''Third Plane'' is an album by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

bassist

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...

, released on the

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

label in 1977. It features performances by Carter,

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

and Tony Williams. A second selection of five tracks recorded by the trio during the same day's sessions was released under Herbie Hancock's name as '' Herbie Hancock Trio''.

Music

Jazz writer Thomas Owens highlighted aspects of Carter's playing that are noticeable on the album: "It is a treasure trove of

pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument : * On bowed ...

techniques:

portamento In music, portamento (plural: ''portamenti'', from old it, portamento, meaning "carriage" or "carrying") is a pitch sliding from one note to another. The term originated from the Italian expression "''portamento della voce''" ("carriage of the v ...

effects, vibrato,

double stop In music, a double stop is the technique of playing two notes simultaneously on a stringed instrument such as a violin, a viola, a cello, or a double bass. On instruments such as the Hardanger fiddle it is common and often employed. In performin ...

s (including parallel octaves),

harmonics A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...

, the most legato pizzicato lines in jazz, and those beautiful long notes on the lowest (E) string – notes whose overtone mix evolves continuously as the notes ring."

Track listing

#"Third Plane" (Carter) – 5:53 #"Quiet Times" (Carter) – 7:52 #"Lawra" (Tony Williams) - 6:08 #" Stella by Starlight" (

Ned Washington Ned Washington (born Edward Michael Washington, August 15, 1901 – December 20, 1976) was an American lyricist born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Life and career Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962. He won the Bes ...

Victor Young Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Biography Young is commonly said to ...

) – 8:26 #"United Blues" (Carter) – 3:01 #"Dolphin Dance" (

) – 8:20

Personnel

– bass *

– piano * Tony Williams – drums

References

{{Authority control 1977 albums Tony Williams (drummer) albums Milestone Records albums Ron Carter albums Herbie Hancock albums