With the passing of Ray Brown, Carter can safely be called the greatest living jazz bassist. A part of jazz history, he was a member of the Miles Davis Quintet with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams.
The UW jazz department has hosted several jazz greats for workshops lately, including Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny. Frisell jammed with faculty members Marc Seales and Cuong Vu; Metheny just answered questions. Carter is expected to play, although its unclear if he's going to play with anyone.
His visit was arranged by faculty member and instructor Barry Lieberman, who teaches bass and is a member of the Seattle Symphony.
We had a lot of great jazz people come through here with hardly any notice," said Joanne De Pue, with the UW School of Music. This one's going to be great. When we had Pat Metheny, a lot of fans and superfans showed up. We love it when the public comes."