04/21/2023
Ron Carter: For young bass players, my advice is always the same: take lessons from advanced bass players! Usually, bassists are the least educated musicians on the bandstand. That’s because if you play some bass, you can get some work. Bands sometimes don’t improve because the bass players aren’t really learning on the job. All bass players should study harmony and music whenever they can.
A lot of this music comes from the bass. The bass takes a lot of work physically, but there’s some kind of knowledge that is also from trial and error and getting relaxed in every situation. From the second I take my bass out of the case on the current gig, I try to have the sound I had on the last gig. If the sound of “me” is always there, that makes everything else less difficult. Fighting every night for your sound is rough.
Part of it is being willing to be flexible, even when you don’t agree with the other players. You can adjust. I try to state what the beat is, and hopefully the other guys will trust me on that. Most leaders like authority. They don’t want a mouse back there. If you have authority, the other musicians will respond.
Ethan Iverson Interview
Photo: Joseph Berg Jazz Photography
