We were deeply saddened to hear about the passing of the great Sam Rivers. That last name is as right as rain - his talents were so varied, multifarious, they were like streams that fed into the greater ocean of jazz. Best known as great saxophonist equally adept at the tenor and soprano, he was also a remarkable flutist and pianist, who quietly put his stamp on both instruments. As anyone who has seen Rivers live can attest, he was an astonishing improviser who could instantly summon pieces that were both dramatic and affecting, wrought in [...]
A one of a kind concert at The Hollywood Palladium from 1971
Ron Carter's Great Big Band is one of those mixed bags that ends up being a full blessing. Ron Carter is not usually known for this sort of thing. When the bassist began hitting his stride in the '60s, his reputation had more to do with small combos than big bands. Being a part of Miles Davis' quintet and leading his own ensemble was more conducive to the post-bop trend leading up to the summer of love. But Carter's involvement with a big band shouldn't surprise anybody. Ron Carter's Great Big Band starts...
Excellent live performances by the second great Miles Davis Quintet.
This 1961 set has appeared under Eric Dolphy's name, but it is, in fact, bassist Ron Carter's date -- his first as a leader. Carter and Dolphy had played together in Chico Hamilton's group and on Dolphy's important 1960 date Out There. Where? has elements in common with both, but is closer to Hamilton's late-'50s chamber jazz than to the more outward-bound Dolphy date. As on the Dolphy session,
I was standing in line at the North American Music Makers (NAMM) Convention to get George Benson's signature on a pickguard. There were dozens of people in front of me and hundreds behind me. As we waited people in the queue reminisced about Benson. Many fans appeared to be about my age and had stories about how they "discovered" him back in 1976 when his hit crossover album "Breezin'" was released. Some also recalled his hit single "On Broadway" from 1978 - a cover of a 1963 hit by The Drifters. Others recalled his 1969 [...]
Ron Carter It's coming down to the wire, but for those of you still looking for that last grand-daddy of gifts for that special music loving someone in your life, here's a suggestion: CTI Records: The Cool Revolution . I've been talking about CTI records for a few months now (back here and here ) and there recent explosion of re-issues and other goodies, and this 4 disc set is the the ultimate topper of them all. Containing thirty nine songs [...]
VELORIO (MOURNING) GUIZOS (BELLS) Hermeto Pascoal Hermeto Buddha/Cobblestone : 1972 HP, arranger, keyboards, flute; Ernie Royal, Gene Young, Joe Newman, Melvin Davis, Thad Jones, trumpets; Garnet Brown, Jack Jeffers, Richard Hixson, Wayne Andre, trombones; Don Butterfield, tuba; Ron Carter, bass; Airto Moreira, drums, percussion. Vocals (Velorio): Flora Purim and Airto. Vocals (Guizos): Googie. Strings: Alfred Brown, Gayle Dixon, Gene Orloff, George Ricci, Gerald Tarack, Joseph Malignaggi, Julian Barber, Kermit Moore, Matthew Raimondi, Max Pollikoff, Paul Gershman, Sanford Allen, Selwart Clarke, Winston [...]
I've been a tad bit under the weather this week, which makes blogging and just thinking a tough gig. Since listening to music is a key component to this thing, I guess I ain't been on my deen this week. Mainly, I've been relegated to editing & doing a lot of emails. My music listening? Well, when I'm in this space, I always revert to jazz. Always. It's my life preserver, keeping me balanced and motivated. Coincidentally, there's usually a 87% chance that the album I'll lean on the hardest (bar no genre) will always be Kind [...]
IN MEMORY OF TANJAH JAMAICA EAST Randy Weston Tanjah Polydor : 1973 RW, piano, Fender Rhodes organ; Ernie Royal, trumpet, flugelhorn; Ray Copeland, trumpet, flugelhorn; Jon Faddis, trumpet, flugelhorn; Al Grey, trombone; Jack Jeffers, trombone; Julius Watkins, french horn; Norris Turney, alto sax, picolo; Budd Johnson, tenor and soprano sax, clarinet; Billy Harper, tenor sax, flute; Danny Bank, baritone sax, baritone clarinet, flute; Taiwo Yusve Divall, alto sax, ashiko drums; Ahmed-Abdul [...]
Bill Frisell : Electric guitar Ron Carter : Acoustic bass Paul Motion : Drums This amazing trio released a fantastic CD a little while ago which I played endlessly and thanks to the wonderful Spencer Murphy we now have the chance to hear them doing it all live. Quite unlike many of the other posts on this blog that feature Bill Frisell, it shows just how masterful his playing is these days. 02-frisell-carter-motian-at-bi rdland-1-7-2nd-set [...]
Herbie Hancock : Acoustic piano Ron Carter : Acoustic bass Tony Willams : Drums Wynton Marsalis : Trumpet Branford Marsalis : Tenor and soprano saxophones Couldn't believe just how good this sounded when I first heard it. There's a DVD bouncing around of this and some of it's up on 'youtube' so most of you will already have heard this amazing stuff but this is some wonderful playing and a [...]
Ron Carter : Acoustic bass Russell Malone : Electric guitar Mulgrew Miller : Acoustic piano This show by this elegant and highly inventive trio is a gift from our new pal Kevin to whom we say a huge "thank you". Ron Carter is on pretty much every record I really loved as a kid and it's wonderful to hear that age has not been able to diminish his gifts. This is a great line up that [...]
Herbie Hancock : Acoustic piano Wayne Shorter : Tenor and soprano saxophones Ron Carter : Acoustic bass Jack DeJohnette : Drums This is a very decent, clear audience recording of this amazing line up. Possibly a Miles tribute of some kind as there are lots of tunes associated with the great man and all four of these incredible guys put in plenty of time with him. Whatever the occasion of this tour it's wonderful to have this for those of use who didn't get the chance to be there in person. [...]
1961 Dick and Dee Dee, The Mountain's High. Ernie K-Doe, A Certain Girl. Roy Hamilton, You Can Have Her. The Texans, Rockin' Johnny Home. Stan Getz, I'm Late, I'm Late. Jacques Brel, Les Biches. Jean Ritchie, Barbara Allen. Patsy Cline, Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue). Ron Carter and George Duvivier, Bass Duet. Frits Weiland, Study In Layers and Pulses. The Outlaws, Tune
GET CARTER! BOMB THE BASS Roy Budd, jazz pianist and film composer: born Mitcham, Surrey, London, 1947-1993. Ron Carter, jazz double-bassist: born Ferndale, Michigan, 1937. Mike Hodges' gangster epic from 1971 has long been one of my favourite genre movies, not least because of its killer soundtrack by veteran British composer, Roy Budd. The score here is brittle and chilling as the [...]
All Blues was first recorded on Miles Davis's (truly) landmark Kind of Blue album. This performance is by Ron Carter on a 1978 album titled Pick 'Em - available on this cd . I ripped the mp3 from vinyl. All Blues mp3 Technorati Tags: all blues miles davis ron carter
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