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Ron Carter's Great Big Band: Ron Carter's Great Big Band

By Dan McClenaghan
November 3, 2011
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Ron Carter's Great Big Band: Ron Carter's Great Big Band

Bassist Ron Carter rode to high profile during his stint with trumpeter

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis' second great quintet, the stellar mid-1960s ensemble that also included pianist

Herbie Hancock

piano
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Herbie Hancock, drummer

Tony Williams

drums
1945 - 1997

" data-original-title="" title="">Tony Williams and saxophonist

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Shorter—all of whom, like Carter, went on to create great things. Carter also used the opportunity afforded by the Davis boost to become something of a super side sideman, appearing on hundreds of albums led by an array of fellow artists, as well as dozens of his own, including the outstanding small group efforts Golden Striker, (Blue Note Records, 2003), and Dear Miles (EMI, 2006).

Carter has never led a big band outing, until now. With charts by esteemed arranger Robert M. Freedman, Carter leads a seventeen-piece ensemble through a set of jazz standards on Ron Carter's Great Big Band, from the much-covered

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington vehicle, "Caravan," to trumpeter

Tom Harrell

trumpet
b.1946

" data-original-title="" title="">Tom Harrell's "Sail Away" and trumpeter

Dizzy Gillespie

trumpet
1917 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma."

Carter put out an excellent small group outing this millennium, When Skies Are Grey (Blue Note Records, 2001). The cover art—a photo of a grey clad, regal-looking Carter gazing over a drab cityscape at overcast skies—had a limited color spectrum, and the music leaned toward the serious side, as much of the classically-trained Carter's art does, but Ron Carter's Great Big Band is a bright, colorful experience, from the rainbow-ish cover art and the dancing sparkle of

W.C. Handy

arranger
1873 - 1958

" data-original-title="" title="">W.C. Handy's "Saint Louis Blues," to the joyful ebullience and New Orleans tinted cover of trumpeter

Nat Adderley

trumpet
1931 - 2000

" data-original-title="" title="">Nat Adderley's "Sweet Emma" and the pastel elegance swirling over the trombone section's dark backdrop on the bassist's own "Loose Change."

The band's drive train—the rhythm section of pianist

Mulgrew Miller

piano
1955 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Mulgrew Miller and drummer

Lewis Nash

drums
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Lewis Nash, along with Carter—is as solid as they come. Carter's bass rides higher in the mix than is normally heard on a large ensemble set---a big, warm, inexorable heartbeat inside the flash and cool washes of brass and reeds.

"Footprints," penned by Carter's former Davis cohort, Wayne Shorter, and included on the saxophonist's Adams' Apple (Blue Note, 1966) as well as Davis' Miles Smiles (Columbia, 1967)—on which Carter played— maintains its ominous mood here, with splashier harmonics afforded from the multiple horns, while

John Lewis

piano
1920 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">John Lewis' "The Golden Striker" gets a jaunty, upbeat treatment.

Like saxophonist

Joe Henderson

saxophone
1937 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Henderson and his outstanding Big Band (Verve, 1997), Carter has taken his first shot at leading a large group later in his career, and he's produced a gem with Ron Carter's Great Big Band.

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Track Listing

Caravan; The Eternal Triangle; Pork Chop; Opus 1.5 (Theme for C.B.); Con Alma; Sail Away; Opus 1; Sweet Emma; Saint Louis Blues; Line for Lyons; Footprints; The Golden Striker; Loose Change.

Personnel

Robert M. Freedman: arranger and musical director; John Dodgion: alto and soprano saxophones; Steve Wilson: alto saxophone; Wayne Escoffery: tenor saxophone; Scott Robinson: tenor saxophone; Jay Brandford: baritone saxophone; Charles Pillow: English horn; Jason Jackson: trombone; Steve Davis: trombone; James Burton III: trombone; Douglas Purviance: bass trombone; Tony Kadleck: trumpet, flugelhorn; Greg Gisbert: trumpet, fluglehorn; Jon Owens: trumpet, fluglehorn; Alex Norris: trumpet, flugelhorn; Ron Carter: bass; Mulgrew Miller: piano; Lewis Nash: drums.

Album information

Title: Ron Carter's Great Big Band | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Sunnyside Records

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