With eight decades and 2,000 records under his belt, and four strings under his masterful fingers, the grand old man of the double bass remains as formidable as ever. Here he launches a new project in which four cellos join a quartet of piano, drums, bass, and Carter himself on piccolo bass. (If the last sounds beneath his dignity, don’t fret: it’s just a full-sized bass strung and tuned an octave higher, and he’s been playing it for over 40 years.) —E.E.