ron-carter-inducted/ |work=The Birmingham Times |location=Birmingham, Alabama |access-date=2024-07-09}}

File:Ron Carter DSC0352b.jpg's CareFusion Jazz Festival 2009, Newport, Rhode Island]]

Documentary films

Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes is a documentary film about Carter's career,{{cite web|url=https://www.thirteen.org/programs/ron-carter-finding-the-right-notes/ron-carter-finding-the-right-notes-p8s8vx/|title=Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes|website=Thhirteen}} produced and directed by Peter Schnall.{{Cite web |last=Patterson |first=Demetrius |date=2022-10-22 |title=Jazz Legend Ron Carter Reflects on His Relentless Musical Quest in Docu 'Finding the Right Notes' |url=https://variety.com/2022/biz/news/ron-carter-documentary-jazz-finding-the-right-notes-1235411719/ |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} It was released in November of 2022 on PBS.

Personal life

Carter was married to Janet Hasbrouck Carter, a champion of African and African-American art; she died in 2000.{{Cite news |date=2000-05-01 |title=Janet Carter, Who Promoted African Art |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/01/arts/janet-carter-who-promoted-african-art.html |access-date=2025-01-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} He had two sons, Ron Carter Jr and Myles Carter who was a painter and graffiti artist. {{cite web | url=https://www.boston.com/culture/entertainment/2015/09/03/myles-carter-takes-street-art-to-the-gallery/ | title=Myles Carter takes street art to the gallery }} Myles’ death, from a stroke, is discussed in the Documentary "Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes."

He describes himself as a science fiction enthusiast.

Discography

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

2003: Ron Carter & Art Farmer: Live at Sweet Basil with Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins{{cite web|url=http://www.view.com/ron_carter_and_art_farmer_live_at_sweet_basil_dvd.aspx |title=Ron Carter DVD | Art Farmer DVD | Cedar Walton DVD | Billy Higgins DVD |website=View.com |access-date=June 4, 2016}}
2002: Herbie Hancock Trio: Hurricane! with Ron Carter and Billy Cobham{{cite web|url=http://www.view.com/herbie_hancock_trio_hurricane_dvd.aspx |title=Herbie Hancock DVD | Herbie Hancock Concert Video |website=View.com |access-date=June 4, 2016}}
2019: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
2022: Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/show/ron-carter-finding-right-notes/ |title=Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes |website=PBS.org |access-date=October 21, 2022}}

References

External links

[https://roncarterjazz.com/ Ron Carter Library Official Website]
[https://ethaniverson.com/interviews/interview-with-ron-carter/ DTM Interview 1]
[https://ethaniverson.com/word-association-with-ron-carter/ DTM Interview 2]
[http://www.stateofmindmusic.com/?entry=428 2006 Interview with Ron Carter]
{{YouTube|YhdZ86Sz7WM|Ron Carter Video interview at underyourskin}}
[https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/ron-carter Ron Carter Interview — NAMM Oral History Library (2005)]
{{YouTube|k2vqJ78VA4g|Ron Carter: Insights and Revelations from a Bass Icon; Video interview by Rick Beato}}

Category:1937 births

Category:20th-century American guitarists

Category:21st-century American double-bassists

Category:African-American guitarists

Category:African-American jazz musicians

Category:American jazz bass guitarists

Category:American jazz cellists

Category:American jazz double-bassists

Category:American male bass guitarists

Category:American male jazz musicians

Category:Blue Note Records artists

Category:Cass Technical High School alumni