Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy Awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded numerous times on that instrument. In addition to a solo career of more than 60 years, Carter is well-known for playing on numerous iconic Blue Note albums in the 1960s, as well as being the anchor of trumpeter Miles Davis‘s “Second Great Quintet” from 1963-1968.

Beginning with Where? in 1961, Carter’s studio albums as leader also include Uptown Conversation(1969), Blues Farm (1973), All Blues (1973), Spanish Blue (1974), Anything Goes (1975), Yellow & Green(1976), Pastels (1976), Piccolo (1977), Third Plane (1977), Peg Leg (1978), A Song for You (1978), Etudes(1982), The Golden Striker (2003), Dear Miles (2006), and Ron Carter’s Great Big Band (2011).

Carter was born in Ferndale, Michigan. At the age of 10, he started playing the cello, switching to bass while at Cass Technical High School. He earned a B.A. in music from the Eastman School of Music(1959) and a master’s degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music (1961).