Ron Carter Talks Double Bass Gear and Legacy in This Exclusive Interview

Interview with Karen Beishuizen

Ron Carter is a legendary American Double Bassist who is one of the most recorded musicians in music history: 2,221 albums and counting. He has been in the business for over 60 years and played with Miles Davis, B.B. King, Dexter Gordon, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin and many more. He is the leader of his own quartet, an author and teacher.

Photo Credits: Adam Cantor, Nasari Vega and Pete Coco

KB: Double Bass: Since when have you played this instrument and why double bass? 

Since high school. Why Mercedes?

KB: Which Double Bass are you using and how long have you been using it? 

I have a Juzek that I purchased used in 1959 and have been playing it ever since.

KB: What other equipment do you use beside the Juzek?

Nick Epifani provides my amplification. I like his equipment because it sounds like me when I play through it. It is what I want to sound like. The bass tone is organic.

LaBella Professional JazzStrings set #7710T.

David Gage LifeLine pickup. No microphone needed. For small rooms I use a Gallien-Krueger MBE combo amp; for larger venues, I plug into an Epifani Piccolo 600 amp head and an Epifani D.I.S.T. 112 bass cabinet.

KB: Do you have advice for anyone who wants to learn to play double bass? 

Get a teacher, get a teacher, get a teacher.  An in-person teacher.

KB: 2,221 recording sessions and counting: Were you expecting this when you started out? 

I had no idea the industry even existed.  I just wanted to get better at playing and get work.

KB: You played on many Jazz festivals: Do you have a favorite(s) and why this/these one(s)? 

I have played at so many festivals around the world for decades. Each one has its unique advantages and challenges. There is no one or two that I can say are better than all the others

KB: Harry Belafonte was your landlord? Tell me the story. 

Mr. Belafonte was looking for an apartment in NYC and he walked by a building on the Upper West Side and inquired about anything available. The building did not accept people of color and he was told so. So he bought the building – and I, along with many other artists and people of color, have lived there over the years.

KB: You are on the board of The Jazz Foundation of America. What does the foundation do? 

Their website can describe it better than I can:  www.jazzfoundation.org

KB: Are there any Bass Players out there people should pay attention to? Very talented musicians? 

I cannot single out anyone as being better than all the others. There are many exceedingly talented bass players out there, each with their own sound, their own style. I recommend people listen to as many as they can and make up their own minds!

KB: Do you have a favorite bass line?

I won’t say anything that is superior to everything else, because each musician, each bass line, each recording has it’s own unique properties and contexts, and it is impossible for me to choose anything that makes everything else “lesser than”.

KB: People who discover your music for the first time, where should they start?

I suggest to start with “7 Steps to Heaven”, because it is the first album I made with Miles Davis.

KB: What are you currently up to? 

A lot!  I’ll be at the San Francisco Jazz Festival in September with my quartet, and at Birdland for a residency the whole month of October.

You can see my schedule here: https://roncarterjazz.com/pages/ron-carter-performance-schedule-and-tickets

Check out Ron Carter’s website:  https://roncarterjazz.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RonCarterMusic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RonCarterBass

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roncarterbassist/

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/RonCarterBassist