Ian Carr

Ian Henry Randall Carr was born in Dumfries, Scotland, the elder brother of Mike Carr.[1] From 1952 to 1956, Carr attended King's College, now Newcastle University, where he read English Literature,[2] followed by a diploma in education.

At the age of 17, Carr started to teach himself trumpet.[1] After university he joined his brother in a Newcastle band, the EmCee Five, from 1960 to 1962, before moving to London, where he became co-leader with Don Rendell of the Rendell–Carr quintet (1963–69).[1] In its six years, the group (including pianist Michael Garrick, bassist Dave Green, and drummer Trevor Tomkins) made five albums for EMI – all of which have been re-issued – and performed internationally.[1] During the 1960s he also played with the New Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Neil Ardley and recorded an album with altoist Joe Harriott.

After leaving the quintet, Carr went on to form the ground-breaking jazz-rock band Nucleus.[3] This led to the release of 12 albums (some under the band's name, some under Carr's), and a successful international career. In their first year Nucleus won first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival, released their first album, Elastic Rock,[1] and performed at both the Newport Jazz Festival[3] and the Village Gate jazz club. Carr also played with the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble from 1975.[1]

Carr worked as a session musician in non-jazz contexts, with Nico, No-Man, Faultline, and others. He also doubled on flugelhorn.

Apart from writing a regular column for the BBC Music Magazine, Carr wrote biographies of the jazz musicians Keith Jarrett and Miles Davis.[3] Carr was also the co-author of the reference work The Rough Guide to Jazz, which has passed through four editions from 1994 (originally Jazz, The Essential Companion, 1988). In addition he contributed sleeve notes for the albums of other musicians (e.g. Indo-Jazz Fusions by Joe Harriott and John Mayer).

In 1987, Carr was appointed associate professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London,[2] where he taught composition and performance, especially improvisation. He was founder of the jazz workshop at the Interchange arts scheme, where pianist Julian Joseph, among others, was one of his students.

Ian Carr died aged 75 on 25 February 2009, having suffered from Alzheimer's disease. A memorial service was held at Golders Green Crematorium in London the following month. In addition to fellow Nucleus member Geoff Castle, speakers at the service included artist Gerald Laing, author, critic and broadcaster Alyn Shipton, Mike Dibb (with whom Carr collaborated on two films on Miles Davis and Keith Jarrett)[4] and Carr's students Julian Joseph, Sara Dillon and Nikki Yeoh.

• 1982: Miles Davis (Quartet / William Morrow & Co.) ISBN 0-704-32273-0 / ISBN 0-688-01321-X
• 1988: Jazz: The Essential Companion with Digby Fairweather & Brian Priestley (Paladin Books) ISBN 0-586-08530-0
• 1991: Keith Jarrett: The Man and His Music (Grafton Books) ISBN 0-246-13434-8
• 1999: Miles Davis: The Definitive Biography (Thunder's Mouth Press) ISBN 1-56025-241-3
• 2004: The Rough Guide to Jazz with Digby Fairweather & Brian Priestley (3rd edn) Rough Guides Limited. ISBN 1-84353-256-5
• 2008: Music Outside: Contemporary Jazz in Britain, 2nd edn., with new postscript and photographs (London: Northway Publications). ISBN 978-0-9550908-6-8 (1st edn published 1973 by Latimer New Dimensions. ISBN 0-901539-25-2).

• Roger Farbey, Elastic Dream: The Music of Ian Carr – An Annotated Discography, 3rd Revised Edition, 2023.
• Roger Farbey, Elastic Dream: The Music of Ian Carr – A Critical Discography, 2nd Revised Edition, 2015.
• Roger Farbey, The Music of Ian Carr – A Critical Discography, 2010.
• Alyn Shipton, Out of the Long Dark: The Life of Ian Carr, 2006

• The Ian Carr and Nucleus Website
• Ian Carr / The Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet / Nucleus discographies at Discogs
• Roger Farbey, Ian Carr: The Maestro and His Music – AllAboutJazz.com 7 July 2005
• John Kelman, Ian Carr and Nucleus: '70s British Jazz Rock Progenitors, 19 January 2004 – AllAboutJazz.com
• Ian Carr biographical sketch – European Jazz Network
• Ian Carr – Jazzscript
• Ian Carr at IMDb
• Ian Carr discography at Discogs