Now, A Jazz Moment...

MUSIC: "Riot" CD: Nefertiti, Columbia/Legacy CK 65681 (cut 5)

Together, NEA Jazz Masters Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock played in one of the most influential bands of modern jazz, Miles Davis' classic quintet of the 1960s. Bassist Ron Carter describes Herbie's enviable powers of improvisation.

Ron Carter: Herbie's one of the few piano players who has the ability to be in the middle of an idea and let that idea be affected by some other input other than his own sense of where it's supposed to go. There are a lot of great piano players today and there will be a lot of great piano players tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. But I don't know if any will come along in a very long time with the ability to let himself be so immediately affected by information around him.

MUSIC: same - up and fades

This Jazz Moment with bassist Ron Carter was created by the National Endowment for the Arts