Jazz Articles about Ron Carter

Antonio Carlos Jobim: Stone Flower

by David Rickert
May 6, 2002

Jobim has been described as the Gershwin of Brazilian music, which is an apt title for a man who contributed so many original songs to the jazz repertoire, adding a few standards along the way. Those who were inspired to follow his work after “The Girl From Ipanema” may have picked up Wave, his most well-known solo record, but may have overlooked Stone Flower, a markedly better effort. The drippy strings on the former record brought out the quiet romanticism ...

The Gotham Jazz Orchestra: Thought Trains

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2002

One assumes instinctively that a big–band album named Thought Trains isn’t likely to include such time–worn staples as “Moten Swing” or “One O’Clock Jump.” That’s definitely true of this one, even though it does receive a “jump start” from Mike Holober’s rhythmically vibrant composition, “Jump Down, Spin Around.” All of the compositions / arrangements are Holober’s, and while they may not awaken memories of the Swing Era they surely do swing, which is among the most meaningful components in any ...

Don Sleet: All Members

by Derek Taylor
March 1, 2002

Jazz, like any commercial art form, is a proving ground populated by far more practitioners than actually make the cut. The analogy of an iceberg is apropos. For every musician whose talent rises above the sea of public opinion’s surface there are literally thousands of others that toil away in obscurity beneath the waves. In the spring of 61’ Don Sleet seemed set to become one of the chosen few situated for stardom. Formidable brass chops sharpened in gigs as ...

Ron Carter and Jim Hall: Telepathy

by C. Michael Bailey
August 1, 2001

Duo music as important as that of Haydn and Mozart.

Telepathy is the union on compact disc of two Ron Carter/Jim Hall live collaborations. Live at the Village Gate (Concord 4245, 1984) comprises the first disc of this two-disc set, while Telephone (Concord 4270, 1985) comprises the second. Collectively, Telepathy offers a seamless look a to of the most urbane and intelligent jazz musicians performing. Ron Carter brings to this duo his abstract yet grounded view of double-bass playing while ...

Ron Carter: Pick 'Em/Super Strings

by Derek Taylor
August 1, 2001

Ron Carter’s place in the preeminent line of master jazz bassists is unassailable. Possessing a gargantuan technique he’s been a prominent bandleader and session man since his start in the late 1950s. Where he’s come under justifiable critical fire over the years is in his at times lamentable choice of projects. The two Milestone dates gathered on this recent two-fer unfortunately add ammunition to the claims.

Pick ‘Em matches Carter’s piccolo bass, a custom upright tuned to just below cello ...

Ron Carter: When Skies Are Grey

by Michael Fortuna
July 1, 2001

The album cover for Ron Carter's When Skies Are Grey shows the jazz bassist contemplatively looking up toward an overcast New York City sky.Perhaps the title is in reference to how Carter felt during the recording sessions because his wife had died the week before. He attended funeral services over that weekend and came to the studio the following Monday morning.But when you listen to the music that came from those sessions, you'll hear the consummate ...

Benny Golson: One Day, Forever

by AAJ Staff
May 1, 2001

Benny Golson’s latest Arkadia release, One Day, Forever, arose from a taping of some of Golson’s previous band members from the Jazztet: Art Farmer and Curtis Fuller. At the end of a European tour, they were so rushed they that they didn’t record long enough to fill an entire CD. Arkadia owner Bob Karcy kept the tape in the can, and he and Golson kept that recording in mind, in the intervening five years, during which Farmer passed. After Golson ...