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RON CARTER QUARTET
Piccolo (Milestone)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale
By the mid 1970s, Ron Carter was well established as one of the premiere bassists in jazz. He had appeared on hundreds of albums with most of the top leaders. Chico Hamilton, Randy Weston, Bobby Timmons, Thelonius Monk, Art Farmer, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock are just a few of those who sought Carter's support.
He continued to be frustrated, though, by the reluctance to accept a bass player as a leader in his own right. In order to distinguish himself and establish a place in front of the band, Carter commissioned the creation of an instrument he dubbed the piccolo bass. Tuned higher than the double bass and reduced in size to take a front and center spot on the stage, the piccolo bass solved part of his quandry. What was left was recruiting a rhythm section that was equal to Carter's musical vision.
He found that section in the persons of pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Ben Riley. Together, the Carter Quartet established themselves as one of the core groups that made New York's Sweet Basil club one of the top clubs in that hard to crack town. Piccolo was recorded in 1977 during one of the group's regular stints at the club, where they played a regular 8 week engagement each year.
Originally a double LP, the disc contains six extended performances, with the shortest cut clocking in at over 8 minutes and the longest, Clark's "Saguaro," coming in at 18:25. With the luxury of time, and an appreciative audience, the performances show the quartet at its best. There's ample room for solos by Barron and Clark, who attacked the piccolo bass with both fingers and bow, achieving a sometimes amazingly hornlike tone when playing arco. Williams and Riley provide a rock solid bottom along with their own flourishes when the opportunity for a rhythm chorus appears. It's a remarkable document of Ron Carter's first group and of the genesis of a rhythm section that continues to play together, today as part of a reconstituted Sphere.
Space limitations on the CD required the deletion of a cut from the original 2 LP release. Carter selected the band's version of "Blue Monk" for the cut. It's a shame to miss any of the music from this session, but it would be an even bigger shame not to have what's here. Too long out of print, Piccolo is an important addition to your jazz shelf, both musically and historically.
Track List: Saguaro * Sunshower * Three Little Words * Laverne Walk * Little Waltz * Tambien Conocido Como
© 1999 - Shaun Dale