Legendary bassist Ron Carter started out as a cellist, but switched to bass in high school and from classical to jazz while studying at the Eastman School of Music. His 1961 debut album features Eric Dolphy on reeds, Mal Waldron on piano, George Duvivier on bass and Charlie Persip on drums. Carter and Dolphy had played together with Chico Hamilton, and on the saxophonist’s 1960 album Out There, which also featured Duvivier. Their ideas meshed very well, and the music swings hard, but gets quite exploratory at times in terms of melody and timbre. Carter’s cello playing is high-energy and songlike, and Dolphy brings injects avant-garde ideas into the blues and vice versa. Their unison melody lines are unexpected and thrilling. Waldron, a cerebral pianist, is the perfect middleman, and Duvivier’s bass pulse glues everything together as Persip keeps the drums loping along.