• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Miles Davis records with Ron Carter playing on them

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Aaron Saunders

Apr 27, 2002
7,384
21
Ontario
#1
I'm looking to find something with Ron Carter. I've heard his name all over TB, in discussions with my teachers, magazines, interviews with other bassists, and an entire book of Ron Carter solos transcribed in a local music store -- but I haven't heard him. Well, I probably have (his site says he's played on over 2,500 albums) but I've never sat there conciously and thought "You know, Ron Carter's playing on this tune."

After getting Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain, I'm looking for more Miles as well. Now, I know Ron was in the Miles Quintet of 65-68, and there's what looks to be a great box set on Amazon but it's a bit more than I can afford right now (getting a job interview on Monday and I'm saving up for my own DB and a bow). I'll eventually pick this up anyway (who wouldn't?) but in the mean time I'd like to get one or two Miles CDs with Ron on them to slake my thirst until after I've gotten a DB (and pickup/mic, good strings, and a setup).



EDIT: Wow! I was exploring his site a bit more and saw the list of Miles albums he played on in his (selected) discography. Out of the ones listed, which ones would you pick?

My Funny Valentine
Miles In The Sky
Filles De Kilimanjaro
Four And More
Cookin' At The Plugged Nickel
Seven Steps To Heaven
Miles Smiles
Sorcerer

Also...isn't he just the classiest looking dude on the planet?
 
#3
Govithoy said:
EDIT: Wow! I was exploring his site a bit more and saw the list of Miles albums he played on in his (selected) discography. Out of the ones listed, which ones would you pick?

My Funny Valentine
Miles In The Sky
Filles De Kilimanjaro
Four And More
Cookin' At The Plugged Nickel
Seven Steps To Heaven
Miles Smiles
Sorcerer
Click to expand...

My Funny Valentine comes as a twofer with Four And More, both records are actually from the same concert. Essential listening!
 
#4
I really like those live recordings of Ron with the Quintet from the 1960's, don't know if they're bootlegs or imports. Miles was the icing on the cake here!

In the 1970's he did hundreds of tracks for Creed Taylor (CTI) records. He really developed a studio sound that I once heard him describe as "the glow in the dark" sound. Some good things there too.

The Jim Hall + Ron Carter "Alone Together" live recording was/is a must have for me. I believe it's on Milestone, but in any case it was a milestone for me!

Ron really tells a story when he gets down with it. I think his sound is very distinctive, one of the greats in music who has managed to be heard in a big way.
 
#5
Govithoy said:
After getting Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain, I'm looking for more Miles as well. Now, I know Ron was in the Miles

My Funny Valentine
Miles In The Sky
Filles De Kilimanjaro
Four And More
Cookin' At The Plugged Nickel
Seven Steps To Heaven
Miles Smiles
Sorcerer
Click to expand...

Cookin´at...is a classic, I´d pick that up. Seven Steps is great, but Ron plays in only half of the tracks,
since the record is a combination of two diffrent sessions with different bands.

R2
 
#6
arto alho said:
Cookin´at...is a classic, I´d pick that up. Seven Steps is great, but Ron plays in only half of the tracks,
since the record is a combination of two diffrent sessions with different bands.

R2
Click to expand...

I'd second that recommendation - the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, rates the complete "Live at The PLugged Nickel" as the best Jazz album ever - how can you go wrong!!?? ;)

"Miles Smiles" is probably the best of the studio albums and is a "must have " for any Jazz collection! :)
 
#7
arto alho said:
Cookin´at...is a classic, I´d pick that up. Seven Steps is great, but Ron plays in only half of the tracks,
since the record is a combination of two diffrent sessions with different bands.

R2
Click to expand...

???? Isn't Ron with both bands? My recollection (which I'll look up in a second) is that the west coast session is Victor Feldman, Ron and Frank Butler and the east coast is Herbie, Ron and Tony. Both sessions also have George Coleman.

And 7 STEPS is a GREAT record.

So I'd say
7 Steps
Four & More
Miles Smiles
 
#8
Yeah, Ron's on both sessions.

The PLUGGED NICKEL records are great; my recommendation would be to hold off on those until you get your ears around the standard form a little more. You're not really going to be able to hear how they are deconstructing GREEN DOLPHIN STREET until you can hear GREEN DOLPHIN STREET, right?
 
#9
Ed Fuqua said:
???? Isn't Ron with both bands? My recollection (which I'll look up in a second) is that the west coast session is Victor Feldman, Ron and Frank Butler and the east coast is Herbie, Ron and Tony. Both sessions also have George Coleman.
Click to expand...

Very true. Ron is bassist on both.

OT, I collect rare shows. I have a show where Richard Davis is substituting for Ron. Another, Al Stinson subs. Buster Williams would sub too. Interesting , as Richard's style is quite different!

impressive Miles Discography/Sessionography here
http://www.plosin.com/milesAhead/
 
#10
Alexi & Ed, you guys are right. I wrote that in my day gig and didn´t remember that correctly. The cd is in my hands now and it says Ron is in both bands, all right.
What´s funny is that the best tunes in this record are written by Victor Feldman ( Seven steps and Joshua ) but it´s not Victor who got to record them, but Herbie instead....

R2
 
#11
arto alho said:
What´s funny is that the best tunes in this record are written by Victor Feldman ( Seven steps and Joshua ) but it´s not Victor who got to record them, but Herbie instead....

R2
Click to expand...

Well, he did record the tunes with Miles, but those takes were rejected - I haven't heard them yet, they're on the new "Seven Steps" boxed set.

My God, Miles has a lot of boxed sets out.....
 
#12
That album is Ron Carter at his best, I think. I love the sloooow transition from 2 to walking on "Basin Street Blues". I'll never get tired of that track, I think it's what made me want to be a jazz bassist.

"Joshua"...one of Miles' greatest solos. Also, the counterpoint on "So Near, So Far" is delicious. Joe Henderson and John Scofield replicated it very nicely on a later album.
 
#14
I think that Ron carter and Tony Williams during the mid sixties pretty much defined how a modern rhythm session would sound. Get the box set fro 65-68 (miles Davis Quintet), that is Ron Carter on his best form. The pulse and the forward motion he puts on the walking bass, man that is real great. Plus the quintet is burning, all the guys in the band! I have to say I am not too crazy about Ron on a lot of the newer stuff, I am not too cray about his solos albums either, and these days I am not into his sound, But man those old recordings are amazing. Do yourself a favor and check 'em out.
 
#15
IMO everything by Miles prior to the 80s is essential, but if I had to pick one record with Ron Carter on bass it would be Nefertiti. It's the ultimate statement from that period, to me. I don't rate records by the bass playing, but RC definitely plays some great solos as well as innovative accompaniment throughout. The recording quality is particularly excellent.
 
#16
Ed Fuqua said:
Yeah, Ron's on both sessions.

The PLUGGED NICKEL records are great; my recommendation would be to hold off on those until you get your ears around the standard form a little more. You're not really going to be able to hear how they are deconstructing GREEN DOLPHIN STREET until you can hear GREEN DOLPHIN STREET, right?
Click to expand...

I think this is kind of a strange attitude to buying records ....I buy records 'cause I like listening to them ...if I applied this kind of logic, I would have no CDs of music by Messiaen, Berio, Scriabin, Stockhausen,Mahler,Shostakovich etc. etc.. ;)

I love listening to the Plugged Nickel as I'm thinking - wow I have no idea where they are or how they are going to get back together!! :eek:

But they always do! :)
 
#17
It's only strange if you're thinking of them as entertainment. Kind of like watching French girls talk, what with those plump and pouty lips and all.

But, unlike some people, GUMMINT BOY is actually wanting to LEARN this music and is (it would seem to me) talking about using records as a resource for familiarising himself with the various approaches of players, in the case Ron Carter. So instead of saying to himself " wow, I have no idea", by listening to Ron's INSIDE approach to OGDS and getting that in his ear, when he listens to Ron's OUTSIDE approach on OGDS he's going to have a conceptual model of what Ron plays inside to contrast and compare what his outside stuff ends up being.

You, of course, are welcome to do what you like.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back