[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 106 (Thursday, September 9, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         A SALUTE TO RON CARTER

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                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 9, 2004

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, as Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus, 
and Chairman of the Jazz Forum and Concert, which occurs during our 
Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference, I rise today to salute the 
lifetime achievements of one of the most distinguished artists in 
American music history, Ron Carter. Just a few years ago, in 1998, Ron 
Carter received the prestigious Jazz Masters Award from the National 
Endowment of the Arts. The following biography, found on Carter's own 
web page, chronicles a career of accomplishment deserving of such high 
recognition, and of this body's thoughtful attention and respect:
  Ron Carter is among the most original, prolific, and influential 
bassists in jazz. With more than 2,500 albums to his credit, he has 
recorded with many of music's greats: Tommy Flanagan, Gil Evans, Lena 
Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, the Kronos Quartet, Dexter Gordon, Wes 
Montgomery, and Bobby Timmons. In the early 1960s he performed 
throughout the United States in concert halls and nightclubs with Jaki 
Byard and Eric Dolphy. He later toured Europe with Cannonball Adderley. 
From 1963 to 1968, he was a member of the classic and acclaimed Miles 
Davis Quintet.
  Ron Carter was named Outstanding Bassist of the Decade by the Detroit 
News, Jazz Bassist of the Year by Downbeat magazine, and Most Valuable 
Player by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In 1993 
Carter earned a Grammy award for Best Jazz Instrumental Group, the 
Miles Davis Tribute Band, and another in 1998 for Call 'Sheet Blues, an 
instrumental composition from the film Round Midnight. In addition to 
scoring and arranging music for many films, including some projects for 
the Public Broadcasting System, Carter has composed music for A 
Gathering of Old Men, starring Lou Gosset Jr., The Passion of Beatrice 
directed by Bertrand Tavernier, and Blind Faith starring Courtney B. 
Vance. Carter also shares his expertise in the series of books he 
authored, among which are Building Jazz Bass Lines and The Music of Ron 
Carter; the latter contains 130 of his published and recorded 
compositions.
  Carter earned a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School in 
Rochester and a master's degree in double bass from the Manhattan 
School of Music in New York City. He has also received two honorary 
doctorates, from the New England Conservatory of Music and the 
Manhattan School of Music, and was the 2002 recipient of the 
prestigious Hutchinson Award from the Eastman School at the University 
of Rochester. Carter has lectured, conducted, and performed at clinics 
and master classes, instructing jazz ensembles and teaching the 
business of music at numerous universities. He was Artistic Director of 
the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies while it was located in 
Boston and, after 18 years on the faculty of the Music Department of 
The City College of New York, he is now Distinguished Professor 
Emeritus although, as a performer, he remains as active as ever.
  Bass Frontiers, in one of the many statements of acclaim reflected on 
Carter's web page sums it up and says it all: ``[Carter] has proven 
through many years of performing and recording why he is a true jazz 
legend.''
  Ron Carter's most recent recording in 2003 was The Golden Striker 
(Blue Note Records), featuring Mulgrew Miller and Russell Malone. 
Earlier that same year he released Eight Plus (Dreyfus Records).

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