Bass player Ron Carter’s debut album Where? features Eric Dolphy (clarinet, sax, flute) and Mal Waldron (piano). The album was originally released in 1961 having been recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studios in New Jersey.

Interestingly enough, the set appeared under Eric Dolphy’s name first, but it is, in fact, bassist Ron Carter’s date - his first as a leader. Carter and Dolphy had played together in Chico Hamilton’s group and on Dolphy’s important 1960 date Out There.

This new edition is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and presented in a Tip-On Jacket with obi.

Side A:
1. Rally
2. Bass Duet
3. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise

Side B:
1. Where?
2. Yes, Indeed
3. Saucer Eyes

I love this album for a number of reasons, but foremost is the unique configuration of the ensemble. Carter’s chops as a bassist were undeniable even as a twenty-four year old, but he had the courage to enlist bassist George Duvivier to join him on three of the tracks, then play cello himself without a bassist on three other tracks. Add in Eric Dolphy’s bass clarinet on some of the tracks and you have a musician vision that is not only unique in concept, but also in performance.

The sounds brought forth embody a complete essence of a truly great album and although the music clocks in at a scant 35:48, this album is especially important to musicians - regardless of instrument - who can gain a lot of insights by closely studying the way the ensemble comes together and the structure of Carter’s arrangements.

Recorded at Rudy van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs, NJ studio on June 20, 1961 (less than a month after Carter’s twenty-fourth birthday), Carter is heard on cello for three of the six tracks and his natural born skill set is undeniable throughout.

For me, the two highlights here are the opener, which features Dolphy’s freewheeling bass clarinet and the composer’s most adventurous cello work on this set, and the easygoing duet with George Duvivier; a quiet, back-porch conversation that makes few demands on either of these bass giants, sure, and yet sumptuously invites you to listen, to engage.

Taking them one by one, and pianist Mal Waldron is characteristically dry, economical, and swinging. Drummer Charlie Persip quietly impresses with thoughtful, detailed work. Duvivier is on bass when Carter plays cello. The six tracks lovingly comprise two Carter originals, two standards, and a pair of Randy Weston numbers and they are blended supremely.

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