Jazz Legend Ron Carter: A Life in Music – From Coltrane to Miles Davis

Jazz legend Ron Carter has spent nearly 75 years searching for what he calls “the right note.”

The most recorded jazz bassist in history has played alongside some of the defining artists of modern music - from Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock to countless other icons who shaped jazz as we know it. Yet, approaching his 90th birthday, Carter says he still goes to work every night for the same reason: to get better.

In this episode of MD MEETS, Mathias Döpfner sits down with Ron Carter for a deeply personal conversation about a life devoted to music.

Carter reflects on playing with Miles Davis, the art of being a great bandleader, and why a musician should leave their ego at home. He recalls how racial discrimination helped steer him from the cello toward the double bass and explains why he believes classical music still has a problem with racism today.

The two also debate the influence of Black culture on modern music, the relationship between jazz and classical music, and whether rhythm or harmony was really at the heart of the revolutionary sound Carter helped create with Miles Davis.

And what happens when artificial intelligence enters the equation? Carter is deeply skeptical that a machine can replicate what comes from decades of experience, mistakes and listening: “75 years of trying to find the right fucking note.”

But ultimately, this is a conversation about much more than music.

Carter talks about discipline, curiosity, listening, growing older - and why, after one of the most extraordinary careers in music history, his dreams for the future include something remarkably simple: helping people who cannot afford to buy their groceries.

A conversation with a legend who is still searching for the right note.

Ron Carter Universe:

https://www.roncarteruniverse.com

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