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Ron Carter's crazy cello playing on "Beyond the Blue Horizon&


CJ Shearn

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Some things defy any rational explanation.

Ron Carter's consistently inconsistent intonation is one of them.

You think this goes for his bass playing as well as his cello?

I've never been much a fan of his bass playing, but if you asked me why, I might have a tough time coming up with a precise answer. Guess it's my job to, though.

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Benny Carter went out of his way to ask me not to hire him for a gig. He said "I'm sure your selections will be fine - just don't hire Ron Carter".

I know I've told this story a couple times before, but I never tire of it.

I wonder if it was his playing or his attitude that turned Benny off.

Or both.

Edit to add: I dig Ron's playing in spite of his sometime intonation problems. He has great time and comes up with good lines, etc.

Edited by Harold_Z
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Guest the mommy

i think i have mentioned this before but ron carter played in my parents suburban new jersey town at the local community center. no idea how they got him to do it but a lot of jazz musicians live in the town so i guess there are connections (saw jackie mclean, phil woods, john faddis, billy drummond and others at the local middle school, for instance) but anyway carter played w. i think it was tony reedus and james williams for i guess there was about 18-25 people there and afterwards my friend who i went with who was a jazz studies major went up to carter (and you must understand this is a mellow scene in a room at the small local community center with a small amount of local people there) and i guess my friend wanted to ask him a few friendly questions and carter blew him off and refused to give a second to talk to a young jazz musician. i guess it wasn't a big deal but it seemed like a dick move. my friend was totally respectful and being a jazz musician himself, admired and respected carter.

my dad has great ears and always complains that carter is out of tune when listening to any of his fantasy stuff (especially on picolo bass). but then again, my dad seems to have bought all of these albums on LP back in the day (the ones w. barron and buster and riley) so it must not have bothered him too much. he even has a tape of "peg leg".

Edited by the mommy
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