Ron Carter's
Uptown Conversation may very well be the most intriguing, challenging, and resonant statement of many he has made over the years as a leader. As a prelude to his funkier electric efforts for CTI and the wonderful dates for Milestone Records, where he emphasized the piccolo bass, these selections showcase
Carter with unlikely partners in early creative improvised settings, a hint of R&B, and some of the hard-charging straight-ahead music that he is most well known for. Flute master
Hubert Laws takes a prominent role on several tracks, including the title cut with its funky but not outdated style, where he works in tandem with
Carter's basslines. On "R.J.," the short hard bop phrasings of
Laws and
Carter are peppy and brisk, but not clipped. The first rendering of "Little Waltz," apart from the
Miles Davis repertoire to which
Carter contributed, is more pensive and delicate, with
Laws at the helm rather than
Davis' trumpet.
Carter's trio recordings with pianist
Herbie Hancock and drummer
Billy Cobham are cast in a different light, as the lengthy "Half a Row" (referring to six of a 12-tone row) is at once free, spacy, loose, and very atypical for these soon-to-be fusion pioneers. The three stay in a similar dynamic range during "Einbahnstrasse," but move to some hard bop changes informed by the brilliant chordal vamping and extrapolating of
Hancock, while "Doom" is another 3/4 waltz with chiming piano offsetting
Carter's skittering bass. There's also a free-and-easy duet with guitarist
Sam Brown. Considering the music
Ron Carter played preceding and following this effort, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more diverse, intellectually stimulating, enlivened, and especially unrestricted musical statement in his long and enduring career. ~ Michael G. Nastos