Legendary Bassist Ron Carter
Comes Home as Detroit Jazz Festival's
2016 Artist-in-Residence
Festival to Run September 2 - 5, 2016
The Detroit Jazz Festival, the world's largest free jazz festival, announced that legendary bassist, cellist, composer and Detroit native Ron Carter will be its 2016 Artist-in-Residence.
During his esteemed 50-year career, Carter has played on many of the
most important jazz recordings with greats such as Miles Davis, McCoy
Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter. He has appeared on
more than 2,000 albums, making him the most-recorded jazz bassists of
all time, in addition to earning two GRAMMY® Awards.
Carter, who has appeared at the Detroit Jazz Festival
several times -- including an acoustic performance with last year's
Artist-in-Residence Pat Metheny, which was one of the highlights of the
Festival -- will orchestrate a variety of unique performances and
collaborations that can only be found at this year's Festival. Details
on his performances will be unveiled in April at a luncheon in Detroit
announcing the 37th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival lineup.
"I have been to many wonderful
places in my life, but no matter where I go, Detroit will always be
home. It has shaped who I am and has had a tremendous impact on my life
and music," said Carter. "It is an incredible honor to be an
Artist-in-Residence from Detroit at one of the world's greatest
festivals held in the heart of my hometown. I am thrilled to get the
opportunity to become more involved with this world-class event and work
with talented jazz students in a place that's so special to me."
As Artist-in-Residence, Carter
will contribute to the Festival's continued efforts to support and grow
jazz through education in Detroit and beyond. A lifelong educator
himself, Carter will pull from his 18 years as a faculty member of The
City College of New York's music department and participate in
educational initiatives to nurture and develop young local talent in
Metro Detroit.
At the Festival, Carter will
occupy a traditional opening Friday night slot. He also will play
collaborative sets with special guests throughout the weekend, including
varied musical explorations unique to the Detroit Jazz Festival.
"When you think of legendary
double bassists, Ron Carter is a name that comes to mind very quickly.
We are ecstatic he has agreed to be our ambassador this year, extending
his lifelong connection to Detroit and years of commitment to this
Festival," said Chris Collins, Artistic Director of the Detroit Jazz Festival. "His personality and music are iconic and greatly reflect our values at the Detroit Jazz Festival -- artistry, expression and sharing the human experience through jazz."
Carter was born in Ferndale,
Michigan, in 1937. He moved to Detroit when he was ten-years-old and
later attended Cass Technical High School. He earned a bachelor's degree
from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and his
master's degree in double bass performance from the Manhattan School of
Music in New York City in 1961.
Carter's prolific catalogue
features records with many jazz, rock and blues greats including Tommy
Flanagan, Gil Evans, Lena Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, the Kronos
Quartet, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Bobby Timmons and more. Carter
spent much of the '60s as a member of Miles Davis Quintet, which also
featured pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and drummer
Tony Williams. He has toured the U.S. and Europe extensively.
Throughout his career, Carter has been named "Outstanding Bassist of the Decade" by The Detroit News, "Jazz Bassist of the Year" by DownBeat
and "Most Valuable Player" by the National Academy of Recording Arts
and Sciences. He was elected to the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2012.
The 37th annual Detroit Jazz Festival will take place September 2 - 5, 2016.
The festival spans several city blocks in downtown Detroit - from Hart
Plaza to Campus Martius - with four stages and more than 100
performances.
The official
Artist-in-Residence announcement was made Monday night during a
performance by pianist and composer, Randy Weston with the Wayne State
University Big Band "Celebrating the Music of Randy Weston and Melba
Liston" at the Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center in Detroit.
About the Detroit Jazz Festival
The Detroit Jazz Festival is an
independent, non-profit organization that presents jazz and educational
workshops throughout the year. The Detroit Jazz Festival is the largest
free jazz festival in the world and a major tourist attraction for the
City of Detroit, with 23 percent of its audience coming from out of
state.
The Festival receives grant
funding from the Kresge Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts,
Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Erb Family Foundation,
Arts Midwest Touring Fund, Carolyn P. Wanzo and the Detroit Public
Schools Foundation. Hundreds of individual donors also contribute to the
Festival through membership and donations. Major corporate partners
include JPMorgan Chase & Co., DTE Energy Foundation, Quicken Loans,
Absopure, Carhartt, Ford Motor Company, Greektown Casino-Hotel, Mack
Avenue Records and Comcast.
Additional partners include
AMTECH International, Central Michigan University, Detroit Marriott at
the Renaissance Center, Detroit 300 Conservancy, Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe,
Fathead, Great Lakes Beverage, Merrill Lynch, MGM Grand Detroit,
Opportunity Detroit, Pepsi, Plante Moran, PNC Bank, St. John Providence,
Wayne State University, Whole Foods Market and Woodward Gallery. Media
partners include Fox 2, WJR, WDET-FM, WEMU-FM, WRCJ-FM, DownBeat, JazzTimes and MetroTimes. The Greening of the Detroit Jazz Festival is supported by a generous grant from the DTE Energy Foundation.
