Carter, Ron

Welcome to Ron Carter's official website.

With more than 2,500 to his credit, Ron Carter may be the world’s most recorded jazz bassist. He is easily among the most respected and original. In his 45 year career, he has performed with a range of artists, from Miles Davis to Eric Dolphy, from Lena Horne to James Brown, and from Bill Evans to A Tribe Called Quest. In addition to performing, composing, and arranging, Carter lectures and teaches. He recently retired (as Distinguished Professor) from heading the Jazz Program at The City College of New York (CUNY) and is on the board of directors of the Harlem Jazz Music Center.

Ron Carter is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz. With more than 2,500 albums to his credit, he has recorded with many of music's greats: Tommy Flanagan, Gil Evans, Lena Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, the Kronos Quartet, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, and Bobby Timmons. In the early 1960s he performed throughout the United States in concert halls and nightclubs with Jaki Byard and Eric Dolphy. He later toured Europe with Cannonball Adderley. From 1963 to 1968, he was a member of the classic and acclaimed Miles Davis Quintet. He was named Outstanding Bassist of the Decade by the Detroit News, Jazz Bassist of the Year by Downbeat magazine, and Most Valuable Player by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In 1993 Ron Carter earned a Grammy award for Best Jazz Instrumental Group, the Miles Davis Tribute Band and another Grammy in 1998 for Call 'Sheet Blues', an instrumental composition from the film 'Round Midnight. In addition to scoring and arranging music for many films, including some projects for Public Broadcasting System, Carter has composed music for A Gathering of Old Men, starring Lou Gosset Jr., The Passion of Beatrice directed by Bertrand Tavernier, and Blind Faith starring Courtney B. Vance. Carter shares his expertise in the series of books he authored, among which are Building Jazz Bass Lines and The Music of Ron Carter; the latter contains 130 of his published and recorded compositions.\r\rCarter earned a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School in Rochester and a master's degree in double bass from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He has also received two honorary doctorates, from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, and was the 2002 recipient of the prestigious Hutchinson Award from the Eastman School at the University of Rochester. Carter has lectured, conducted, and performed at clinics and master classes, instructing jazz ensembles and teaching the business of music at numerous universities. He was Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies while it was located in Boston and, after 18 years on the faculty of the Music Department of The City College of New York, he is now Distinguished Professor Emeritus although, as a performer, he remains as active as ever.

Building Jazz Bass Lines. In this book, bass master Ron Carter illustrates the basic concepts of creating jazz bass lines. He addresses the amateur bassist who wishes to build more complete bass lines as well the professional who wants to construct more interesting lines in songs with static harmonies. Carter explains how to use non-harmonic tones and diverse rhythms, how to play in fast tempos, and how to develop tone and pitch. He also shows how the placement of different rhythms affects the sound and feel of the chord. The book includes a CD play-along with an all-star rhythm section and Mr. Carter playing the examples as written.

The Ron Carter Collection. This is a collection of transcribed bass solos and the corresponding melodies from some of Mr. Carter's best-known recordings. A must-have book for any serious bass student, it contains lead sheets and note-for-note solo transcriptions of 19 of Carter's original compositions, including Blues for D.P., Blues for Two, Bottoms Up, Doom, Eight, Einbahnstrasse, Fill in the Blank Spaces, First Trip, For Toddlers Only, Fragile, Last Resort, Little Waltz, Nearly, New Waltz, No Flowers Please, One-Bass Rag, Tail Feathers, Tear Drop, and Third Plane.

Albums include: THE GOLDEN STRIKER, EIGHT PLUS (NONET), STARDUST, HOLIDAY IN RIO, WHEN SKIES ARE GREY, ORFEU, SO WHAT, THE BASS AND I, BRANDENBURG CONCERTO, MR. BOW-TIE, JAZZ, MY ROMANCE, FRIENDS

For more information about Ron Carter and/or his music please write to:
RETRAC PRODUCTIONS INC.
119 west 72nd street
PMB 218
New York, NY 10023 – USA

For future availability and bookings, please contact:
THE BRIDGE AGENCY
JoAnne Jimenez
35 Clark St. Ste. A5
Brooklyn, NY 11201 – USA
Tel: 718-522-5107
Fax: 718-522-3067