Carter began playing cello at ten. But when his family moved from Ferndale, Michigan to Detroit, Carter ran into problems with racial stereotypes regarding the cello and switched to bass. He played in the Eastman School's Philharmonic Orchestra, and gained his degree in 1959. He moved to New York and played in
Chico Hamilton's quintet with
Eric Dolphy, while also enrolling at the Manhattan School of Music. Carter earned his Master's degree in 1961. After
Hamilton returned to the West Coast in 1960, Carter stayed in New York and played with
Dolphy and
Don Ellis, cutting his first records with them. He worked with
Randy Weston and
Thelonious Monk, while playing and recording with
Jaki Byard in the early '60s. Carter also toured and recorded with
Bobby Timmons' trio, and played with
Cannonball Adderley. He joined
Art Farmer's group for a short time in 1963 before he was tapped to become a member of
Miles Davis' band.
Carter remained with
Davis until 1968, appearing on every crucial mid-'60s recording and teaming with
Herbie Hancock and
Tony Williams to craft a new, freer rhythm section sound. The high-profile job led to the reputation that's seen Carter become possibly the most recorded bassist in jazz history. He's been heard on an unprecedented number of recordings; some sources claim 500, others have estimated it to be as many as 1,000. The list of people he's played with is simply too great to be accurately and completely cited. Carter's been a member of New York Jazz Sextet and
New York Jazz Quartet,
V.S.O.P. Tour, and Milestone Jazzstars, and was in one of the groups featured in the film Round Midnight in 1986.
He's led his own bands at various intervals since 1972, using a second bassist to keep time and establish harmony so he's free to provide solos. Carter even invented his own instrument, a piccolo bass. He's contributed many arrangements and compositions to both his groups and other bands, and made duo recordings with either
Cedar Walton or
Jim Hall. He's recorded for
Embryo/
Atlantic, CTI,
Milestone,
Timeless,
EmArcy,
Galaxy,
Elektra, and
Concord, and eventually landed at
Blue Note for LPs including 1997's The Bass and I, 1998's So What, and 1999's Orfeu.
At the dawn of the new millennium, Carter remained an active, in-demand artist, releasing a steady stream of albums and keeping a busy live schedule. When Skies Are Grey surfaced in early 2001, followed in 2002 by Stardust, Carter's tribute to the late bassist
Oscar Pettiford. That same year, he joined saxophonist
Houston Person for the duo's third album of standards, Dialogues. In 2006, another tribute album was released, Dear Miles, dedicated to
Miles Davis, also on
Blue Note.
Several more small group solo albums followed including 2007's Japan-only It's the Time and 2008's Jazz and Bossa.
In 2011, Carter delivered his first effort with big-band music, Ron Carter's Great Big Band featuring arrangements by conductor
Robert M. Freedman and a bevy of name players including pianist
Mulgrew Miller and drummer
Lewis Nash. He then joined drummer Gerry Gibbs for two albums with 2013's Thrasher Dream Trio and 2014's We're Back. Also in 2014, Carter was backed by
the WDR Big Band on My Personal Songbook. In 2016, the bassist once again paired with saxophonist
Person for the duo album Chemistry. ~ Ron Wynn, Rovi