Ron Carter

I am from the planet of elegance.

A good bassist determines the direction of any band.

A musician’s responsibility is to get as much of his art across to the public as possible.

Lionel Richie told me forget about the critics. But if you come back with hit after hit, you don’t have to worry about anything.

I regard singing pretty much like acting. Each song is like playing a different role. I get very involved with my material. I feel a responsibility for the emotion it brings out in the listener.

It doesn’t matter all that much. It’s just that when you’re playing, Stephane, you’ve got both Chaput and me backing you, but when I’m soloing I’ve only got one guitar behind me!

Do not fear mistakes, there are none.

I’m… a rather simple person with a limited talent and perhaps a limited perspective.

The blues was like that problem child that you may have had in the family. You was a little bit ashamed to let anybody see him, but you loved him. You just didn’t know how other people would take it.

Sometimes it’s to your advantage for people to think you’re crazy.

Blues is to Jazz what yeast is to bread; without it, it’s flat.

I always play what I feel. I always feel like me, but I’m a different me every day. I get ideas from everything. A big color, the sound of water and wind, or a flash of something cool. Playing is like life. Either you feel it or you don’t.

Jazz is a feeling more than anything else.

It seems like I always had to work harder than other people. Those nights when everybody else is asleep, and you sit in your room trying to play scales. I just wonder where I was when the talent was being given out, like George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Eric Clapton… oh, there’s many more! I wouldn’t want to be like them, you understand, but I’d like to be equal, if you will.

You can separate the men from the boys and ballads.

Jazz standards are our contribution to music history.

To this day, I don’t like people walking on stage not looking good. You have to look good. If you feel special about yourself then you’re going to play special.