Search - Ron Carter :: Meets Bach

Utter ...

thomas hogan | USA | 01/05/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Mastery of baroque music? Comparing this album to even the worst release by any professional classical musician is like comparing the literary value of the babbles of an agitated goat to that of Hamlet. With this recording, Ron Carter gives us an accurate picture of who he is: no longer the great bassist who accompanied Miles Davis, but an arrogant fool who at some point decided that any piece of ... that he recorded was worthy of mass distribution.
I am hesitant to submit this review because I do not think that words can adequately capture just how bad this recording really is. Let me start by saying that Ron's intonation is so terrible that the only thing that could prepare me for it would be a sticker on the front reading "Ron Carter's first release since he switched to playing lefty." His arco technique is almost as bad; it sounds as if he used a stick of crazy glue instead of rosin.
The Arioso did not move me "to tears", but rather to a feeling of sea sickness; in several spots I could swear he's actually trying to modulate. Ron's rendition of the "Air" had me examining the CD for warping. His improvising on several pieces shows an almost unfathomable lack of focus; it consisted of Ron's typical arsenal of semi-slick sounding bass tricks removed from the usual jazz context and forced awkwardly in between two Bach pieces. At several points he clearly runs out of stuff to play, pauses, and then resumes his flurries of gibberish and gratuitous glissandos. I could go on but suffice it to say that there is not a single redeeming moment on this whole album.Ron, if you're reading, you owe me 15 bucks."

Unbelievably Awful!

Vincent Osborn | Duluth, MN | 09/01/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I totally agree with Thomas Hogan! I couldn't make it to the end of the CD. I sampled each track after hearing the first one and could not believe how utterly horrible Ron Carter's playing was. It is a slap in the face to all professional classical bass players for him to record these works and then actually have it distributed. Shame on Blue Note Records - it is obvious that they have a total inability to distinguish good from bad. Sorry Ron, stick to Jazz. For anybody reading this that wants to hear fine bass playing, check out some of the great bass CDs by Edgar Meyer, Boguslaw Furtok, Eugene Levinson, Gary Karr, Edwin Barker, Klaus Trumpf, Ludwig Streicher, etc."

Superb musicianship and sound quality

Vincent Osborn | 08/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of my consistent complaints about classical music, in particular string music, is that recordings never seem to capture the true quality of the sound. This CD raises the bar; I now know that it is possible to get the "wood". Carter has a ton of excellent jazz albums under his belt, but here he shows his mastery of baroque music. Some classical purists might be put off by the use of multitracking as Carter plays all the parts himself. The CD opens with "Air" (sometimes titled "Air for a G String"). I own other versions of this piece, but this is my absolute favorite due to its deep, woody tone and the slow, maesured way Carter plays it. The 4th selection, "Arioso: from Cantata #156" actually reduced me to tears. If you buy no other classical CD, buy this one. If you have a slough of classical CDs, buy this one to see what you've been missing in aural quality."