The strings vibrate gently. Precise tone, unconditionally clear. And quietly. The longest fingers of jazz dance seemingly weightlessly along the wooden bridge; sinewy, filigree and elegant. No one else sounds like Ron Carter. His double bass often produces a crisp groove like an electric bass, and yet it is always clearly the sound of a classical instrument.

• Audiophile Edition
• 2LP 180 Gram Vinyl
• Pressed at Optimal Media, Germany
• Gatefold Cover
• Includes Bonus Tracks

One of Germany’s most enterprising and acclaimed Independent Jazz Labels, IN+OUT RECORDS, has an exemplary reputation as a producer of jazz recordings of the highest musical and technical quality. The objective of the label, which was founded in the university city of Freiburg in 1988, is to produce recordings of innovative contemporary jazz music using state-of-the-art technology. The company, was named after a 1964 Blue Note album by Joe Henderson, for which IN+OUT managing director, Frank Kleinschmidt, has an abiding affection. IN+OUT aims high and, to judge from the critical response to its output to date, both in terms of the sound quality of its recordings and the musical content, it is succeeding in achieving its aim.

"The strings vibrate gently. Precise tone, unconditionally clear. And quietly. The longest fingers of jazz dance seemingly weightlessly along the wooden bridge; sinewy, filigree and elegant. No one else sounds like Ron Carter. His double bass often produces a crisp groove like an electric bass, and yet it is always clearly the sound of a classical instrument. Then the sound swells irresistibly under Scorpio-like hands. Payton Crossley discreetly strokes the cymbals, and Jimmy Green, the "new guy" on the tenor saxophone, and pianist Renee Rosnes push the chorus onto the finely crocheted rhythm blanket. "Nobody here knows exactly what happens when," says Carter, praising the Foursight Quartet's unique selling point. "That is precisely why every concert is a real challenge. We almost always play 35 to 40 minutes in a row at the beginning. No breaks, just slight changes that indicate the beginning of a new song. If we were a classical formation, you would call it a symphony with five movements. That kind of thing only works with this band!"

In the present case, the movements are called "Cominando", a crackling hardbop structure that brings the spirit of the 1960s into the 21st century within a few bars. Joshua", his reminiscence of his old friend and partner Miles Davis, to whom he was available for many years as a switchman in his quintet and who, with subtle insertions, grounded and ordered the soaring of the other soloists, the dreamy "Little Waltz", the cheerful "Seguaro" as well as a short recapitulation of "Cominando". Carter sees himself as a monitor for the creative energies, as a gentle, inconspicuous navigator whose pulse sets the direction, but who would never destroy the fantasy, the force of the momentum with an ego attack. Sometimes motionlessly amazed, sometimes full of enthusiasm, and in any case willingly, the audience at the Stockholm jazz club "Fasching" on November 17, 2018 was led to the destinations that the gentleman on bass headed for with Rosnes, Greene and Crossley. With the blues "Nearly" the quartet reminded of the late pianist Geri Allen, with the lively "You And the Night And the Music" of Chet Baker, the antipode of Miles Davis. Ron Carter also played with him. The question should be asked differently: Who hasn't?

"You must never over-revise during a live recording," warns the master of whispering tones, whose bass sound can be heard on almost 3000 recordings by now, with a charming smile. "It's like having to give a private concert in the living room. Or we would be a chamber music ensemble that develops the power of a large orchestra without leaving a certain volume level In Stockholm we have undoubtedly succeeded in doing this. I love this recording, I really do!" Here speaks both the insight gained over many decades in countless bands of the most varied orientation and the undisguised joy that there can still be an increase in the autumn of his unparalleled career for an old warhorse like himself. Ron Carter played in the most distinguished houses and in the most desert jazz clubs. The man who finally dragged the double bass out of the dirty corner of the background instrument knows that jazz can also be a wrestling match with ambient noise. Especially in clubs. Shattering glasses in row four, a throat-cleaner in row one, the squeaking of the toilet door somewhere in the back - the 82-year-old, who is still amazingly young, always approaches these interventions of reality into the art of music with the utmost composure. Even in the gaudy "carnival". When it gets too loud at the back, he just plays a little bit quieter at the front. Until everything regulates itself again as if by magic

Because this wooden body in the middle of the stage leads a life next to the classic walking bass like no other from the guild - without neglecting the walking. Patiently, thoughtfully and with all his natural authority, he and his owner put things in order, establish connections and explain the course of life with a few concise notes. Carter's own solos distance themselves from the unstable expression. The magic of the evening lies in reduction. No note too many, rather let the pauses breathe. The music continues to murmur in his head, even when he no longer produces any notes and only moves his sinewy fingers playfully in the air

All power is slumbering directly under the thin surface. It crackles incessantly without ever really exploding. The longer "Stockholm Vol. 1" spins in the player, the more hauntingly the recording exudes the timeless aroma of the Cannonball Adderley live classic "In New York" or of Stanley Turrentine's legendary "Up At Mintons" album - but with much better acoustics. No nostalgia, but the renaissance of good, noble, fine taste. Because a bass player is in charge. "Many of my colleagues still concentrate on their solos. I concentrate on the music and on this very special moment. When I reach it, I rejoice every time!" The zenith as a permanent state" Reinhard Köchl, May 2019

Recorded at Fasching, Stockholm November 17, 2018

Recorded by Mats Landberg and Ulf Östing/Sveringes Radio
Mixed January 2019 by Mats Landberg/Sveringes Radio
Mastered at Temple Studios, Freiburg Germany
Analog Mastering and Vinyl Cutting:

January 14th 2020 at Organic Music Studio, Obing, Germany.
2020 IN+OUT Records - Made in Germany

Musicians:

Bass – Ron Carter
Drums – Payton Crossley
Piano – Renee Rosnes
Tenor Saxophone – Jimmy Greene

Track Listing:

01. Cominando
02. Joshua
03. Little Waltz
04. Seguaro
05. Cominando, Reprise
06. Nearly
07. You And The Night And The Music
08. My Funny Valentine
09. Mr. Bow Tie

Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫