Where technology meets art

John Carter and Bobby Bradford, The Complete Revelation Sessions

International Phonograph Inc. produced this three-CD set for Mosaic Records. Jonathan Horwich was involved in the original recording of most of the material on these three CDs while co-owning his first jazz label, Revelation Records.

As to the music, 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.

This title is out of print.