John Carter, A Suite of Early American Folk Pieces for Solo Clarinet (side A)

The title of 1979's A Suite of Early American Folk Pieces for Solo-Clarinet is misleading—all compositions on the album are by John Carter.  He does play solo clarinet here, and as with seemingly any open-ended jazz clarinet playing, Jimmy Giuffre's influence is obvious.  Carter's fluid playing tends to feel a bit less detached and cerebral than Giuffre's, even when the influence is most obvious.  He also stretches the idiom with more modern influences—the most obvious is where intertwines two melodies in a style that reminds me of Roscoe Mitchell and Evan Parker.  He also explores overblown harmonic timbres, which sound much more subdued on clarinet than the customary saxophone palette.  The back cover photo of Carter in a field is far more compelling than the close-up on the front.