This is the soundtrack album to Peter Schnell's PBS documentary of the same name – first aired in October – about Ron Carter, that traces his story from Ferndale, Michigan, to the world's concert stages. But it's more than just a soundtrack – it's 10 complete performances that the TV documentary dips into. To all of us in the bass playing world, Ron is the guvnor. Not only the most-recorded bassist in history, but still – at 85 – a man who consistently shows what it is possible for this lowly instrument to do. The centre of the album is the up-to-the-minute work by the current quartet with which Ron toured the world this summer, featuring Jimmy Greene, Renee Rosnes and Payton Crossley.

Their beautifully balanced ‘Flamenco Sketches’ shows just how Ron has moved from a consummate sideman to a bassist who dictates the pace and atmosphere of his own band. (The limited edition double LP has an additional bonus track by this line-up).

But his range and openness are on show here too. He digs back in history with ‘Sweet Lorraine’, a duo with pianist Jon Batiste, shares the stage with other bassists Stanley Clarke, and then Christian McBride (in an exploratory reading of ‘Willow Weep For Me’) and, with Bill Frisell, he plays a sensitive duo on ‘My Man's Gone Now’, reminding me of the weekly sessions I used to attend in 1980s Manhattan where Ron and Jim Hall took ballads apart during their creative jousting.

But just to prove he's as at home in a large ensemble as in these nuanced chamber jazz settings, he joins the WDR big band for a trio of pieces. Of these, the lively ‘Receipt Please’ is the highlight, his positive and thoughtful basslines constantly propelling the rhythm section to support some fine solos and ensemble playing, as well as giving him solo space for his own inventive melodic ideas and fine chordal double stopping. A total delight by the world's most consummate jazz bassist.