Archive for the ‘Ron Carter’ Category
Miles Davis: Miles in Tokyo (1964 – Label: Sony)
Recorded in ’64, Miles in Tokyo finds the iconic Miles Davis performing with his almost-second great quintet. Tenor saxophonist Sam Rivers, a more accomplished and daring experimentalist than his predecessor, George Coleman, joined the group after a fellow Bostonian, drummer Tony Williams, recommended him to Davis. There are times on this recording when one might understand why Davis and Rivers never meshed, and times when the partnership is quite wonderful, though brief.
On “If I Were a Bell,” for example, after a lucid and melodic statement by Davis, Rivers purposely goes off-center on his solo. He does it with enough force that his motions are neither subtle nor nuanced; they’re noticeable. Yet on the more forlorn and dark “My Funny Valentine,” he shows greater care to stay within the song’s melody, a treatment that resonates well with the rest of the group.
“So What” is taken at a faster pace than the version on the seminal Kind of Blue with, again, Davis and Rivers varying in their melodic approaches. By “Walkin’,” though, it is Davis who alters his style, accepting some restless elements into his approach. He flies fast and furiously through his solo, provoking Williams into some manic beats. Williams, for his part, always sounded best in contexts that were more “out” than “in,” and the inclusion of Rivers on this date certainly allowed him greater, rhythmic latitudes. Herbie Hancock, as well, finds some dissonant and interesting moments on “Walkin’.” The finale, “All of You,” finds Davis muted and lyrical, Rivers wild but compliant, and the rest of the group providing a wonderful groove.
Months after this concert in September of ’64, the definitive version of the second great quintet, with Wayne Shorter on tenor, finally took form. The almost-second great quintet heard on Miles in Tokyo is an aberration, a rare gem, and worth investigating.
All About Jazz (Germein Linares )
2. If I Were A Bell
3. My Funny Valentine
4. So What
6. All of You
7. Go-Go (Theme And Announcement)
Miles Davis (tpt);
Sam Rivers (ts);
Herbie Hancock (p);
Ron Carter (b);
Tony Williams (d)
Recorded live at Kohseinenkin Hall,Tokyo, Japan on July 14, 1964 – Label: SONY
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Sam Rivers – Contours (2004 – Blue Note)
Unlike pianist Andrew Hill, who, late in life, is finally being awarded the accolades he deserves, saxophonist/flautist Sam Rivers never received his proper due and continues to work in relative obscurity. Sure, his name is known amongst those who know, but mention him to casual jazz listeners and most will go “Sam who?” or perhaps, with the recent release of the Miles Davis Seven Steps box, “Oh yeah, the guy who played with Miles for one tour and then got fired.”
And it’s a shame, because along with Hill and others, including another sadly-overlooked artist, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, Rivers was at the forefront of the mid-’60s movement that evolved hard bop towards a more left-leaning avant-garde. And while Rivers recorded fewer albums as a leader for Blue Note than Hill, his contributions are equally significant, just in a different way. While Hill leaned towards complex, convoluted compositions that set the stage for more oblique improvisations, Rivers, while no less cerebral, was a looser spirit, more disposed towards a liberated approach that combined heady themes with enough swing to satisfy the hard bop enthusiast, and exploratory soloing that took it all to a different place for the more enthusiastic experimentalist. None of Rivers’ Blue Note releases combined these elements more successfully than ’65’s Contours , finally reissued in remastered form with an alternate take of the aptly-titled “Mellifluous Cacophony” included as a bonus.
Joining Rivers on the date are trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, drummer Joe Chambers and, most significantly, pianist Herbie Hancock and bassist Ron Carter, two players who were also exploring a more intellectual avenue between tradition and invention with Miles Davis, albeit with a more elastic time sense thanks to drummer Tony Williams. Chambers, who emerged seemingly out of nowhere around ’64, was no less investigative than Williams but, on sessions with artists including Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter and Hill, demonstrated a lighter touch, less of the explosive power that was Williams’ inclination. Whereas Hancock, Carter and Chambers had proven themselves with more outer-reaching material, the surprise of the set is Hubbard, a player who typically leaned more towards the hard bop centre, but on this set is positively on fire, matching Rivers note-for-note on “Dance of the Tripedal,” a more-or-less swinging ¾ time piece that is anchored by Chambers until Hancock’s abstract solo breaks down the time and Chambers confidently reasserts it.
Rivers’ tenor is sharp and incisive as always, but it’s his reedy, oboe-like soprano that sets the pace on “Point of Many Returns,” a piece with a challenging but memorable theme. Chambers and Carter swing hard through Hubbard and Hancock’s spots but become more adventurous with time during Rivers’ visceral but clearly considered solo. And on the more transcendent “Euterpe” Rivers’ flute combines with Hubbard’s muted horn to create an attractive texture.
Rivers would ultimately go on to further heights of freedom, but with Contours he posits a formal yet less rigid compositional alternative to Hill’s more intricate constructions that is essential listening.
John Kelman – All About Jazz
Recording on 21st, May 1965 – Remastered (2004) – Label: Blue Note Records
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Booker Little: Out Front (1961 – Candid Records)
Booker Little’s “Out Front” is truly one of the great early recordings of the New Jazz. Recorded over two sessions in the spring of 1961 for jazz writer and critic Nat Hentoff’s Candid label, “Out Front” features some of the best jazz musicians of the day — Eric Dolphy, Julian Priester, Ron Carter and Max Roach. (Additionally, Art Davis replaces Carter on three tracks and Don Friedman plays piano.) These are names that would become synonymous with the experimental jazz innovations of the 60s. Of the numerous factors that contribute to this being a classic album, Little’s creative compositions and impeccable arrangements are the most remarkable. The combination of Dolphy, Little and Priester produced bright, energetic melodies that are hauntingly evocative. Unfortunately, Little would die in just a few short months. And it’s tragically ironic that just as Little was shedding the inevitable Clifford Brown comparisons, Little too would die too young and too soon. “Out Front” gives us a glimpse at what could have been, yet thankfully it is a masterpiece in its own right to relish.
2. Strength and Sanity
3. Quiet, Please
4. Moods in Free Time
5. Man of Words
6. Hazy Hues
Recorded at Nola Penthouse Studios, New York, New York on March 17 & April 4, 1961.
Original Release Date: 1961 – Label: Candid Records
Wayne Shorter: Speak No Evil (1964 – Blue Note)
On his third date for Blue Note within a year, Wayne Shorter changed the bands that played on both Night Dreamer and Juju and came up with not only another winner, but also managed to give critics and jazz fans a different look at him as a saxophonist. Because of his previous associations with McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, and Reggie Workman on those recordings, Shorter had been unfairly branded with the “just-another-Coltrane-disciple” tag, despite his highly original and unusual compositions. Here, with only Jones remaining and his bandmates from the Miles Davis Quintet, Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter on board (with Freddie Hubbard filling out the horn section), Shorter at last came into his own and caused a major reappraisal of his earlier work. The odd harmonic frameworks used to erect “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum,” with its balladic structure augmented with a bluesy regimen of hard bop and open-toned modalism, create the illusion of a much larger band managing all that timbral space. Likewise on the title track, with its post-bop-oriented melodic line strewn across a wide chromatic palette of minors and Hancock’s piano pushing through a contrapuntal set of semi-quavers, the avant-garde meets the hard bop of the ’50s head on and everybody wins. The loping lyric of the horns and Hancock’s vamping in the middle section during Shorter’s solo reveals a broad sense of humor in the saxophonist’s linguistics and a deep, more regimented sense of time and thematic coloration. The set ends with the beautiful “Wild Flower,” a lilting ballad with angular accents by Hancock who takes the lyric and inverts it, finding a chromatic counterpoint that segues into the front line instead of playing in opposition. The swing is gentle but pronounced and full of Shorter’s singular lyricism as a saxophonist as well as a composer.
Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
1. Witch Hunt
2. Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
3. Dance Cadaverous
4. Speak No Evil
5. Infant Eyes
6. Wild Flower
7. Dance Cadaverous (alt take)
Personnel:
Wayne Shorter (Sax Tenor)
Ron Carter (Bass)
Original Release Date: December 24, 1964 – Label: Blue Note Records
Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage (1965 – Blue Note)
“Maiden Voyage” is arguably Herbie Hancock’s finest record of the ’60s, reaching a perfect balance between accessible, lyrical jazz and chance-taking hard bop. By this point, the pianist had been with Miles Davis for two years, and it’s clear that Miles’ subdued yet challenging modal experiments had been fully integrated by Hancock. Not only that, but through Davis, Hancock became part of the exceptional rhythm section of bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams, who are both featured on Maiden Voyage, along with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and tenor saxophonist George Coleman. The quintet plays a selection of five Hancock originals, many of which are simply superb showcases for the group’s provocative, unpredictable solos, tonal textures, and harmonies. While the quintet takes risks, the music is lovely and accessible, thanks to Hancock’s understated, melodic compositions and the tasteful group interplay. All of the elements blend together to make Maiden Voyage a shimmering, beautiful album that captures Hancock at his finest as a leader, soloist, and composer.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (All Music Guide)
1. Maiden Voyage
Freddie Hubbard (trumpet)
George Coleman (tenor sax)
Herbie Hancock (piano)
Ron Carter (bass)
Tony Williams (drums)
The Gil Evans Orchestra – Out of the Cool (1960 – GRP)
Out of the Cool, released in 1960, was the first recording Gil Evans issued after three straight albums with Miles Davis — Sketches of Spain being the final one before this. Evans had learned much from Davis about improvisation, instinct, and space (the trumpeter learned plenty, too, especially about color, texture, and dynamic tension). Evans orchestrates less here, instead concentrating on the rhythm section built around Elvin Jones, Charlie Persip, bassist Ron Carter, and guitarist Ray Crawford. The maestro in the piano chair also assembled a crack horn section for this date, with Ray Beckinstein, Budd Johnson, and Eddie Caine on saxophones, trombonists Jimmy Knepper, Keg Johnson, and bass trombonist Tony Studd, with Johnny Coles and Phil Sunkel on trumpet, Bill Barber on tuba, and Bob Tricarico on flute, bassoon, and piccolo. The music here is of a wondrous variety, bookended by two stellar Evans compositions in “La Nevada,” and “Sunken Treasure.” The middle of the record is filled out by the lovely standard “Where Flamingos Fly,” Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht’s “Bilbao Song,” and George Russell’s classic “Stratusphunk.” The sonics are alternately warm, breezy, and nocturnal, especially on the 15-plus-minute opener which captures the laid-back West Coast cool jazz feel juxtaposed by the percolating, even bubbling hot rhythmic pulse of the tough streets of Las Vegas. The horns are held back for long periods in the mix and the drums pop right up front, Crawford’s solo — drenched in funky blues — is smoking. When the trombones re-enter, they are slow and moaning, and the piccolo digs in for an in the pocket, pulsing break.
Things are brought back to the lyrical impressionism Evans is most well known for at the beginning of “Where Flamingos Fly.” Following a four-note theme on guitar, flute, tuba, and trombone, it comes out dramatic and blue, but utterly spacious and warm. The melancholy feels like the tune “Summertime” in the trombone melody, but shifts toward something less impressionistic and more expressionist entirely by the use of gentle dissonance by the second verse as the horns begin to ratchet things up just a bit, allowing Persip and Jones to play in the middle on a variety of percussion instruments before the tune takes on a New Orleans feel, and indeed traces much of orchestral jazz history over the course of its five minutes without breaking a sweat. “Stratusphunk” is the most angular tune here, but Evans and company lend such an element of swing to the tune that its edges are barely experienced by the listener. For all his seriousness, there was a great deal of warmth and humor in Evans’ approach to arranging. His use of the bassoon as a sound effects instrument at the beginning is one such moment emerging right out of the bass trombone. At first, the walking bassline played by Carter feels at odds with the lithe and limber horn lines which begin to assert themselves in full finger popping swing etiquette, but Carter seamlessly blends in. Again, Crawford’s guitar solo in the midst of all that brass is the voice of song itself, but it’s funky before Johnny Coles’ fine trumpet solo ushers in an entirely new chart for the brass. The final cut, “Sunken Treasure,” is a moody piece of noir that keeps its pulse inside the role of bass trombone and tuba. Percussion here, with maracas, is more of a coloration device, and the blues emerge from the trumpets and from Carter. It’s an odd way to close a record, but its deep-night feel is something that may echo the “cool” yet looks toward something deeper and hotter — which is exactly what followed later with Into the Hot.
Thom Jurek (All Music Guide)
1. La Nevada (15:33)
2. Where Flamingoes Fly (5:11)
3. Bilbao Song (4:10)
4. Stratusphunk (8:00)
5. Sunken Treasure (4:15)
6. Sister Sadie (6:57)
Personnel:
Gil Evans (piano & conductor)
Johnny Coles & Phil Sunkel (trp)
Keg Johnson & Jimmy Knepper (tromb)
Tony Studd (trom)
Bill Barber (tuba)
Bob Tricarico (fagot, flute & piccolo)
Ray Beckenstein & Eddie Caine (saxo alto, flute & piccolo)
Budd Johnson (saxo tenor & saxo soprano)
Ray Crawford (guitar)
Ron Carter (bass)
Charlie Persip & Elvin Jones (Drums & percussion)
Stan Getz: Sweet Rain (1967 – Verve)
One of Stan Getz’s all-time greatest albums, Sweet Rain was his first major artistic coup after he closed the book on his bossa nova period, featuring an adventurous young group that pushed him to new heights in his solo statements. Pianist Chick Corea, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Grady Tate were all schooled in ’60s concepts of rhythm-section freedom, and their continually stimulating interplay helps open things up for Getz to embark on some long, soulful explorations (four of the five tracks are over seven minutes). The neat trick of Sweet Rain is that the advanced rhythm section work remains balanced with Getz’s customary loveliness and lyricism. Indeed, Getz plays with a searching, aching passion throughout the date, which undoubtedly helped Mike Gibbs’ title track become a standard after Getz’s tender treatment here. Technical perfectionists will hear a few squeaks on the LP’s second half (Getz’s drug problems were reputedly affecting his articulation somewhat), but Getz was such a master of mood, tone, and pacing that his ideas and emotions are communicated far too clearly to nit-pick. Corea’s spare, understated work leaves plenty of room for Getz’s lines and the busily shifting rhythms of the bass and drums, heard to best effect in Corea’s challenging opener “Litha.” Aside from that and the title track, the repertoire features another Corea original (“Windows”), the typically lovely Jobim tune “O Grande Amor,” and Dizzy Gillespie’s Latin-flavored “Con Alma.” The quartet’s level of musicianship remains high on every selection, and the marvelously consistent atmosphere the album evokes places it among Getz’s very best. A surefire classic.
Steve Huey, All Music Guide
1. Litha
2. O Grande Amor
3. Sweet Rain
4. Con Alma
5. Windows
Personnel:
Stan Getz (Ten.Sax)
Chick Corea (Piano)
Ron Carter (Bass)
Grady Tate (drums)
Original Release Date: 1967 Label: Verve
Dexter Gordon – The Other Side of Round Midnight: (1985 – Blue Note)
Bob Brookmeyer – Bob Brookmeyer & Friends (1964)
Look at the line-up, then listen to this album and cogitate. How a record featuring all those great musicians should sound? Great, no doubt. Remarkably, Brookmeyer and Getz do the mathematical cool jazz thing way too often, sounding like perfect anachronisms in 1964 and demonstrating that they spent too much time in the vicinity of Gerry Mulligan. Gary Burton, Herbie Hancock & Elvin Jones are of no less brightness. Yet, though a certain prettiness of some of the tunes rescue the album from failing completely, it is certainly a far cry from what the illustrious names on the cover promise. Anyway, the sound is there, get close to it and decide yourself.
Personnel:
Across Rhythm 