Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

CARTER, Ron

(b 4 May '37, Ferndale MI) Bass, cello, other instruments; leader, composer. Started on cello age ten; took up bass in Detroit high school; led own groups in Rochester while studying at Eastman; played and recorded in school orch. under Howard Hanson; joined Chico Hamilton '59. Auspicious LPs '60--61 incl. Eric Dolphy album Out There with George Duvivier and Roy Haynes; own LP Where? with Dolphy and Mal Waldron; Waldron set The Quest, all on Prestige, all later reissued under Dolphy's name. Carter played bass on Where?, cello on all three; on The Quest, his entry on Waldron's 'Warm Canto' (plucked counterpoint to Joe Benjamin's bass) and bowed melody lines on other tunes announced a major new voice: time, tone and taste are unique, and his mastery of the instruments allowed him to record the Bach suites for unaccompanied cello on the bass (Ron Carter Meets Bach '92 on Blue Note). Infl. by Paul Chambers, Carter followed him into the Miles Davis band '63--8, many tours and LPs as part of legendary Davis rhythm section with Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock; other tours and LPs (incl. hit Hancock set Maiden Voyage '65); concert tour packages with CTI label stars '70--73 (own CTI LPs '73--6: All Blues, Blues Farm, Spanish Blue, Yellow And Green); played piccolo bass in own quartet from '75. Said his aim was 'to reinvestigate acoustic sounds' giving 'a viable listening option' at a time when electronic sounds threatened takeover: he was a profound infl. on younger generation while still young himself. Wide-ranging work as composer/arranger means that any LP with Carter's name on it is worth investigating: as sideman with Grover Washington, Roberta Flack, Michel Legrand, Horace Silver, Milt Jackson, Jaki Byard (With Strings '68), Chet Baker (Once Upon A Summertime '77), Wynton Marsalis (Hot House Flowers), many others. Own LPs on Milestone (some now on Fantasy) incl. Pastels '76; Piccolo, Third Plane (trio with Hancock and Williams) and Peg Leg all '77; A Song For You and Pick 'Em '78; Parade and New York Slick '79; Patr o and Parfait '80; Super Strings '81 has sextet incl. Jack DeJohnette plus big string orchestra; Heart And Soul is a duo with Cedar Walton on Timeless; Carnaval on Galaxy has Williams, Hank Jones, Sadao Watanabe on alto sax; Etudes '82 on Elektra (now on Discovery) has Williams, Art Farmer, Bill Evans, reeds; Live At Village West '82 and live Telephone '85 on Concord are duos with Jim Hall. Panamanhattan '90 on Evidence with Richard Galliano was recorded in France; on Blue Note Jazz, My Romance is a trio with Herb Ellis and Friends '93--4 a quintet, both featuring Kenny Barron; Mr Bow Tie '95 is a sextet; Brandenburg Concerto '95 is a trio with orchestra, beautiful sound on treatments of classical pieces as well as Carter's tango 'Vientos del Desierto'; The Bass And I '97 is a trio with augmented percussion.