Ron Carter: Finding The Right Notes by Dan Ouellette

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ron Carter's musical career spans nearly six decades and he was at the centre of at least three musical movements in modern Jazz.

Exposed to America's racism at an early age, culminating in never achieving his dream of joining an orchestra, he turned like so many of his Afro-American contemporaries to Jazz.

And here is why I struggled with giving this book 4 stars when 3 would have been more honest. The book is written by Dan Ouellette in a style of journalism that captures at times the bi-polar nature of the genre. It is littered with a bewildering number of artists names and quotes as if anchoring a fascinating life is some kind of thesis. It also requires ruthless editing as its strewn with adverbs peppered in jazz-speak.

And Carter's life is worth a biography. He's a true fighter, eschewing the habits that killed a great number of artists. He's an educator, a composer and a huge influence on a generation of musicians.

He has recorded Jazz, Classical, Hip Hop and cut his teeth on jingles (which were in their heyday in the 1970's) & film scores. And these should have been explored further, rather than later chapters.

After chapter 15, I found myself skimming and wishing this book had been written by someone like Stuart Cosgrove who's excellent trilogy 'Detroit 67', 'Memphis 68' & 'Harlem 69' would have cut out all the neurotic Oullette-isms and given Carter that status he deserves - right at the forefront of an era that resonates today.




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