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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZWARD, Carlos(b Carlos Nathaniel Ward, 1 May 1940, Ancón, Panama) Alto saxophone, flute. Studied clarinet, alto '53-60 in Seattle. He was sent to Germany '61 with the US Army, met Dollar Brand in Europe, the South African pianist and composer who soon became Abdullah Ibrahim, beginning a long association with him. Back home '65, we first hear of Ward playing with John Coltrane on A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle. This live recording of Trane's masterpiece was unknown and not released until 2021. It was made at the Penthouse in Seattle, recorded by saxophonist/educator Joe Brazil (b 25 August 1927, Detroit; d 6 August 2008), whose group with Ward opened the set; Ward acquitted himself well on A Love Supreme, already an impressive musician. He moved to NewYork, gigged with Coltrane, Sunny Murray, Sam Rivers, many others. As well as Ibrahim, another long-term relationship was with Don Cherry. Ward's discography is hard to track down and much of it obscure, though he was highly rated by fans and critics; perhaps he was content to be a sideman. Two albums with Ward, Brand and Cherry are Universal Silence '72, cobbled together from German concerts and issued in 2019 on an obscure European label, with a minimum of information and an inaccurate cover photo, as a CD or a 2-LP set; and The Third World - Underground '74, issued on Japanese labels including Trio. Paul Motian's second album as a leader, Tribute '74 on ECM, included Ward. In the '70s Ward was a member of B.T. Express (originally Brooklyn Transit Express) which had some hit singles on Columbia, and he was said to sometimes lift that band out of its funk/disco category. Lito '88 on Leo was Ward's quartet with Woody Shaw, recorded at the Northsea Jazz Festival. Faces '95 was a quartet with Pheeron Aklaff; Live at the Bug and Other Sweets '95 was partly recorded at the Bug Theatre in Denver; Carlos Ward + Radius -- Set For Two Don's Vol. 1, Music dedicated to Don Cherry and Don Pullen dated from '98, all three of these on PM (Peul Music), and these are years of release: they may have been recorded much earlier. Ward had also played with the Carla Bley band and appeared on her albums Dinner Music '77, Social Studies '80 on Watt/ECM. Interviewed by Ethan Iverson and asked about Ward, she said, 'Yeah, Carlos Ward. The Phantom. He would show up at the last minute and play great. I used him all the time.' Iverson replied, 'He had that avant-garde sensibility that was so important.' (Thanks to Hendrik Decker for helping us with some of this.) |