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Journal - Ron Reflects on Carnegie Hall-June 2007
| 10/4/2007 - Journal: Carnegie Hall
As I’m working on my chapter on Ron’s triumphant Carnegie Hall concert in June 2007—with four different bands: his trio, his quartet, his duo partnership with Jim Hall and a special quartet with former Miles alums Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Billy Cobham—I’m transcribing interviews I had with him about the event—his reflections before, during and after.
One question I asked him was, prior to the show, did he worry about how the large, heralded hall would fill up? In other words, what if a small crowd showed up instead of the near sellout that he attracted?
Ron replied, “I was never concerned about the number of people that showed up. I was concerned that I’d make a presentation worthy enough for those who came to the concert.”
The seasoned veteran that he is, Ron also noted that he’s experienced times when the crowds weren’t what he had hoped for. He recalled back in 1977 when he had just put together a quartet that scored a week’s stay at the Village Vanguard. “Some of my friends who knew me from working at the clubs uptown came to the Vanguard for the second set one night,” he said. “The house was maybe half-full. They asked me how I was doing? I told them that I was pretty disappointed and even despondent. They told me, ‘Hey, you’re still driving a Mercedes even if there’s no gas in the car at the moment.’ That’s helped me through the times when I expected a larger turnout.”
Larger turnouts have not been an issue in 2007. Carnegie sold out except for a handful of seats that have obstructed views. When I did my live DownBeat Blindfold Test with Ron at the International Association for Jazz Educators mega-conference in New York in January, it was the largest crowd I’d seen for an audience-attended BFT (and I have done 25-30 over the years at Monterey Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival and IAJE)—plus, no one left the auditorium to go sample another clinic or show.
Another example: when Monifa Brown, a DJ at the jazz radio station in New Jersey, WBGO, interviewed Ron live at J&R Music in downtown New York. She wrote me an e-mail after the event:
“Just wanted to let you know that the Ron Carter performance/interview was superb. He was totally gracious with his time, conversation and performance. The jazz floor at J&R was absolutely mobbed. I think it was their biggest crowd ever. It was beautiful to see how many people came out to express their love and admiration of Ron Carter. He was a delight and made me feel instantly comfortable, choosing to share the same mic and do every interview segment with his arm around me. I am blessed to have had this rare opportunity that I will always cherish. Ron Carter is a living legend and should be deemed a national treasure!”
I joked with Ron that this truly is his season. “You mean, that everything is falling in place?” he asked, then replied to his own question: “If you stay around long enough, I guess people acknowledge it.”
—Dan Ouellette, Shelter Island, Dec. 2007 | | |
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