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Ron Carter: Dear Miles,
by Chris M. Slawecki
Even considering Ron Carter, the bassist who rode through many mercurial musical styles, albums, and personas with Davis through the 1960s and '70s, with admitted skepticism, the question is asked: What kind of message to the late, great Miles Davis could Dear Miles be without a trumpet or other horn player in the ensemble?It features all the glorious power and articulation of Carter's legendary upright bass as he leads drummer Payton Crossley, percussionist Roger Squitero ...
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by Jim Santella
With his tribute album to Miles Davis, bassist Ron Carter waxes nostalgic about the five years that he spent with the trumpeter's straight-ahead quintet, and about the worldwide mentoring that Davis provided for years afterward. Carter, who just turned seventy, remains one of the most recorded jazz bassists in history. From his start with Eric Dolphy and Chico Hamilton in 1959 through his stints with Davis, his tours as leader of his own bands and the numerous encounters that he's ...
Continue ReadingJoe Henderson: Power To the People
by David Rickert
The late sixties were an exciting time for jazz, although not a lucrative one. Faced with a declining market share due to the popularity of rock music, jazz musicians were forced to find an audience by pursuing new avenues in composition and instrumentation. Joe Henderson, a much beloved player for the Blue Note label was dropped in the late sixties. Orrin Keepnews, who certainly could recognize great talent when he saw it, signed him to his newly ...
Continue ReadingRon Carter: Dear Miles
by John Barron
There certainly hasn't been a shortage of artists recording tributes to Miles Davis since the trumpeter's death in 1991. The list includes contributions as diverse as Benny Golson's I Remember Miles (Milestone, 1992), Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith's Yo Miles! (Shanachie, 1998) and Cassandra Wilson's Traveling Miles (Blue Note, 1999). Almost forty years since parting ways with the iconic jazz legend, heavyweight bassist Ron Carter has decided to throw his name in the hat with Dear Miles, a swinging ...
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by J Hunter
The fact that the late iconic trumpeter Miles Davis still generates controversy is a real indicator of his earth-shaking impact on the genre. What's your favorite Miles debate: Acoustic Miles, or Electric Miles? Kind of Blue (Legacy, 1959), or Bitches Brew Legacy, 1969)? Bill Evans, or Bill Evans? Tutu: An affront to all that's good and true, or just a really bad career move?As one-fifth of the “second great Miles Davis Quintet, bassist Ron Carter had a ringside ...
Continue ReadingIthamara Koorax: Brazilian Butterfly
by Chris M. Slawecki
Except for two ballads--the cosmopolitan “Carinhoso with her Brazilian jazz fusion compatriots Azymuth, and Herbie Hancock's title track--Ithamara Koorax's ninth album is her most adventurous release. It seems constructed to honor legendary Brazilian vocalist Flora Purim and her husband/bandleader/percussionist Airto. This Brazilian Butterfly soars and flutters while multiple percussionists (often as many as four on the same song, most often led by the late and legendary Dom Um Romão, with Koorax frequently flailing away among them) knit together, pull apart, ...
Continue ReadingRon Carter
by Brian P. Lonergan
To create one of the most storied careers in jazz, a good recipe might be equal parts innate talent, hard work and the karma of being as stand-up a person as the bass you play. Ron Carter's gigging and recording career spans half a century and 100s of albums, including having anchored one of the most esteemed rhythm sections in jazz history; his name is practically synonymous with his instrument. Some might consider that having reached the ...
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