Cab Calloway

It’s safe to say that Ron Carter may be one of the most prolific and widely-successful jazz artists to have come from Rochester. During his time at the Eastman School of Music, Carter regularly gigged around the area, afterwards gaining a master’s in music from the Manhattan School of Music. Following his schooling, his career only moved upwards. In the 1960s, Carter joined the second Miles Davis Quintet alongside Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Tony Williams. And afterward, he developed a pedigree of performances that included playing alongside Cannonball Adderly, Dexter Gordon, Eric Dolphy, Thelonious Monk, Lionel Hampton, and Aretha Franklin. He now boasts having played on a record 2,221 albums, two Grammys, and six books published. Upon welcoming him back for a master class and concert, the Eastman applauded his “multi-faceted engagement with music,” deeming him “one of [their] most distinguished alumni.”

Carter is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Music Department at the City College of New York, a Jazz Studies Professor at the Julliard School, and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Board of Directors of the Jazz Foundation of America.