Ron Carter Sextet

Orfeu

(Blue Note)

At this point in his career, Ron Carter can do anything he wants, and he does. The former bass player in Miles Davis’ celebrated ’60s quintet now busies himself with projects ranging from the all-rhythm setup of his working band to the classical explorations of 1995’s Brandenburg Concerto and more out-there adventures like Joey Baron’s Down Home. For Orfeu, he’s added some lead voices into his group (Houston Person on tenor sax and Bill Frisell on guitar) and turned their attention to traditional Brazilian music. Is Carter getting loco with the current Latin music craze? No, he’s been playing Brazilian stuff for years, and the sessions for Orfeu grew out of his band’s annual visits to São Paulo. As such, they’ve got a real groove going, powered, of course, by Carter’s excellent bass work. Unfortunately, that groove is about the extent of the record’s charms — for reasons known only to him, Carter chose not to solo on any track but the closer, "Samba de Orfeu." While that’s a fine, humble move, the rest of the band sounds like they’re holding back in deference to their leader, and the only thing that really catches fire here is that final tune, which floats subtle, but mile-wide rhythms on Carter’s strong, lovely lead voice.

—Brian Glaser