John Carter

Vocation

Notable

American jazz clarinet, saxophone, and flute player. Carter attended I.M. Terrell High School, and played music with schoolmates Ornette Coleman and Charles Moffett in the 1940s. From 1961, Carter was based mainly on the West Coast. There he met Bobby Bradford in 1965, with whom he subsequently worked on a number of projects. He also played with Hampton Hawes and Harold Land. In the 1970s Carter became well known on the basis of his extraordinary solo concerts. At New Jazz Festival Moers 1979 he and the German clarinet player Theo Jörgensmann 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, in five albums focused on African Americans and their history. The complete set was acclaimed by jazz critics. Carter died from a nonmalignant tumor on 31 March 1991. That year he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. Link to Wikipedia biography