With an incredible total of 2,221 individual recording credits as of 15 September 2015, legendary American musician Ronald Levin Carter aka Ron Carter (USA, b.1937) has certainly earned his Guinness World Records title as the Most recorded jazz bassist in history.
Carter has played his elegant and rich double bass lines on tracks for numerous big names in the jazz world, including Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Billy Joel, Hank Jones and Billie Cobham - meaning even if you don't recognise him by name, it is likely you have heard his instrument on a variety of famous recordings.
Born in Ferndale, Michigan, he began his musical career at the age of 10, playing the cello, but he later redirected his talent towards the double bass due to the racial stereotyping of classical musicians. However, he went on to earn a master’s degree in bass performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York.
Carter's big break came as a member of the second great Miles Davis Quintet in the early 1960s, playing alongside Herbie Hancock (piano), Tony Williams (drums) and Wayne Shorter (saxophone), and remained a member of Davis' stellar line-up until 1968.
Carter's impressive resume of achievements also includes performances on the soundtrack to a number of seminal films, such as Midnight Cowboy (1969) as well as TV shows such as Twin Peaks (1990).
The bassist has also dipped his toes into the world of hip hop, after appearing on A Tribe Called Quest's influential album The Low End Theory (1991) on the track "Verses from the Abstract".
Just last year the esteemed jazz artist was given the 2015 Odyssey Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music by the Global Music Awards and, although Ron is now nearing 80, he continues to perform, entertain, and inspire others all over the world.
