Ron Carter

Bar Trivia rule No. 618: Faced with a Ron Carter question, always go counterintuitive and choose "all of the above." Bassist for Miles Davis Quintet's seminal mid-'60s records? Yep. The man jousting with Herbie Hancock's left hand on V.S.O.P. recordings such as "Cantaloupe Island"? You bet. Featured in both Robert Altman's Kansas City and the Dexter Gordon showcase 'Round Midnight? Check those soundtrack credits (and his Grammy). Guest bassist on Gil Scott-Heron's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised? The acoustic bass behind A Tribe Called Quest's The Low-End Theory? So widely sampled he's put out his own "loop and sample" CD? Yes, yes and yes — and smart move on the last one. The one rule at Carter's shows is to expect anything; Carter, distinguished music professor emeritus at City College of New York, cellist and master of the piccolo bass (there's another one), is a living, breathing half-century of jazz.