Ron Carter....

Ron Carter, with more than 2,500 albums to his credit, may be the world's most recorded jazz bassist. His creativity and originality have redefined the role of the bass in jazz and forever changed the way the instrument is played. From his insistent yet relaxed walking bass lines to his wonderfully surprising note choices to his trademark slides, Carter's style is unmistakable. Growing up in Detroit, Carter studied bass at Cass Technical High School. He attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, receiving a bachelor's degree in music, and later earned his Master of Music degree in double bass from the Manhattan School of Music. Once in New York City, Carter began gaining a reputation on the jazz scene, performing with Jaki Byard, Randy Weston, and Eric Dolphy. In 1963, while performing with Art Farmer, Miles Davis invited him to join a new quintet that would include Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, George Coleman, and later Wayne Shorter. The group was to become one of the most creative and influential forces in the history of jazz. As a member of the rhythm section, Carter expanded the concept and role of the bassist, altering the harmony and shifting the rhythm to push the music into exciting, new territory. During Carter's five-year tenure with this quintet, he appeared on classic recordings like Nefertiti, E.S.P., and Seven Steps to Heaven. In the decades that followed, Carter worked with a diverse list of artists, both jazz and pop, including such names as McCoy Tyner, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Roberta Flack, the Kronos Quartet, and A Tribe Called Quest. He also became the house bassist for the CTI label, recording with George Benson, Freddie Hubbard, and Jim Hall, with whom he established an acclaimed duo that still performs today. Carter continued to play with his Miles Davis bandmates in the V.S.O.P. band and in the GRAMMY® Award-winning Miles Davis Tribute Band. Over the years, Carter has also become a major force in education, serving as Distinguished Professor of Music for City College of New York and as Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance from 1995 until 1999. Bassists Robert Hurst, Peter Washington, Larry Grenadier, and Victor Bailey have all studied under Carter. In recent years, he has performed with his own quartet and with his Golden Striker Trio, which includes Mulgrew Miller and Russell Malone. In 2007, Carter celebrated his 70th birthday at Carnegie Hall with a concert that featured him performing with longtime collaborators Hancock, Shorter, Hall and others. This year saw the release of his biography Ron Carter - Finding the Right Notes
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=43020