John Wallace Carter (September 24, 1929 – March 31, 1991) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

clarinet, saxophone, and flute player. He is noted for the acclaimed ''Roots and Folklore'' series, a five-album

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

set inspired by

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

life and experiences.

Biography

Born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, Carter attended

I.M. Terrell High School I.M Terrell High School was a secondary school located in Fort Worth, Texas. The school opened in 1882 as the city's first black school, during the era of formal racial segregation in the United States. Though the high school closed in 1973, th ...

, and played music with schoolmates

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

and

Charles Moffett Charles Moffett (September 6, 1929 – February 14, 1997) was an American free jazz drummer. Biography Moffett was born in Fort Worth, Texas, where he attended I.M. Terrell High School with Ornette Coleman. Before switching to drums, Moffett ...

in the 1940s. Carter earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from Lincoln University in Jefferson, Missouri in 1949, and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

in 1956. He also studied at the

North Texas State The University of North Texas (UNT) is a Public university, public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private Normal school, teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 y ...

and

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. From 1961, Carter was based mainly on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

. There he met

Bobby Bradford Bobby Lee Bradford (born July 19, 1934) is an American jazz trumpeter, cornetist, bandleader, and composer. In addition to his solo work, Bradford is noted for his work with John Carter, Vinny Golia and Ornette Coleman. In October 2009, Bradfo ...

in 1965, with whom he subsequently worked on a number of projects, notably the New Jazz Art Ensemble. He also played with

Hampton Hawes Hampton Barnett Hawes Jr. (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) was an American jazz pianist. He was the author of the memoir ''Raise Up Off Me'', which won the Deems-Taylor Award for music writing in 1975. Early life Hampton Hawes was born on N ...

and

Harold Land Harold de Vance Land (December 18, 1928 – July 27, 2001) was an American hard bop and post-bop tenor saxophonist. Land developed his hard bop playing with the Max Roach/ Clifford Brown band into a personal, modern style, often rivalling Cliffor ...

. In the 1970s Carter became well known on the basis of his solo concerts. At New Jazz Festival Moers in 1979, he and the German clarinet player

Theo Jörgensmann Theodor Franz Jörgensmann (born 29 September 1948) is a German jazz clarinetist. Activities Theo Jörgensmann belongs to the second generation of European free jazz musicians. He was part of the clarinet renaissance in the jazz and improvisin ...

performed on three days. Afterwards Carter received complimentary reviews and wide recognition from around the world. He and Jörgensmann met again in 1984. The program of the Berlin JazzFest was built around the clarinet. After Carter's solo performance, he and Jörgensmann also played together. Between 1982 and 1990, Carter composed and recorded ''Roots and Folklore: Episodes in the Development of American Folk Music'', five albums focused on African Americans and their history. The complete set was acclaimed by jazz critics as containing some of the best releases of the 1980s. A clarinet quartet with

Perry Robinson Perry Morris Robinson (September 17, 1938 – December 2, 2018) was an American jazz clarinetist and composer. He was the son of composer Earl Robinson. Early life and education Robinson was born and grew up in New York City. He attended the Le ...

, Jörgensmann and Eckard Koltermann was planned for 1991, but Carter did not recover from a non-malignant tumor. Later that year he was inducted into the ''Down Beat'' Jazz Hall of Fame.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

*1969: ''Seeking'' (

Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

Hatology Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, ...

) *1969: '' Flight for Four'' (

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dut ...

) *1970: '' Self Determination Music'' (Flying Dutchman) *1972: ''Secrets'' (Revelation) *1975: ''No U-Turn – Live in Pasadena, 1975'' (Dark Tree) *1977: ''Echoes from Rudolph's'' (Ibedon) *1979: ''Variations on Selected Themes for Jazz'' ''Quintet'' (

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; archaic Dutch language, Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German List of cities and towns in Germany, city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel (d ...

) *1980: ''Suite of Early American Folk Pieces for Solo Clarinet'' (Moers) *1980: ''Night Fire'' (Black Saint) *1982: ''Tandem 1'' ( Emanem) *1989: ''Comin' On'' (hat Art) with Bobby Bradford *1996: ''Tandem 2'' (Emanem) *1982: ''

Dauwhe ''Dauwhe'' is an album by American jazz clarinetist John Carter (jazz musician), John Carter recorded in 1982 for the Italian Black Saint/Soul Note, Black Saint label.

'' (Black Saint) *1986: '' Castles of Ghana'' (

Gramavision Gramavision Records is an American record label founded in 1979. Since 1994 it has been a subsidiary of Rykodisc. The label's music is largely jazz, blues and folk oriented but has touched on many other styles and genres. In 1979, Jonathan F.P. ...

) *1987: ''Dance of the Love Ghosts'' (Gramavision) *1988: ''Fields'' (Gramavision) *1989: ''Shadows on a Wall'' (Gramavision)

As sideman

With

Tim Berne Tim Berne (born October 16, 1954) is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones. Biography Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said that ...

* ''The Five Year Plan'' (Empire, 1979) With

Clarinet Summit Clarinet Summit was a project organized by producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt in 1979. The 1979 concert was released on MPS Records as ''You Better Fly Away''. It features John Carter, Perry Robinson, Gianluigi Trovesi, Bernd Konrad, Theo Jörgens ...

* ''You Better Fly Away'' ( MPS, 1979) * ''Clarinet Summit'' (

India Navigation India Navigation was an American record company and independent record label that specialized in avant-garde jazz in the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded by Bob Cummins, a corporate lawyer who helped jazz musicians with legal matters. Its catalog ...

, 1983) * ''Clarinet Summit, Vol. 2'' (India Navigation, 1983) * ''Southern Bells'' (Black Saint, 1987) With

Vinny Golia Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. Career As a composer, Golia fuse ...

* ''Spirits in Fellowship'' (

Nine Winds Nine Winds is an American jazz record label that was founded in 1977 by Vinny Golia. Golia is a self-taught musician who plays over fifty woodwind instruments, in addition to brass. In the early 1970s, he believed it was impossible for musicians ...

, 1977) * ''Live at the Century City Playhouse - Los Angeles, 1979'' (Dark Tree, 2017) * ''Compositions for Large Ensemble'' (Nine Winds, 1982) With Richard Grossman * ''In the Air'' (Nine Winds Records, 1991) With John Lindberg * ''The East Side Suite'' (Sound Aspects Records, 1983) With

James Newton James W. Newton (born May 1, 1953) is an American jazz and classical flutist. Biography He was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. From his earliest years, James Newton grew up immersed in the sounds of African-American music, inclu ...

* ''The Mystery School'' (India Navigation, 1980) * ''Water Mystery'' (Gramavision, 1986) With

Horace Tapscott Horace Elva Tapscott (April 6, 1934 – February 27, 1999) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (also known as P.A.P.A., or The Ark) in 1961 and led the ensemble through the 1990s. Early lif ...

* ''

The Dark Tree ''The Dark Tree'' is a live album by pianist Horace Tapscott recorded in 1989 and released on the Hat ART label as two separate volumes in 1991.

'' (Hat ART, 1991 989

References

External links

Detailed discography, with personnel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, John Avant-garde jazz musicians 1928 births 1991 deaths American jazz clarinetists American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz flautists People from Fort Worth, Texas University of Colorado alumni Lincoln University (Missouri) alumni University of North Texas College of Music alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Emanem Records artists Moers Music artists 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Texas 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Flying Dutchman Records artists Gramavision Records artists 20th-century flautists