Bassist and educator Ronald Levin Carter was born on May 4, 1937, in Ferndale, Michigan,

Carter first played cello and began playing bass when his high school band’s bassist, Paul Chambers, left for New York.

From 1963-68, he rose to prominence in Miles Davis’ “second great quintet” with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams.

Carter has played with, well, everybody.

He appears on over 2,000 albums, the most recorded bassist in history.

Also a dedicated educator, Carter served on the faculty of The City College of New York’s music department for 20 years.

After acquiring bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music bassist from Carter began with his career as a jazz musician performing with Jaki Byard and Chico Hamilton in the early ’60s.

He found fame after joining Miles Davis’ Quintet in 1963 appearing on the album “Seven Steps to Heaven” and remaining with the group until 1968 when he was replaced by Dave Holland.

Preferring acoustic bass to electric, Carter would become a session musician for Blue Note appearing on the recordings of a diverse array of artists and producing his own releases a leader.

Ron Carter was a faculty member of The City College of New York’s music department for twenty years and received an honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in Spring 2005.

In 2008 he began teaching bass at New York’s prestigious Juilliard School.

The album is called Skline and it was recorded at the Power Station in New York.

I’m sure you know their names, but do you know their stories?

Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

To focus one just one…

Ron Carter is one of the most recorded artists in history with 2,200 albums to his credit. You’d need a phone book (the big old school kind) just to list them all.

You could trace the history – and many of the highlights – of modern jazz by simply following his career.

In 2014, France had the good sense to give him the title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, France’s premier cultural award.

Musician extraordinaire…one of the most recorded artists in the history of recording…a member of so many iconic bands it would take pages to list them all…

…And an educator with a brand new masterwork that will resonate across the ages.

I’m not kidding.

For musicians, this is MUST be listening.

For people who love the music even if they don’t know a flatted fifth from a fifth of vodka, this interview will take you deeper into the REALITY of jazz as it’s performed at a high level than anything else I can think of.