One of the more frequently posited questions on jazz chat boards deals with fecundity, specifically which musician holds the largest body of work. Ron Carter’s name often crops up amongst the answers. His prolific pace is both boon and bane depending upon the listener polled. When the color line stymied his early attempts at earning a cello seat on larger symphony orchertras Carter turned the squashed grapes of his initial ambitions into an expansive cellar of wines. From the bold cabernets of his vanguard work with Dolphy and Davis to the cloying desert aperitifs that constituted some of his 70s albums at Milestone, Carter’s rarely taken time off from behind the mics. His more recent efforts are similarly checkered with ill-advised Bach concertos and session stints of nearly every stripe and shade. Then there’s the tendency, particularly in the 60s, for his instrument to be improperly recorded from a myriad of angles: too muddy, too leaden, barely perceptible, overly effervescent. Carter hasn’t always had it easy and a significant portion of his foibles are his own doing. That’s a big part of the charm and curiosity behind this two-fer from ’77.
Due to what was possibly vestigial chagrin from his earlier symphony experiences and the lingering stigma attached to the double bass concerning its viability as a frontline implement, Carter commissioned the construction of a new hybrid axe of his own design: the piccolo bass. Pitched between the bass and cello range with an easier action and lighter strings the contraption was intended to allow Carter the flexibility to regularly assume the melodic lead. Unfortunately the murky amplification that was so en vogue during the era often ends up tarnishing his tone and impairing his pitch. The rhythm section on hand consisting of Kenny Barron at the acoustic keys, Buster Williams on bass and Ben Riley on drums (a trio that would coalesce five years later into the nucleus of the Monk repertory outfit Sphere) counterweights these contretemps. I can think of few if any albums of the 70s that accord this level of adulation to the bull, or in this case calf, fiddle.
Originally a double album, the reissue version shaves off a reading of “Blue Monk” and pares the program down to six cuts. Even with the edit, four are well over 12-minutes apiece and the sum nearly maxes out the disc’s running time. The opening “Saguaro” sets the standard, sprawling out to almost a third of an hour with several protracted forays by Carter on his prominently positioned strings. There are points here where I wish he would splint his fingers together or pack his signature Sherlock Holmes pipe and step off stage for an extended smoke break. “Sunshower” shows off his arco abilities on the new axe and the pitch problems are wincingly evident despite some very nimble bowing. Williams, also tethered to an amp, is the anchor underneath, but better calibrated to the electricity with his heavier gauge strings and less effusive attack. Barron is the real star, parceling out sparkling solos and comping elegantly against all the prolix string bending. Riley mostly keeps time, but also finds space for a few subtle surprises. The set closes with an obligatory Latin tune “Tambien Conocido Como” and more tree-felling sawing, flamenco style. A year and nine months later the same band would convene at the Van Gelder studio with, yep, you guessed it, an even larger contingent of strings in tow.
Carter’s doyen-sized rep is well deserved, but it’s indulgent and entertainingly verbose outings like this one from his younger years that show his human side and keep him honest.
Posted by derek on March 6, 2005 12:01 PMI don't know if I buy the amplification argument for Mr. Carter's queasy intonation; electricity can't be faulted for the decision to make horrid renderings of Bach, especially in the studio and in a time (1994) when bassists had fine choices for live and recorded applications. I think, however, that RC has long been overlooked amongst the bass community at least in favor of names like Brown and Holland. An overtechnicalist bias which shortchanges what he was doing in the 60's to break down the rhythmic role of the bass in a 'heavy' rhythm section (i.e. the difference between Scott LaFaro playing with Paul Motain and Carter with Tony Williams). Anyway, I probably won't go running out to find this recording while my Edgar Meyer recording of Bach Cello Suites is on loop (or Nefertiti is close at hand).
Posted by: Ryan at March 6, 2005 5:38 PMYour vocabulary aside, this is just not a good album. I couldn't justify recommending this disc to anyone! What made you choose this recording? Yikes.
And please don't take that personally.
p.s. I typed in the gibberish (in this case "umumg"), so this is decidedly NOT spam.
Posted by: Cary Ralston at March 7, 2005 6:18 PMYour vocabulary aside, this is just not a good album. I couldn't justify recommending this disc to anyone! What made you choose this recording? Yikes.
And please don't take that personally.
p.s. I typed in the gibberish (in this case "umumg"), so this is decidedly NOT spam.
Posted by: Cary Ralston at March 7, 2005 6:18 PMSorry about the double bag. Vermont anyone?
Is it just me, or are there a few gliches in Safari on this site?
p.s. "umumg" again.
Posted by: Cary Ralston at March 7, 2005 6:20 PMRyan, thanks for the comments. I notice you’re a bass player- very cool.
Cary, a certain Mr. Yanow, several Amazon.com reviewers & I disagree with you :) Yanow gives it four stars; I’d give it two & a half, maybe three. As to why in the world I picked it, the reason’s pretty simple- I like it.
I dig the sheer audacity & enthusiasm behind it. Carter trying out a newfangled axe specially engineered to show-off his chops from the frontline. It’s almost like an open letter in response to the technique issue Ryan raises above, and the tendency for his instrument to be consigned to the backdrop in the past. There are lots of 60s sessions where he’s working out interesting & innovative ideas, but they’re largely muffled and/or compromised by his positioning/miking. Unfortunately, he often goes overboard here, soloing to the point of turgidity and mucking up his intonation with ill-suited amplification & rococo fingering/bowing. Barron sounds great though, and Williams & Riley do a fine, if somewhat by-the-numbers job. Some of the cuts are eye-rollingly long-winded, but overall the vibe always makes me smile. Wish I could hear what they did with “Blue Monk.”
How about dishing on the whys behind your dislike of the disc? And why would I take your comments personally? I appreciate them & appreciate you reading the piece. Maybe it all boils down to the lyrics of a certain revered Eighties sitcom (apropos also to another bloated Bags thread):
“Now, the world don't move to the beat of just one drum,
What might be right for you, may not be right for some.
A man is born, he's a man of means.
Then along come two, they got nothing but their jeans.
But they got, Diff'rent Strokes.
It takes, Diff'rent Strokes.
It takes, Diff'rent Strokes to move the world.
Everybody's got a special kind of story
Everybody finds a way to shine,
It don't matter that you got not alot
So what,
They'll have theirs, and you'll have yours, and I'll have mine.
And together we'll be fine....
Because it takes, Diff'rent Strokes to move the world.
Yes it does.
It takes, Diff'rent Strokes to move the world.”
Hey derek, I just reread the last stanza of your review, and I do appreciate RC stepping up to the mic and putting forth his "indulgent and entertainingly verbose" best; but I also think that the bass is an instrument that can create the greatest effects and changes of style without exposing itself too much. The difference between this record, perhaps, and Conference of the Birds or even the self-titled Weather Report. Then again, everyone knows COTB, and it wouldn't make a savvy Record of the Week. So I will, in fact, pick this up if I ever see it on vinyl for $3 or less. Seems like a good artefact.
On a side note, I know RC has a reputation for being an awful interviewee, in your face about everything and whatnot, but when I had him in the studio he was kind to me. Not like Dave Holland, though--the man GLOWED. Anyway, it doesn't have to be an either/or bass player situation. The more bass, the better we all will be, even that which is pretty out of tune (else I'd have to hawk my doghouse).
Posted by: Ryan at March 8, 2005 5:55 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................