John Carter, Bobby Bradford

Bobby Bradford grew up in Dallas with Ornette Coleman and played trumpet in Coleman's Los Angeles quartet until the Air Force took him and Don Cherry replaced him. John Carter, from Fort Worth, played clarinet and saxophones. Coleman introduced them in 1965. The band they formed in Watts was called the New Art Jazz Ensemble, and by 1969 it was the John Carter - Bobby Bradford Quartet, with Tom Williamson on bass and Bruz Freeman, elder brother of Von and George, on drums.

Early that year Bob Thiele came to Los Angeles looking for acts for Flying Dutchman. Leon Thomas pointed him to Horace Tapscott, which produced The Giant Is Awakened; Carter and Bradford, preparing to record for Bill Hardy's Revelation label, gave him Flight For Four. Recorded in 1969, five compositions by Carter.

Call to the Festival opens with a fast unison line that gives way to open solos. The Second Set is the angrier one. Side two, Woman and Abstractions for Three Lovers, is the quiet side, with Bradford and Williamson in bluesy dialogue and Carter on clarinet, before Domino closes at speed. The Chicago Reader, reviewing the 2021 International Phonograph reissue, calls Carter and Bradford pioneers of West Coast free jazz and this rhythm section probably their best. Coleman's influence is everywhere; what they do with it is their own.

Japanese CD edition from Solid's Flying Dutchman series.