Eight Plus

by Rick Anderson"Playing jazz is about taking risks," says bassist, cellist, composer, and jazz elder statesman Ron Carter, and you have to give him credit for never settling into a rut over the course of his long and checkered musical career. On this album he heads a fairly standard quintet that features two significant innovations: Carter himself plays a half-size piccolo bass (which he uses mostly as a melody instrument, leaving the actual bass parts to the impressive Leon Maleson) and the quintet is further augmented by three cellists. Is the experiment a success? For the most part, yes. The intonation problems that marred Carter's cello playing in the early '60s with pianist Mal Waldron have followed him onto the piccolo bass, but his humor, energy, and inventiveness are enough to put the music across despite the occasional tuning problems. The cellos are a nice touch, and their chordal accompaniments give Carter's compositions an unusual and pleasing texture. Highlights on the program include a nicely constructed blues entitled "Blues for Bradley," a sprightly arrangement of the gospel standard "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" that comes off sounding like a cross between funk and second-line New Orleans jazz, and the lovely "Little Waltz," which is a bit slow for dancing but which beautifully showcases the cellos. On the downside, Carter's Freddie Green-style chord vamping on Leon Russell's "Song for You" is cute, but ultimately ineffective.