Early life

Carter was born in Ferndale, Michigan. He started to play cello at the age of 10, but when his family moved to Detroit, he ran into difficulties performing on cello due the racial stereotyping of classical musicians, the vast majority of whom were caucasian at that time. Carter switched to playing double bass. He attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit, and, later, the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he played in its Philharmonic Orchestra. He finished his bachelor's degree at Eastman in 1959, and in 1961 a master's degree in double bass performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

His first jobs as a jazz musician were playing bass with Jaki Byard and Chico Hamilton. His first records were made with Eric Dolphy (another former member of Hamilton's group) and Don Ellis, in 1960. His own first date as leader, Where?, with Eric Dolphy, Charlie Persip, Mal Waldron, George Duvivier, and a date also with Dolphy called Out There with George Duvivier and Roy Haynes and Carter on cello; its advanced harmonies and concepts were in step with the third stream movement.

Career

1960s-1980s

Carter came to fame via the second great Miles Davis Quintet in the early 1960s, which also included Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and drummer Tony Williams. Carter joined Davis's group in 1963, appearing on the album Seven Steps to Heaven and the follow-up E.S.P., the latter being the first album to feature only the full quintet. It also featured three of Carter's compositions (the only time he contributed compositions to Davis's group). He stayed with Davis until 1968 (when he was replaced by Dave Holland), and participated in a couple of studio sessions with Davis in 1969 and 1970. Although he played electric bass occasionally during this era of early jazz-rock fusion, he has subsequently stopped playing that instrument, and in the 2000s plays only double bass.

Carter also performed on some of Hancock, Williams and Shorter's recordings during the sixties for Blue Note Records. He was a sideman on many Blue Note recordings of the era, playing with Sam Rivers, Freddie Hubbard, Duke Pearson, Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hill, Horace Silver and many others.

After leaving Davis, Carter was for several years a mainstay of CTI Records, making albums under his own name and also appearing on many of the label's records with a diverse range of other musicians. Notable musical partnerships in the 1970s and 1980s included Joe Henderson, Houston Person, Hank Jones and Cedar Walton. During the 1970s he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet. In 1986, Carter played double bass on "Big Man on Mulberry Street" on Billy Joel's album "The Bridge".

1990s-2000s

In 1993, he won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Group and another Grammy in 1998 for "an instrumental composition for the film" Round Midnight. He appears on the alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest's influential album The Low End Theory on a track called "Verses from the Abstract". He also appears as a member of the jazz combo the Classical Jazz Quartet. In 1994, Carter appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by TIME. In 2001, Carter collaborated with Black Star and John Patton to record "Money Jungle" for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington.

Carter is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Music Department of The City College of New York, having taught there for twenty years, and received an honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in Spring 2005. He joined the faculty of the Juilliard School in New York City in 2008, teaching bass in the school's Jazz Studies program. Carter made an appearance in Robert Altman's 1996 film, Kansas City. The end credits feature him and fellow bassist Christian McBride duetting on "Solitude".

Carter sits on the Advisory Committee of the Board of Directors of The Jazz Foundation of America and on the Honorary Founder's Committee. Carter has worked with the Jazz Foundation since its inception to save the homes and the lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians including musicians that survived Hurricane Katrina.

Carter appeared as himself in an episode of the HBO series Treme entitled "What Is New Orleans." Carter's authorized biography, Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes, by Dan Ouellette, was published by ArtistShare in 2008. In 2013, Carter was one of four judges at Jazz at Lincoln Center's 18th Annual Essentially Ellington competition and festival.

Discography

As leader

• 1961: Where? (New Jazz)
• 1969: Uptown Conversation (Embryo)
• 1972: Alone Together (Milestone) with Jim Hall
• 1973: Blues Farm (CTI)
• 1973: All Blues (CTI)
• 1974: Spanish Blue (CTI)
• 1975: Anything Goes (Kudu)
• 1975; Blues Base (CTI)
• 1976: Yellow & Green (CTI)
• 1976: Pastels (Milestone)
• 1977: Piccolo (Milestone)
• 1977: Third Plane (Milestone)
• 1978: Peg Leg (Milestone)
• 1978: A Song for You (Milestone)
• 1978: 1+3 (JVC) trio live with Hank Jones or Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams
• 1978: Pick 'Em (Milestone)
• 1979: Parade (Milestone)
• 1980: New York Slick (Milestone)
• 1980: Patrao (Milestone)
• 1980: Parfait (Milestone)
• 1980: Empire Jazz (RSO)
• 1981: Super Strings (Milestone)
• 1981: Heart & Soul (Timeless) with Cedar Walton
• 1982: Etudes (Elektra Musician)
• 1982: Live at Village West (Concord Jazz) with Jim Hall
• 1984: Telephone (Concord Jazz) with Jim Hall
• 1985: Ron Carter Plays Bach (Phillips)
• 1986: The Puzzle (SMS)
• 1987: Very Well (Deep Moat)
• 1988: All Alone (EmArcy)
• 1990: Eight Plus (Victor)
• 1990: Panamanhattan (Dreyfuss Jazz) with Richard Galliano
• 1991: Meets Bach (Blue Note)
• 1992: Friends (Blue Note)
• 1994: Jazz, My Romance (Blue Note)
• 1995: Mr. Bow Tie (Blue Note)
• 1995: Brandenburg Concerto (Blue Note)
• 1997: The Bass and I
• 1998: So What (Blue Note), trio with Kenny Barron and Lewis Nash
• 1999: Orfeu (Blue Note)
• 2001: When Skies Are Grey (Blue Note)
• 2002: Stardust (Blue Note)
• 2003: The Golden Striker (Blue Note)
• 2003: Eight Plus
• 2003: Ron Carter Plays Bach(Blue Note)
• 2006: Live at The Village Vanguard
• 2007: Dear Miles
• 2008: Jazz and Bossa
• 2011: Ron Carter's Great Big Band (Sunnyside Records)

As sideman

With Pepper Adams

• Mean What You Say (Milestone, 1966) with Thad Jones
• Encounter! (Prestige, 1968)

With Toshiko Akiyoshi

• Toshiko at Top of the Gate (1968)

With Geri Allen

• Twenty One (Blue Note, 1994)
• Timeless Portraits and Dreams (Telarc, 2006)

With Gene Ammons

• The Black Cat! (Prestige, 1970)
• My Way (Prestige, 1971)
• Got My Own (Prestige, 1972)
• Big Bad Jug (Prestige, 1972)

With Roy Ayers

• Stoned Soul Picnic (Atlantic, 1968)
• Daddy Bug (Atlantic, 1969)

With Chet Baker

• You Can't Go Home Again (Horizon, 1977)

With Gato Barbieri

• Fenix (Flying Dutchman, 1971)
• Chapter Three: Viva Emiliano Zapata (Impulse!, 1974)
• Yesterdays (Flying Dutchman, 1974)
• Chapter Four: Alive in New York (Impulse!, 1975)

With Joey Baron

• Down Home (Intuition, 1997) with Arthur Blythe and Bill Frisell
• We'll Soon Find Out (Intuition, 1999) with Arthur Blythe and Bill Frisell

With Gary Bartz

• Harlem Bush Music (Milestone, 1970-71)

With George Benson

• Giblet Gravy (1968)
• Shape of Things to Come (1969)
• The Other Side of Abbey Road (1970)
• Beyond the Blue Horizon (1971)
• White Rabbit (1972)
• Body Talk (1973)
• Bad Benson (1974)
• Big Boss Band (1990)

With Bob Brookmeyer

• Bob Brookmeyer and Friends (Columbia, 1962)

With Ray Bryant

• MCMLXX (Atlantic, 1970)

With Kenny Burrell

• Guitar Forms (Verve, 1964)
• A Generation Ago Today (Verve, 1967)
• Blues - The Common Ground (Verve, 1968)
• Night Song (Verve, 1969)
• God Bless the Child (CTI, 1971)

With Henry Butler

• The Village (Impulse!, 1987)

With Jaki Byard

• Here's Jaki (New Jazz, 1961)
• Hi-Fly (New Jazz, 1962)
• Out Front! (Prestige, 1964)
• Jaki Byard with Strings! (Prestige, 1968)

With Donald Byrd

• Electric Byrd (Blue Note, 1970)
• Kofi (Blue Note, 1969-70)

With Billy Cobham

• Spectrum (1973)

With Alice Coltrane

• Ptah, The El Daoud (Impulse!, 1970)

With Harry Connick, Jr.

• Harry Connick Jr. (1987)

With Chick Corea

• Inner Space (Atlantic, 1973)

With Hank Crawford

• Mr. Blues Plays Lady Soul (Atlantic, 1969)
• It's a Funky Thing to Do (Cotillion, 1971)
• Help Me Make it Through the Night (Kudu, 1972)
• We Got a Good Thing Going (Kudu, 1972)

With Tadd Dameron

• The Magic Touch (Riverside 1962)

With Miles Davis

• Quiet Nights (Columbia, 1962)
• Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival
• Four & More
• My Funny Valentine
• Live in Milan 1964
• Live at the Plugged Nickel
• Miles Smiles
• ESP
• Miles in the Sky
• Seven Steps to Heaven
• Sorcerer
• Filles de Kilimanjaro
• Water Babies
• Nefertiti

With Eli Degibri

• Israeli Song (2010)

With Paul Desmond

• Summertime (A&M/CTI, 1968)
• From the Hot Afternoon (A&M/CTI, 1969)
• Bridge Over Troubled Water (A&M/CTI, 1970)
• Skylark (CTI, 1973)
• Pure Desmond (CTI, 1975)

With Eric Dolphy

• Out There (Prestige, 1960)
• Far Cry (Prestige, 1960)

With Lou Donaldson

• Lush Life (1967)
• Sophisticated Lou (1973)

With Charles Earland

• Kharma (Prestige, 1974)

With Don Ellis

• How Time Passes (Candid, 1960)
• New Ideas (New Jazz, 1961)

With Art Farmer

• The Many Faces of Art Farmer (Scepter, 1964)

With Roberta Flack

• First Take (1970)
• Quiet Fire (1971)
• Killing Me Softly (1973)

With Bill Frisell

• Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian (Nonesuch, 2006)

With Johnny Frigo

• Live from Studio A in New York City (1988)

With Red Garland

• Crossings (1977)
• Strike Up The Band (1977)
• Red Alert (1977)

With Stan Getz

• Voices (1967)

With Gerry Gibbs

• Thrasher Dream Trio with Kenny Barron (Whaling City Sound Records, 2013)
• We're Back with Kenny Barron (Whaling City Sound Records, 2014)
• Live in Studio with Kenny Barron (Whaling City Sound Records, 2015)

With Astrud Gilberto

• Gilberto with Turrentine with Stanley Turrentine (CTI, 1971)

With Giorgio

• Party Of The Century (2010)

With Benny Golson

• Pop + Jazz = Swing (Audio Fidelity, 1961) - also released as Just Jazz!
• Free (Argo, 1962)

With Johnny Griffin

• White Gardenia (Riverside, 1961)
• The Kerry Dancers (Riverside, 1961-62)

With Jim Hall

• Concierto (CTI, 1975)
• Live at Village West (1984)
• Telephone (1985)

With Chico Hamilton

• The Further Adventures of El Chico (Impulse!, 1966)

With Johnny Hammond

• Wild Horses Rock Steady (Kudu, 1971)
• The Prophet (Kudu, 1972)
• Higher Ground (Kudu, 1973)

With Herbie Hancock

• Empyrean Isles (Blue Note)
• Maiden Voyage (Blue Note)
• Speak Like a Child (Blue Note)
• VSOP (Columbia)
• Quartet (Columbia, 1981)

With Barry Harris

• Magnificent! (Prestige, 1969)

With Eddie Harris

• The In Sound (Atlantic, 1965)
• Mean Greens (Atlantic, 1966)
• The Tender Storm (Atlantic, 1966)
• Plug Me In (Atlantic, 1968)
• Excursions (Atlantic, 1966-73)
• How Can You Live Like That? (Atlantic, 1976)

With Gene Harris

• Gene Harris of the Three Sounds (Blue Note, 1972)

With Coleman Hawkins

• Night Hawk (Swingville, 1960)
• The Hawk Relaxes (Moodsville, 1961)

With Joe Henderson

• Power to the People (Milestone, 1969)
• Black Miracle (Milestone, 1976)
• Mirror Mirror (MPS, 1980)
• The State of the Tenor, Vols. 1 & 2 (Blue Note, 1985)

With Andrew Hill

• Grass Roots (Blue Note, 1968)
• Lift Every Voice (Blue Note, 1969)
• Passing Ships (Blue Note, 1969)

With Johnny Hodges

• 3 Shades of Blue (Flying Dutchman, 1970)

With Freddie Hubbard

• Red Clay (CTI, 1970)
• Straight Life (CTI, 1970)
• First Light (CTI, 1971)

With Bobby Hutcherson

• Components (Blue Note, 1965)

With Jackie and Roy

• Time & Love (CTI, 1972)

With Milt Jackson

• Big Bags (Riverside, 1962)
• Invitation (Riverside, 1962)
• Milt Jackson at the Museum of Modern Art (Limelight, 1965)
• Milt Jackson and the Hip String Quartet (Verve, 1968)
• Sunflower (CTI, 1972)
• Goodbye (CTI, 1973)
• Olinga (CTI, 1974)

With Antonio Carlos Jobim

• Wave (A&M, 1967)
• Stone Flower (CTI, 1970)

With Billy Joel

• Big Man on Mulberry Street on album "The Bridge" (1986)

With Hank Jones

• Hanky Panky (East Wind, 1975)
• I'm Old Fashioned (East Wind, 1976) with Sadao Watanabe and The Great Jazz Trio
• The Great Jazz Trio at the Village Vanguard (East Wind, 1977) as The Great Jazz Trio
• The Great Jazz Trio at the Village Vanguard Vol. 2 (East Wind, 1977) as The Great Jazz Trio
• The Great Jazz Trio at the Village Vanguard Again (East Wind, 1977 ) as The Great Jazz Trio
• Kindness Joy Love & Happiness (East Wind, 1977) as The Great Jazz Trio
• Direct from L.A. (East Wind, 1977) as The Great Jazz Trio
• Milestones (East Wind, 1978) as The Great Jazz Trio
• New Wine in Old Bottles (East Wind, 1978) with Jackie McLean and the Great Jazz Trio

With Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones

• Introducing the Psychedelic Soul Jazz Guitar of Joe Jones (Prestige, 1967)
• Black Whip (Prestige, 1973)

With Quincy Jones

• Gula Matari (CTI, 1970)

With Sam Jones

• Down Home (Riverside, 1962)

With Steve Kuhn and Gary McFarland

• The October Suite (Impulse!, 1966)

With Yusef Lateef

• The Three Faces of Yusef Lateef (Riverside, 1960)

With Hubert Laws

• Laws' Cause (Atlantic, 1968)
• Crying Song (CTI, 1969)
• Afro-Classic (CTI, 1970)
• The Rite of Spring (CTI, 1971)
• Wild Flower (Atlantic, 1972)
• Morning Star (CTI, 1972)
• Carnegie Hall (CTI, 1973)
• In the Beginning (CTI, 1974)
• The Chicago Theme (CTI, 1974)

With Johnny Lytle

• The Soulful Rebel (Milestone, 1971)

With Junior Mance

• Happy Time (Jazzland, 1962)

With Herbie Mann

• Glory of Love (CTI, 1967)
• Concerto Grosso in D Blues (Atlantic, 1969)
• Stone Flute (Embryo, 1969 )

With Arif Mardin

• Journey (Atlantic, 1974)

With Les McCann

• Much Les (Atlantic, 1968)
• Comment (Atlantic, 1970)

With Howard McGhee

• Dusty Blue (Bethlehem, 1960)

With Charles McPherson

• Charles McPherson (Mainstream, 1971)

With Meeco

• Amargo Mel (Connector, 2009)

With Helen Merrill

• Duets (1987)

With Wes Montgomery

• So Much Guitar (1961)
• Tequila
• California Dreaming

With James Moody

• The Blues and Other Colors (Milestone, 1969)

With Airto Moreira

• Free (CTI, 1972)

With Idris Muhammad

• Peace and Rhythm (Prestige, 1971)

With Oliver Nelson

• Sound Pieces (Impulse!, 1966)
• Happenings (Impulse!, 1966)
• Encyclopedia of Jazz (Verve, 1966)
• The Sound of Feeling (Verve, 1966)

With David "Fathead" Newman

• The Many Facets of David Newman (Atlantic, 1969)
• Newmanism (Atlantic, 1974)
• Mr. Gentle Mr. Cool : A Tribute To Duke Ellington (1994, Kokopelli Records)

With the New York Jazz Quartet

• In Concert in Japan (1975)

With Hermeto Pascoal

• Hermeto (1971)
• Slaves Mass (1976)

With Rosa Passos

• Entre Amigos (2003)

With Duke Pearson

• Sweet Honey Bee (Blue Note, 1966)

With Houston Person

• Sweet Buns & Barbeque (Prestige, 1972)

With Austin Peralta

• Maiden Voyage (2006)

With Pony Poindexter

• Pony's Express (Epic, 1962)

With Sam Rivers

• Fuchsia Swing Song (Blue Note, 1964)
• Contours (Blue Note, 1965)

With Shirley Scott

• On a Clear Day (1966)
• Mystical Lady (Cadet, 1971)
• Superstition (Cadet, 1973)

With Gil Scott-Heron

• Pieces of a Man (1972)

With Don Sebesky

• Giant Box (CTI, 1973)
• The Rape of El Morro (CTI, 1975)

With Bud Shank

• This Bud's for You... (Muse, 1984)

With Marlena Shaw

• From the Depths of My Soul (1973)

With Woody Shaw

• In the Beginning (Muse 1965 )
• Blackstone Legacy (Contemporary, 1970)

With Wayne Shorter

• Speak No Evil (Blue Note, 1964)
• The All Seeing Eye (Blue Note, 1965)

With Horace Silver

• Silver 'n Brass (Blue Note, 1975)
• Silver 'n Wood (Blue Note, 1976)
• Silver 'n Voices (Blue Note, 1976)
• Silver 'n Percussion (Blue Note, 1977)
• Silver 'n Strings Play the Music of the Spheres (Blue Note, 1978)
• The Hardbop Grandpop (1996)
• A Prescription for the Blues (1997)

With Paul Simon

• "Run That Body Down" on Paul Simon (Columbia Records, 1972)

With Grace Slick

• Manhole (1973)

With Jimmy Smith

• Off the Top (1982)

With Phoebe Snow

• Second Childhood (1976)

With Sonny Stitt

• Satan (Cadet, 1974)

With Ed Summerlin

• Ring Out Joy (Avant-Garde, 1968)

With Gábor Szabó

• Spellbinder (Impulse!, 1966)
• Mizrab (CTI, 1972)

With Livingston Taylor

• In Harmony (1980)

With Buddy Terry

• Electric Soul! (Prestige, 1967)

With Ed Thigpen

• Out of the Storm (Verve, 1966)

With Bobby Timmons

• In Person (1961)
• Born to Be Blue! (1963)
• The Soul Man! (1966)
• Got to Get It! (1967)

With Charles Tolliver

• Paper Man (Freedom, 1968)

With A Tribe Called Quest

• The Low End Theory (1991)

With Stanley Turrentine

• Let It Go (Impluse!, 1966) with Shirley Scott
• The Man with the Sad Face (Fantasy, 1976)
• Nightwings (Fantasy, 1977)

With McCoy Tyner

• The Real McCoy (Blue Note)
• Expansions (Blue Note)
• Trident (Milestone)
• Counterpoints (Milestone)
• Fly with the Wind (Milestone)
• Supertrios
• Extensions

With Mal Waldron

• The Quest (1961)

With Cedar Walton

• The All American Trio (Baystate, 1984) with Jack DeJohnette
• Roots (Astor Place, 1997)

With Grover Washington Jr.

• Inner City Blues (Kudu, 1971)
• All the King's Horses (Kudu, 1972)
• Soul Box (Kudu, 1973)

With Randy Weston

• Uhuru Afrika (Roulette, 1960)
• Blue Moses (CTI, 1972)
• Tanjah (Polydor, 1973)

With Kai Winding

• The Incredible Kai Winding Trombones (Impulse!, 1960)
• Israel (A&M/CTI, 1968) with J. J. Johnson
• Betwixt & Between (A&M/CTI, 1969) with J. J. Johnson
• Stonebone (A&M/CTI (Japan), 1969) with J. J. Johnson

With Leo Wright

• Suddenly the Blues (Atlantic, 1962)

Filmography

• 2003: Ron Carter & Art Farmer: Live at Sweet Basil with Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins
• 2002: Herbie Hancock Trio: Hurricane! with Ron Carter and Billy Cobham

[ Source: Wikipedia ]