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Ron Carter

85-year-old bassist Ron Carter has no plans on slowing down

Critics say Ron Carter left a big footprint in music, especially for bassists. Didier Baverel/Getty Images hide caption

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Didier Baverel/Getty Images

Music News

85-year-old bassist Ron Carter has no plans on slowing down

The roster of musicians Carter has worked with ranges from Ornette Coleman to Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack and A Tribe Called Quest.

85-year-old bassist Ron Carter has no plans on slowing down

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Toast Of The Nation 2019

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band performs at Blue Note Hawaii on Oct. 11, 2016. Hawaii In Real Life/Hawaii In Real Life hide caption

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Hawaii In Real Life/Hawaii In Real Life

Toast Of The Nation

Toast Of The Nation 2019

WBGO

Celebrate the New Year from Blue Note venues around the world, with performances by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau, Fred Hersch, Ron Carter, Buika and Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau

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Songs We Love: Miles Davis Quintet, 'Gingerbread Boy' (Live At Newport)

Miles Davis poses at the side of stage during the Newport Jazz Festival. David Redfern/Redferns hide caption

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David Redfern/Redferns

Songs We Love

Songs We Love: Miles Davis Quintet, 'Gingerbread Boy' (Live At Newport)

Hear a newly unearthed recording of the Miles Davis Quintet from the 1967 Newport Jazz Festival.

08Gingerbread Boy

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    Song
    Gingerbread Boy
    Album
    Miles Davis At Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4
    Artist
    Miles Davis
    Label
    Columbia/Legacy
    Released
    2015

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Jim Hall: Guitar As Miniature Orchestra

Jim Hall performs at the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival. Adam Kissick for NPR hide caption

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Adam Kissick for NPR

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Jim Hall: Guitar As Miniature Orchestra

Hall is in a league of players who've turned the tables for jazz and their respective instruments. As far as modernizing the sound and vocabulary of jazz guitar to the degree he did, longtime admirer and fellow guitarist Rez Abbasi says Hall is unmatched. Abbasi picks five songs, each of which reveals Hall's idiosyncratic technique.

Ron Carter On Piano Jazz

Ron Carter plays Miles Davis' iconic "So What" at a tempo somewhere between the Kind of Blue original and the breakneck pace set by the 1960s quintet. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Studio Sessions

Ron Carter On Piano Jazz

Ron Carter has set the standard for modern jazz bass players. He rose to fame with Miles Davis, but went on to play with Stan Getz and Thelonious Monk. His recording work spans 2,000 albums, and he's had equally successful careers as a bandleader, composer and educator. Hear the bassist in a session on Piano Jazz.

Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Wayne Shorter: 'Speak No Evil'

In 1964, Miles Davis recruited saxophonist Wayne Shorter from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. This album captures the duo during this important time. Shorter went on to become Davis' most prolific composer, writing classics such as "Prince of Darkness" and "Nefertiti."

Wayne Shorter: 'Speak No Evil'

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Herbie Hancock: 'Maiden Voyage'

In 1965, Herbie Hancock recorded an album intended to capture the spirit and mood of the ocean — Maiden Voyage. Two of the album's tracks —"Dolphin Dance" and the title song — became jazz standards.

Herbie Hancock: 'Maiden Voyage'

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Miles Davis: 'Nefertiti'

Nefertiti captures one of Miles Davis' last great bands at its height. Along with Miles on trumpet, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams are heard on this album.

Miles Davis: 'Nefertiti'

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Music Interviews

Jazz Bassist Ron Carter

Fresh Air

Jazz bassist Ron Carter has more than two thousand recordings to his credit. From 1963-1968 he was part of the Miles Davis Quintet with Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, and Wayne Shorter. Over the years he's played with Randy Weston, Herbie Mann, Betty Carter, Eric Dolphy, Sony Rollins, McCoy Tyner and others. Carter's new CD is The Golden Striker, from Blue Note Records. The interview originally aired Oct. 15, 2002.

Jazz Bassist Ron Carter

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