Ron Carter has played bass on more than 3,000 albums.
Three thousand.
Most commonly known for holding down the Miles Davis Quintet between 1963 and 1968, he started his career in jazz playing nightclubs with Eric Dolphy and Jaki Byard. A notable album from this early period with Dolphy, Out There, contains Mr. Carter playing the cello instead of double bass to amazing effect.
Since the 60s, Carter has played with James Brown, Gil Evans, B.B. King, the Kronos Quartet, Dexter Gordon, Tommy Flanagan, and many more. His band earned a jazz Grammy in 1993, and in 1998 his Miles Davis Tribute Band got another Grammy for "Call Sheet Blues", a composition for the movie 'Round Midnight. He has lent his talents to film projects for PBS.
Carter has published his knowledge in a book titled Building a Jazz Bass Line (which is really simple and good!), and has collected 140 of his compositions in the book Music of Ron Carter.
Certainly an individualist in style on the bass, Ron Carter has left quite a legacy of grooving behind. He is now a professor of music at the City College of New York.
Information from roncarterbass.com