Music
Ron Carter
born 1937 · jazz double bassist, cellist, composer
Born in suburban Ferndale and trained at Detroit's Cass Tech, he became the most-recorded bassist in jazz history and anchored Miles Davis's 1960s quintet.
- Born
Ferndale, Michigan
age 89- Birth name
- Ronald Levin Carter
- Detroit years
- 1937–mid-1950s
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Ron Carter was born in Ferndale, just north of Detroit, and grew up in the Detroit area. He began on the cello at ten and switched to the double bass while a student at Cass Technical High School, whose music program also trained Donald Byrd, Regina Carter and many other Detroit players; he has said the barriers facing Black musicians in classical orchestras pushed him toward the bass and toward jazz. After Cass Tech he studied at the Eastman School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, then settled in New York. From 1963 to 1968 he was the anchor of Miles Davis's “Second Great Quintet”, and he played on a long run of classic Blue Note albums. With more than 2,200 recording sessions to his name, he is recognized as the most-recorded jazz bassist in history.
Highlights
- Bassist in Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet (1963–1968)
- Most-recorded jazz bassist in history, over 2,200 sessions
- Three Grammy Awards
- NEA Jazz Master (1998)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · early 1950s
Cass Technical High School
Where he switched from cello to double bass. The historic building he attended was replaced by a new one in 2005.