Ron Carter grows old the way he plays the doublebass – gracefully. One of the most sought-after jazz bassists ever, and a cornerstone of Miles Davis' intuitive 1960s quintet, Carter celebrated his 80th birthday with this live recording in Germany, featuring the latest edition of the Golden Striker trio he launched in 2002 to play a discreetly low-key (sometimes overly so) mainstream repertoire. Carter's ringing intonation, thumping walk and sly harmonics mostly roll on with their usual breezy decisiveness, and new Nicaraguan-American pianist Donald Vega and regular guitarist Russell Malone are right on his heels. The recording's sometimes guitar-like amplified tone for his double-bass is occasionally a little coarse by Carter standards, but there's plenty of opening vivacity to Oscar Pettiford's calland-response swinger ‘Laverne Walk’ – which invites some chirpy stride-like piano from the polished Vega, and classy linear playing and propulsive chordwork from Malone. The guitarist's slowly curving elisions and Vega's patient pacing make them both fine ballad-players, as they confirm on Carter's ‘Candle Light’, the MJQlike ‘A Nice Song’ and the closing ‘My Funny Valentine’, while ‘The Golden Striker’ itself is introduced as a back-and-forth melodic chat, and develops as a chugging, garrulously muttering groove. This is sometimes rather polite, recollection-in-tranquillity jazz, but it breathes humanity and warmth.