Ron Carter's Golden Striker Trio

Sat., May 22 2010 at 12:00AM

One of the deans of old-school upright bass, Ron Carter has had less than a brilliant career in the decades since serving as the rock-solid anchor to Miles Davis whirling 1960s quintet. But then, nobody in that band quite reached that pinnacle again. With an instrument that can sometimes seem faceless, Carter has carved out a fleet and thrumming soundlike an elephant nimbly leapingthats as unmistakable as Miles own. He has tended to stick to pretty straight-ahead settings, and his drum-less Golden Striker Triowith Diana Kralls favorite guitarist, Russell Malone, on the traditional hollow-body, and Mulgrew Miller on pianois no exception. If old-school truths, earnestly rendered, are your bag, than this is your band. MARK D. FEFER