Ron Carter is the epitome of class and elegance: a jazz icon best known as a member of Miles Davis’s second great quintet of the Sixties.

His prodigious technique, effortlessly combining rhythm and melody, also makes him one of the greatest accompanists of all time.

You can hear that on this wonderful tune by Roberta Flack, an artist I mistakenly think of as a balladeer, on account of her two huge hits, Killing Me Softly and The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face.

There is of course much more to her than that, and this song from her 1969 debut – originally recorded by Les McCann and Eddie Harris – just blows my mind.

Carter’s bass interweaves beautifully with Flack’s piano, Ray Lucas’s subtle drumming, and that smoking horn section.

I don’t know much about the technicalities of bass-playing but Carter is praised for his ability to combine walking lines, thick, full tones, drones, and strumming effects.

Almost exclusively an acoustic player, he is nearly as accomplished as a classic al cellist, and has performed with symphony orchestras all over the world, as well as releasing eclectic solo albums.

He’s won three Grammy awards, one of them for Call Sheet Blues from the 1987 film Round Midnight.

Carter began playing cello at ten and switched to bass while in high school in Detroit, playing in their orchestra before moving to New York and enrolling at the Manhattan School of Music.

He made his first recordings there with Eric Dolphy, going on to work with Thelonious Monk and Cannonball Adderley, where his prowess caught the attention of Miles Davis.

He played in Miles’s second great quintet of the Sixties alongside Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams, earning a reputation that led to him becoming one of the most recorded bassists in jazz history.