John Carter

Saxophonist/clarinetist John Carter was associated with Ornette Coleman in the '40s in their shared hometown of Fort Worth. Coleman moved to Los Angeles in the early '50s as did Dallas trumpeter Bobby Bradford who would work with Ornette sporadically for the next 20 years. Carter moved to LA in 1961 and eventually found in Bobby Bradford an ideal collaborator.

Initially calling their quartet The New Art Jazz Ensemble, they made their debut album Seeking in 1969 for the small Revelation Records. Their music was very much in the same orbit as Ornette's with darting linear compositions and freedom from chordal structures blended into a marvelous fresh sense of swing and blues roots.

Carter's virtuosity on clarinet, flute and saxophone sets the benchmark for the music that this group strives for and achieves. Distinctive for their rich vibrant tones and articulation, Carter and Bradford bring a variety of colors, moods and rhythms to their vibrant brand of modern jazz. They manage to achieve an air of precision with a music that thrives on interplay and looseness. Every performance resonates with beauty and adventure.

This set includes both Carter/Bradford albums on Revelation (the other is Secrets as well as two unissued sessions from 1971 and a 1979 duet studio session which label co-founder Jonathan Horwich taped at Westlake Studios in LA. These new discoveries (almost two hours of unissued music) greatly expand the Carter/Bradford output, which was heretofore known to be only two albums each on Revelation and Flying Dutchman.

PERSONNEL:

(A) John Carter (as, ts, cl, fl), Bobby Bradford (tp)
Tom Williamson (b) Bruz Freeman (d)
Produced by Jonathan Horwich
Recorded on January 16, 1969 at Occidental College, Los Angeles.

(B) JJohn Carter (as, ts, cl, fl) Bobby Bradford (tp) Tom Williamson (b)

Bruz Freeman (d)
Produced by John William Hardy
Recorded in early 1969 at Occidental College, Los Angeles

(C) John Carter (as, cl) Bobby Bradford (tp)
Bill Henderson (p) Henry Franklin (b) Bruz Freeman (d)
Produced and recorded by John William Hardy
Recorded on November 9, 1971 at Occidental College, Los Angeles

(D) John Carter (as, cl) Bobby Bradford (tp) Nate Morgan (p

Louis Spears (b) Leon Ndugu Chancler (d)
Produced by John William Hardy and Jonathan Horwich
Recorded on April 4, 1972 at Occidental College, Los Angeles.

(E) John Carter (cl) Bobby Bradford (tp)
Produced and recorded by Jonathan Horwich
Recorded on July 7, 1979 at Westlake Studios, Los Angeles.
All titles are previously unissued.

DISC ONE:

01. In the Vineyard (A)
02. Karen On Monday (A)
03. Sticks and Stones (A)
04. The Village Dancers (A)
05. Seeking (A)
06. Song For The Unsung (A)
07. Sticks and Stones (B)
08. Blues Upstairs (B)
09. Domino (B)

DISC TWO

01. The Village Dancers (B)
02. Rosevita’s Dance (D)
03. Ballad (D)
04. Circle (C)
05. In A Pretty Place (D)
06. Latin (C)
07. The Little Waltz (C)
08. Woodmen Hall Blues (C)

DISC THREE

01. And She Speaks (E)
02. Pinch (E)
03. Redwood (E)
04. This Earth Feeling (E)
05. Scramble (E)