John Carter: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Bobby Bradford
• Ornette Coleman
• Perry Robinson

• Julius Hemphill
• Peter Epstein

• Henry Franklin
• Steve Clover

• Clarinet Summit

Born:

Sep 24, 1929 in Fort Worth, TX

Died:

Mar 31, 1991 in Inglewood, CA

Genres:

Classical Music, Avant Garde Jazz Music, Free Jazz Music

Decades Active:

1960's|1970's|1980's|1990's

Artistic Quality

High

Cultural Impact

Medium

Popularity

Medium

Ratings Guide

John Carter was one of the very few free jazz players to concentrate exclusively on clarinet, and one of not very many to place an emphasis on the music's composed elements. Carter studied alto saxophone and clarinet early in his career. He played with fellow Fort Worth native Ornette Coleman in the late '40s. In 1949, he received his bachelor's degree from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO. In 1956, he earned a master's degree from the University of Colorado. He taught in Fort Worth Public Schools from 19491961 and in the Los Angeles school system from 19611982.

In 1964, while living in Los Angeles, Carter formed the New Art Jazz Ensemble with trumpeter Bobby Bradford (who would also work with Coleman). The next year, he conducted a program of Coleman's music at U.C.L.A. In the late '60s, he played and recorded with pianist Horace Tapscott and saxophonist Arthur Blythe, among others. Carter switched to clarinet fulltime in 1974. He recorded as a leader for the Flying Dutchman, Moers Music, and Revelation labels in the late '60s and early '70s.

In the '70s, Carter became an elder statesman to a group of young Los Angeles free jazz musicians who included multiinstrumentalist Vinny Golia. In 1983, Carter formed a school for improvisation called the Wind College with flutist James Newton, bassist/tubaist Red Callender, and saxophonist Charles Owens. Carter's activities in the '80s included participation in Clarinet Summit, a multigenerational, multistylistic quartet with David Murray, Alvin Baptiste, and Jimmy Hamilton; the group recorded for India Navigation and Black Saint. Carter's major focus during his last decade was, however, a fivepart set of multimovement compositions entitled Roots and Folklore: Episodes in the Development of American Folk Music. The first suite was recorded for Black Saint, the final four for Gramavision.

As a player, Carter comes very much out of the free jazz melodic tradition of Coleman, Bradford, and Dewey Redman. He navigated the notoriously difficult Bflat clarinet with extraordinary fluidity and a rare certainty of execution. Carter had a comprehensive technique and a prodigious imagination; in his compositions, Carter harnessed the looseness of collective improvisation without compromising spontaneity.

- Chris Kelsey, All Music Guide