Ron Carter and String Quartet ETHEL Play Monk and Bach at Carnegie Hall, New York City, USA.

Date: Thursday, March 13, 2025

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Tix Now Available: Ron Carter and String Quartet ETHEL Play Monk at Carnegie Hall 3/13

Acclaimed String Quartet ETHEL and Legendary Bassist Ron Carter Present REFLECTIONS ON MONK AND BACH, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, March 13, 2025
World premiere performance of MONK SUITE — compositions and arrangements for string quartet and bass featuring the music of Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington and J. S. Bach

String quartet ETHEL ’s Carnegie Hall debut

The “avatar of ‘post-classical’ music—the virtuosic string quartet ETHEL (The New Yorker)” and legendary bassist Ron Carter join forces for an unforgettable classical-jazz mashup performance at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. Centered on the music from Monk Suite: Kronos Quartet Plays Music of Thelonious Monk, an album celebrating the art of Thelonious Monk arranged originally for string quartet and bass, this remarkable concert unites two leaders of their respective musical fields for one unique genre-defying performance. (Program details are below.) 

“ETHEL is thrilled and honored to share the Carnegie Hall stage with our longtime friend and Board Member, Ron Carter. We have been waiting for the right opportunity to collaborate and are honored that Maestro Carter conjured up this concert for us. This celebratory event demonstrates the flexibility and timelessness of the string quartet and how well jazz translates to it.”  — DOROTHY LAWSON, cellist and co-founder of ETHEL

Marking ETHEL’s Carnegie Hall debut, the program involves the recasting of some of Monk’s work as string quartet music, affirming the strength and universality of his music. It was 40 years ago when Carter recorded these works on the Monk Suite album (Arkiv Music, 1985) with the Kronos Quartet. JazzTimes raved at the time that “the unexpected settings and sonorities work well on a strong front line (fiddles as trumpet and tenor, viola as trombone); Carter’s role, beautifully balances between arco and pizz., elicits solos of crisp authority.” Also on the program are a few of Duke Ellington works as played by Monk as well as Carter’s jazzy-tinged version of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #3.

“I am looking forward to playing my version of what Bach’s music would sound like if he could do what I do, with the tools and jazz bassist’s perspective that I have. I hope and expect the audience will be surprised — and surprised that they enjoyed this concept.”  — RON CARTER, bassist

About ETHEL      

Established in New York City in 1998, string quartet ETHEL sets the contemporary concert standard: “indefatigable and eclectic” (The New York Times), “vital and brilliant” (The New Yorker). Composer performers—Ralph Farris (viola), Kip Jones (violin), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Corin Lee (violin)—fuse uptown panache with downtown genre mashup. ETHEL has performed across the United States and worldwide; released eight feature albums (most recently Persist with flutist Allison Loggins-Hull); guested on 50+ recordings; won a GRAMMY® with jazz legend Kurt Elling; and toured with Todd Rundgren & Joe Jackson. ETHEL champions the art and music of today, forging human connections across sound and style.

At the heart of ETHEL is a collaborative ethos — a quest for common creative expression, forged in listening and community. The quartet designs productions that inspire engagement, such as “The Red Willow,” featuring Taos Pueblo flutist Robert Mirabal, and “Signature Sessions,” a supercharged survey of the quartet’s 25+ years of inspired music-making.

ETHEL has premiered over 250 works, many of them commissioned by the quartet; ETHEL members have themselves been commissioned by The Ringling Museum of Art, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Georgia Tech, and the NEA. The quartet regularly performs music by such celebrated composers as Julia Wolfe, Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, Jessie Montgomery, Andy Akiho, and Marcelo Zarvos. Other collaborators include Bang on a Can All-Stars, Vijay Iyer, Stewart Copeland, Raven Chacon, David Byrne, Annie-B Parson, Gina Gibney, Grant McDonald, Steve Cosson, and Annie Dorsen.

ETHEL has been featured at TED Conferences; on ABC Radio Australia, SiriusXM, Conan O’Brien, John Schaefer’s New Sounds, Fred Child’s Performance Today, Randy Cohen’s Person Place Thing, NPR’s Weekend Edition; and on the soundtracks of Dan In Real Life and HBO’s Deadwood. From mid-2020 to early ‘22, ETHEL curated and produced Balcony Bar from Home, a virtual series hosted on The Metropolitan Museum’s Facebook page which has garnered nearly two million views.

ETHEL is Ensemble-in-Residence at Denison University, and Resident Ensemble at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Balcony Bar in the Great Hall. ETHELcentral.org

About RON CARTER    

RON CARTER is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz and has played on seminal albums in many other genres. He has recorded over 2200 albums, and has a Guinness world record to prove it! In Jazz: From 1963 to 1968, he was a member of the acclaimed Miles Davis Quintet. He can be heard on many iconic jazz records of the 60’s and 70’s such as Speak No Evil, Maiden Voyage, Speak Like a Child, Red Clay to name a few. In other music genres: After leaving the quintet he embarked on a prolific 50-year free-lance career that spanned vastly different music genres and continues to this day. He recorded with Roberta Flack and Aretha Franklin, with Gil Scott Heron on Pieces of a Man, appeared on the seminal hip-hop album Low End Theory with A Tribe Called Quest, played on albums by Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Paul Simon and more and wrote and recorded pieces for string quartets and Bach chorales for 2-8 basses.

As a leader: Carter has spent at least half the year on worldwide tours with his various groups. The Ron Carter Trio, The Ron Carter Foursight Quartet, the Ron Carter Nonet and Ron Carter’s Great Big Band. He has recorded multiple albums with his groups. As an author: Carter shares his expertise in the series of books he authored, where he explains his creative process and teaches bassists of all levels to improve their skills and develop their own unique sound. He also penned
his autobiography “Finding the Right Notes.” In 2021 he pioneered a new type of music transcription with Chartography, showing not only the bass line but also how the band responded and how the entire tune transformed over time.

As a teacher: He was Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies while it was located in Boston and, after 18 years on the faculty of the Music Department of The City College of New York, he is now Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He also taught at the Juilliard School and at Manhattan School of Music.

Awards and Honorifics: He is a three-time GRAMMY® winner, was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette for his contributions to Japan-US relations, the medallion and title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by France, numerous MVP and Outstanding Bassist awards by the music press.

He has seven honorary doctorates from Juilliard, Berklee, University of Michigan, New England Conservatory, Clark University, Manhattan School of Music and University of Rochester. Film appearances: In October 2022 PBS released a full-length feature film documentary called Ron Carter Finding the Right Notes about Carter’s life and legend. He appeared as himself on an episode of HBO’s Treme and in Round Midnight, among others. RonCarterJazz.com

Program + Ticketing Info
Thursday, March 13, 2025, at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Corner of 57th St & Seventh Ave, Trains N/Q/R/W 57th St
Tickets: $100+. To purchase, contact http://www.carnegiehall.org | CarnegieCharge 212.247.7800 |
Box Office at 57th Street & Seventh Avenue

RON CARTER and ETHEL | Reflections on Monk + Bach
Ron Carter (bass)
Dorothy Lawson (cello)
Ralph Farris (viola)
Kip Jones (violin)
Corin Lee (violin)

BACH Brandenburg Concerto #3 (arr. Carter)
MONK ‘Round Midnight (arr. Darter)
MONK Misterioso (arr. Darter)
MONK Monk Suite (arr. by Darter)
ELLINGTON Black and Tan Fantasy (as played by Monk, arr. Darter)
ELLINGTON It Don’t Mean a Thing (if it Ain’t Got That Swing) (as played by Monk, by Darter)