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Live Reviews
Ron Carter at 75: New York, March 27, 2012
Bob Kenselaar
Bob Kenselaar is former Assistant Curator of the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University, and has published articles on music in The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, the Annual Review of Jazz Studies, and The Aquarian Weekly.Ron Carter at 75: A Life in Music
Alice Tully Hall
New York, NY
March 27, 2012
On the night of the Juilliard School's tribute to Ron Carter, electronic billboards lining 65th Street near Lincoln Center flashed bright pictures of the iconic jazz bassist. The event was a lot like the man and his music: there was an atmosphere of elegance and warmth, occasional touches of wry humor, some chamber music colorings mixed on a deep jazz palette, and masterful musical interplay throughout. The concert had been organized as a benefit to establish the Ron Carter Scholarship at Juilliard, where the bassist has been on the faculty since 2008, and featured a star-studded assemblage of Carter's colleagues and collaborators over the course of his career, along with top Juilliard students representing the future of jazz.
Kicking off the evening with the dramatic sight of 12 bassists walking in and lining up across the Alice Tully Hall stage, the group played "Mr. Bow-Tie," a light, bouncing Carter composition. Christian McBride
Christian McBride
b.1972
bass
led the ensemble on his arrangement of the tune, which included a round of four-bar improvisations by each member. Ben Williams
Ben Williams
bass
and Ben Wolfe
Ben Wolfe
bass
, who work alongside Carter on the Juilliard faculty, joined McBride in providing the main melody voice. Other notables in the group included longtime Carter collaborator Buster Williams
Buster Williams
b.1942
bass
and Juilliard student Clovis Nicolas
Clovis Nicolas
bass
, who was announced as the first recipient of the Ron Carter Scholarship later in the program.
Next up was another special treat: a variation on the Ron Carter Nonet, the group that features four cellos and a jazz rhythm section, which the bassist has presented on rare, treasured occasions since the late 1970s. In place of Carter's piccolo bass as the lead voice was flutist Hubert Laws
Hubert Laws
b.1939
flute
, who has had a long association with the bassist, including several recordings together on the CTI label in the 1970s. Laws was joined by bassist Boots Maleson and drummer Lewis Nash
Lewis Nash
b.1958
drums
, both of whom appeared on the Nonet's recording Eight Plus (Dreyfus, 2003). Rounding out the group were Samora Pinderhughes on piano and fellow Juilliard students on cello. The ensemble performed "A Song for You," the ballad by rocker Leon Russell
Leon Russell
b.1942
piano
, and the beautifully delicate Carter original "Little Waltz."
Actor Danny Glover, the M.C. for the event, announced that the next segment of the concert would feature Juilliard students in small ensembles and introduced the members of the first group. Glover coyly left out mention of the pianist in the band, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
b.1940
piano
, who entered the stage to a round of enthusiastic applause nonetheless. Hancock played in two different settings with Juilliard students, both quintets, performing compositions by Carter. The first was "Eighty- One," a tune recorded by the Miles Davis
Miles Davis
1926 - 1991
trumpet
Quintet on E.S.P. (Columbia, 1965) during Carter and Hancock's tenure with the band. The second was "Third Plane," which Carter and Hancock recorded in a trio setting in 1977 with drummer Tony Williams
Tony Williams
1945 - 1997
drums
, another Davis alumnus, on an album of the same title. The tunes were arranged by Juilliard students Joseph McDonough and Alphonse Horne, who also turned in outstanding solos on trombone and trumpet respectively.
Two more small groups featuring Juilliard students followed, each headed by tenor saxophonist Benny Golson
Benny Golson
b.1929
sax, tenor
, whose association with Carter dates back to the bassist's own student days. The two groupings also included bassist Buster Williams and drummer Carl Allen
Carl Allen
b.1961
drums
, artistic director of the Juilliard jazz program. They performed the Carter compositions "First Trip," inspired by the pioneering bebop-era bassist Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford
1922 - 1960
bass
, and "Blues for D.P.," written for pianist Duke Pearson
Duke Pearson
b.1932
piano
, who played together with Carter on a number of his many Blue Note recordings in the 1960s.
With all these inspired interpretations of Carter's music, the audience was primed for an appearance by the bassist himself. Joining him on stage was guitarist Jim Hall
Jim Hall
b.1930
guitar
, and the two embarked on their patented telepathic interplay for two tunes from the extended repertoire they've developed in a duo setting over the years, "Alone Together," and "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads."
Carter remained in the spotlight for another coupling of songs, joined by pianist Mulgrew Miller
Mulgrew Miller
1955 - 2013
piano
and guitarist Russell Malone
Russell Malone
b.1963
guitar, electric
, who together make up The Golden Striker Trio, particularly notable among Carter's threesomes in recent years. Each of the musicians contributed deftly artistic solos on Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
1897 - 1952
arranger
's "Soft Winds" and Oscar Pettiford's waltz, "Laverne Walk," the latter tune featuring Carter's strong melody statement at the beginning and improvised out chorus, which concluded with a flourish of harmonics.
