Sacred roots of a jazz master

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, March 19th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: One of the most prolific and influential musicians in jazz puts out his first gospel album.

BROWN: The bassist Ron Carter has performed on more than two thousand recordings, earning him the nickname “Maestro.”

And those recordings aren’t just any recordings. They include some of the most famous albums in jazz.

Now, one might think that at age 88, Carter would be winding down his career. But WORLD music critic Arsenio Orteza says he’s begun a new, challenging chapter instead.

ARSENIO ORTEZA: From 1963 to 1968, Ron Carter was the bassist in Miles Davis’s “Second Great Quintet.” During that time, he appeared on more than a dozen of the legendary trumpeter’s albums, including Davis’s most popular album of the 1960s.

MUSIC: [“Seven Steps to Heaven” by Miles Davis]

1963’s “Seven Steps to Heaven” showcased Carter’s nimble dexterity and elevated him into the echelon of jazz elites. But, by the time his tenure with Davis ended, he was sought out by more than jazz artists.

MUSIC: [“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack]

Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” was the number-one single of 1972 and won a Grammy for “Record of the Year.” 

Carter went on to win Grammys of his own—for “Best Instrumental Composition” in ’88, “Best Jazz Instrumental Performance” in ’95, and “Best Jazz Instrumental Album” in 2022. But awards or not, his touch and versatility had made him the go-to bassist for musicians in need of something special.

Carter has released over 40 solo albums, and he turned 88 last May. But because of his prolific productivity and his seemingly endless energy, people kept asking him about his next project.

CARTER: I never had a real answer cause I didn't have a project, in terms of what they meant by a project, in mind. And the more they asked me, the more annoyed I got so that I couldn't answer more than “hey, I don't know.” Ultimately, I ran into Don Was at a gig somewhere, and, of course, being from Blue Note, he said, “Hey, man, what's your next project?” And I said, “Oh man, not you.”

Don Was is the president of Blue Note Records, the iconic jazz label. And Carter knew that he deserved more than “I don’t know.” So he mentioned an idea that he’d been pondering for some time—ever since the last phase of his late mother’s life.

CARTER: My sisters, who were taking care of her in her older waning days, decided to put her into a wonderful, wonderful nursing home, and they felt that she would like to have some music during her last hours. So they asked me, could I put together some kind of music form of her favorite hymns?

Carter made a list of hymns that he knew his mother would love because he’d learned them as a child going to church with her, hymns such as “Softly and Tenderly,” “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” and “In the Garden.” 

He then recorded them and gave the recordings to his sisters, who bought their mother a boom box.

CARTER: This was her music for the rest of her, unfortunately, limited life. And we're all sure, my sisters and I, that she had some additional comfort in addition, another route to “going upstairs” with this music that she remembered from so many years ago and so many times having sung them.

Turning these private solo recordings into something bigger is what Carter told Don Was his “next project” would be. Was said he knew someone who might like to be involved: the gospel choir director Ricky Dillard.

MUSIC: [“Open My Eyes” by Ron Carter & Ricky Dillard]

The album is called Sweet, Sweet Spirit, and those voices you’re hearing belong to Dillard’s 80-voice New-G Choir. They make a joyful noise, but, thanks to the production skills of Was and Zeke Listenbee, Carter’s bass remains audible and palpable throughout.

MUSIC: [“Farther Along” by Ron Carter & Ricky Dillard]

The “G” in “New-G Choir,” by the way, stands for “Generation,” and a new generation is certainly something that Carter’s and Dillard’s arrangements will help these hymns reach. In Carter’s mind, however, Sweet, Sweet Spirit’s target audience remains his mother.

CARTER: And my job was to trust Zeke and Mr. Dillard with the sensitivity to understand the focus of this music. It was not me. It was not them. It was a thought behind the arrangement, the choice of notes, the choice of tempo, the choice of keys that I thought that my mom would understand. She would appreciate a newer version of her songs that she had us sing in church 80 years ago or so.

In 2022, Carter was the subject of the documentary Finding the Right Notes. 

Midway through, the musician Jon Batiste asks him whether there’s a “spiritual component” to his approach:

CARTER: I was one of those guys that never wanted to know the mystery of the music, you know what I mean? I don't know what makes me have the nerve to do that right then. I appreciate that help. It's somewhere beyond my physical presence. Do you call him the Coach? Do you call him the Head Bandleader? There's another spirit that's involved in my choices.

I asked Carter whether his experience making Sweet, Sweet Spirit had given him anything to add to that answer.

CARTER: Probably more capital letters (laughs). You know, again, I hear this stuff. I hear this music. I hear my attempts to help the project, and when I listen to it back six minutes later or six weeks later or six months later, I can't believe, man, I had the audacity to try this right here. No one is even more thrilled that I got by one more time.

Maybe no one is more thrilled. But, thanks to Carter, Dillard, and Dillard’s choir, the number of the equally thrilled is likely to grow.

MUSIC: [“Pass Me Not” by Ron Carter & Ricky Dillard]

I’m Arsenio Orteza.

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