Ron Carter

E.S.P.

Miles Davis · 1965

Miles Smiles

Miles Davis · 1967

The Second Great Quintet of 1964–68. Each member had independent careers, but together they fundamentally reinvented how jazz treated time.

October 1967, Stockholm. One of the very few proper video documents of the Second Great Quintet. 'Agitation,' 'Footprints,' and ''Round Midnight' bleed into each other, and you can literally see how the four of them collectively own the time.

— Miles Davis Quintet — Stockholm 1967, 1967

Speak No Evil

Wayne Shorter · 1966

Speak No EvilSpeak No EvilWayne Shorter · 1966 (December 1964) is widely cited as Wayne ShorterWayne Shorterウェイン・ショーター's Blue Note masterpiece. Freddie HubbardFreddie Hubbardフレディ・ハバード in the front line, three Second Great Quintet members (Herbie HancockHerbie Hancockハービー・ハンコック, Ron CarterRon Carterロン・カーター), plus Elvin JonesElvin Jonesエルヴィン・ジョーンズ — a dream lineup.

— Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter, Michelle Mercer, 2004

June 24, 1982, Village Vanguard. Freddie HubbardFreddie Hubbardフレディ・ハバード Quartet featuring Ron CarterRon Carterロン・カーター on bass. Freddie HubbardFreddie Hubbardフレディ・ハバード's trumpet carries the tension and lyricism of hard bop at its peak.

— Village Vanguard, 1982

Ron CarterRon Carterロン・カーター holds the Guinness World Record as the most-recorded jazz bassist in history, with over 2,221 recording credits as of 2015. His tenure in Miles DavisMiles Davisマイルス・デイヴィス's second great quintet (1963–68) remains the most celebrated chapter of his career.

— Ron Carter earns world record as the most recorded jazz bassist in history, Guinness World Records, 2016

E.S.P.

Miles Davis · 1965

E.S.P.E.S.P.Miles Davis · 1965 (1965) was the first studio album by Miles DavisMiles Davisマイルス・デイヴィス's Second Great Quintet. Wayne ShorterWayne Shorterウェイン・ショーター emerged as music director, presenting a new compositional vocabulary on "Iris," "ESP," and others.

— So What: The Life of Miles Davis, John Szwed, 2002

Nefertiti

Miles Davis · 1968

On the title track of NefertitiNefertitiMiles Davis · 1968 (1967), the Miles DavisMiles Davisマイルス・デイヴィス/Wayne ShorterWayne Shorterウェイン・ショーター front line repeats a single melody while the rhythm section improvises around them — an inverted approach that was avant-garde for its time.

— Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter, Michelle Mercer, 2004

Empyrean Isles

Herbie Hancock · 1964

Empyrean IslesEmpyrean IslesHerbie Hancock · 1964 (1964) was Herbie HancockHerbie Hancockハービー・ハンコック's fourth Blue Note album, made at 25. Its "Cantaloupe Island" later became the basis for US3's sampling hit, spreading the tune well beyond the jazz canon.

— Blue Note Records: The Biography, Richard Cook, 2003

Russell MaloneRussell Maloneラッセル・マローン was a founding member of Ron CarterRon Carterロン・カーター's Golden Striker Trio, modernizing the Oscar Peterson trio format alongside Mulgrew MillerMulgrew Millerマルグリュー・ミラー's piano. His comping is known for answering Carter's bass lines as dialogue rather than accompaniment.

— The Golden Striker (Ron Carter album), Wikipedia, 2003

Deciphering the Message

Makaya McCraven · 2021

Contours

Sam Rivers · 1967

Speak No Evil

Wayne Shorter · 1966

Straight Life

Freddie Hubbard · 1970

The bass intro that defines Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay (1970) wasn't Hubbard's — bassist Ron Carter invented it on the spot because Freddie never brought the part. "Luckily, the right note hit at the right time," Carter said. The hook that became the song's signature was an improvisation forced by a missing chart.

— Statement stmt-ron-carter-on-freddie-hubbard

Deciphering the Message

Makaya McCraven · 2021

Contours

Sam Rivers · 1967

Speak No Evil

Wayne Shorter · 1966

Straight Life

Freddie Hubbard · 1970

Through the CTI years, beneath Freddie Hubbard's glittering trumpet it was Ron Carter's bass holding the floor — 1970's Straight Life among them. Hubbard's last relayed message was that he was sorry he never got to tell people how many times Ron saved his ass in the studio. The star naming the sideman as his lifeline.

— Statement stmt-ron-carter-on-freddie-hubbard-2

Deciphering the Message

Makaya McCraven · 2021

In the Beginning

Woody Shaw · 1965

Ron Carter is remembered as the bass of Miles Davis's classic quintet. But shortly before he took that chair, he recalls, he filled in for one night at the Half Note when Paul Chambers fell ill — the man about to inherit the seat quietly covering the one leaving it.

— Statement stmt-ron-carter-on-paul-chambers

Deciphering the Message

Makaya McCraven · 2021

Live-Evil

Miles Davis · 1971

In the Beginning

Woody Shaw · 1965

E.S.P.

Miles Davis · 1965

Ron Carter — now the most-recorded bassist in jazz — was an Eastman student with a 1950 Ford. After a Rochester gig, Miles Davis, Red Garland and Paul Chambers had no ride to the station, so he packed them into the car and drove them there. The future master was just the kid with wheels.

— Statement stmt-ron-carter-on-paul-chambers-2

Black Is The Color

Joe Henderson · 1972

Blues Farm

Ron Carter · 1973

In the Beginning

Woody Shaw · 1965

Mode for Joe

Joe Henderson · 1966

Joe Henderson is remembered as a master tenor and composer. Yet bassist Ron Carter says he never once turned up with enough material — always two songs, ten minutes short — and would ask the band to compose on the spot: 'We're making an LP here, come on, Joe.'

— Statement stmt-ron-carter-on-joe-henderson

Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis · 1982

Life Time

Tony Williams · 1964

E.S.P.

Miles Davis · 1965

Miles Smiles

Miles Davis · 1967

In 1963, Miles Davis hired 17-year-old Tony Williams as the drummer for his new quintet. Bassist Ron Carter later recalled that Williams opened up a rhythmic vocabulary on drums that nobody had thought possible.

— Statement stmt-ron-carter-on-tony-williams

Wayne was a very quiet person, but he wrote great lines and had a great sense of harmonic direction. And Herbie was starting to explore not so much new chord voicings, but places to play these new sounds.

Recalling his bandmates during his 1960s tenure in the Miles Davis Quintet.

NPR Fresh Air

Jazz Bassist Ron Carter

2003-08-22

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And Tony, who was at the time 17, was just opening the drums to sets of rhythms that no one had contemplated were being possible to be done on the drums.

On Tony Williams as a 17-year-old in the Miles Davis Quintet.

NPR Fresh Air

Jazz Bassist Ron Carter

2003-08-22

↗

God gave Miles the title of Head Clinician at this laboratory.

Describing the Miles Davis Quintet as a laboratory and Davis's role in it.

Yeah, well, you know, that only got there because Freddie didn't bring the part in, I came up with the intro to it and we got lucky and struck the right note at the right time.

On how he came up with the bass intro to Freddie Hubbard's "Red Clay".

Bass Musician Magazine

A Conversation With Mr. Ron Carter: July 2021 Issue

2021-07-01

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One of the last things Freddie communicated to this person, before the book came out, was that he was sorry we didn't get together because he could tell him how many times I saved his ass on the dates he was doing.

Asked about his role on CTI-era sessions, Carter relays a message the late Hubbard sent for his book.

As a matter of fact, I think I may have played one night for Paul at the Half Note when he was sick.

Recalling the period when Miles Davis's rhythm section was leaving, just before Carter himself joined the band.

During the course of the evening conversation after the concert, Miles and Red Garland and Paul had no way to get to the train station from the concert. I had a 1950 Ford, and so I piled them in my car and took them to the train station.

As a senior at Eastman, Carter drove the Miles Davis band to the train station after a concert in Rochester.

Joe, he never had enough music. And he was always two tunes short, ten minutes, and this is an LP, man, come on Joe.

Recalling that Henderson routinely arrived at recording sessions short of material.

He didn't talk a whole lot so it's difficult to read him in terms of his emotion for the moment. He played great.

On Henderson's reticent personality and his playing.