Ron Carter – Bass

Ron Carter is arguably one of the most recorded bass players in Jazz and has appeared with pretty much every major Jazz artist in the last 60 years or more. he actually went to school with Paul Chambers, the bass player he replaced in the Miles Davis Quintet although the two had little to do with each other at the time as Carter was majoring in cello and didn’t take up the bass until later. I asked him what it was like to follow Chambers in the Davis bass chair and he admitted that he didn’t really consider it from that angle and was just trying to play the gig. A real gentleman of Jazz, I recommend everyone reads the Dan Ouellette biography, ‘Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes’ (2014)

This transcription is Carter’s solo on the tune ‘Beatrice’ that opens the incredibly successful Joe Henderson Trio record, ‘The State Of The Tenor • Live At The Village Vanguard (Volumes 1 & 2)’ recorded in November 1985. The solo is two choruses and features Carter’s normal elastic intonation and slippery pull-offs so bear that in mind when you read the dots.