Chuck Carter
Bebop Jazz Saxophonist & Clarinetist
Inducted into the Indianapolis Jazz Hall of Fame in 198
Chuck Carter
(BORN? – Present)
Saxophonist/clarinetist Chuck Carter’s earliest days of his career were spent playing at the old Essex House in the 500 Room, perfecting his bebop licks. If there ever was a standard for a bebop musician, Carter set it, not only in his playing but in his lifestyle, even down to his cool hipness of understated humor punctuated with a lot of “like, man.”
Classic among jazz fans was Carter’s hip renderings of “Mother Goose Rhymes.”
Carter’s passion as a jazz musician took him through the big bands of Stan Kenton to Von Ohlen/Allee, where his muscular bebop baritone sax solos were always spectacular. Returning to Indy, Carter worked in various groups before teaming up in the late ’90s with a young upcoming drummer, Gene Markiewicz, to form the Carter/Markiewicz Jazz Quartet, which recorded the Evolution Step 1 CD.
Markiewicz recalls in a Nuvo article what it was like playing and hanging out with Carter. “He was my partner, teacher, and I loved him,” he says.
“I learned from him all the time. Chuck used to always carry a bag of stuff like snacks, his clarinet and things. I drove us to a gig 15 minutes from my house. By the time we got there, Chuck had totally trashed my car with his stuff. To ride with Chuck was like watching an egg being dropped, he just sort of spread out. He was funny messing with his stuff. As one of his fans, I never got over the fact that I was playing with Chuck Carter — he was that great of a musician.”
