# Lou Carter

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Lou_Carter
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Lou_Carter.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Carter
> Source revision: 1319121513
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Infobox musical artist
| name                = Lou Carter
| image               = Lou Carter.jpg
| background          = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name          = Louis Carter
| birth_date          = {{birth_date|1918|9|15}}
| birth_place         = [Newark, New Jersey](/source/Newark%2C_New_Jersey), U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2005|9|25|1918|9|15}}
| death_place         = [Glen Ridge, New Jersey](/source/Glen_Ridge%2C_New_Jersey), U.S.
| genre               = [Jazz](/source/Jazz)
| occupation          = Musician
| instrument          = [Piano](/source/Piano)
| years_active        = 
| label               = [Arbors](/source/Arbors_Records), [Chesky](/source/Chesky_Records)
| associated_acts     = [Jimmy Dorsey](/source/Jimmy_Dorsey), [Johnny Frigo](/source/Johnny_Frigo), [Jessica Molaskey](/source/Jessica_Molaskey), [Harold Fethe](/source/Harold_Fethe)
}}

'''Louis Carter''' (September 15, 1918 – September 25, 2005) was an American [jazz pianist](/source/jazz_piano), composer, and songwriter.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Berg |first1=Chuck |title=Johhny Frigo |journal=[JazzTimes](/source/JazzTimes) |date=December 1994 |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sScEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Lou+Carter+pianist&pg=PA16 |access-date=19 July 2023 |publisher=JazzTimes, Inc. |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Shemin |first1=Craig |title=Sam and Friends - The Story of Jim Henson's First Television Show |date=1 October 2022 |publisher=BearManor Media |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJiFEAAAQBAJ&dq=Lou+Carter+pianist&pg=PT397 |access-date=19 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dicaire |first1=David |title=Jazz Musicians of the Early Years, to 1945 |date=22 October 2010 |publisher=[McFarland](/source/McFarland_%26_Company) |isbn=978-0-7864-8556-7 |page=153 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ug9FPHAvcbcC&dq=Lou+Carter+pianist&pg=PA153 |access-date=19 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref> He had a long yet low-profile career.

==Biography==
Carter played in various big bands, especially those led by [Jimmy Dorsey](/source/Jimmy_Dorsey) and [Glenn Gray](/source/Glen_Gray). In 1946, he founded the trio "The Soft Winds" together with [Herb Ellis](/source/Herb_Ellis) and [Johnny Frigo](/source/Johnny_Frigo).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Feather |first1=the late Leonard |last2=Gitler |first2=Ira |title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz |date=1 April 2007 |publisher=[Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press) |isbn=978-0-19-988640-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEHGs88c-aAC&dq=The+Soft+Winds+Frigo&pg=PT510 |access-date=20 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Soft Winds Biography, Songs, & Albums |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-soft-winds-mn0000038580/biography |publisher=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) |access-date=20 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The group recorded on the [Majestic](/source/Majestic_Records) and [Mercury](/source/Mercury_Records) labels and wrote a number of hits, among them are "[I Told Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out](/source/I_Told_Ya_I_Love_Ya%2C_Now_Get_Out)" and "[Detour Ahead](/source/Detour_Ahead)".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wong |first1=Herb |last2=Fingerote |first2=Paul Simeon |title=Jazz on My Mind: Liner Notes, Anecdotes and Conversations from the 1940s to the 2000s |date=27 April 2016 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2547-8 |page=136 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QgcXDAAAQBAJ&dq=The+Soft+Winds+Frigo&pg=PA136 |access-date=20 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ruppli |first1=Michel |last2=Novitsky |first2=Ed |title=The Mercury Labels: The 1945-1956 era |date=1993 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-29031-2 |page=746 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNwMKESNeOEC&dq=The+Soft+Winds+Frigo&pg=PA746 |access-date=20 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The latter became a [jazz standard](/source/jazz_standard) and was played by such prominent musicians as [Billie Holiday](/source/Billie_Holiday), [Sarah Vaughan](/source/Sarah_Vaughan), [Ella Fitzgerald](/source/Ella_Fitzgerald),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=J. Wilfred |title=Ella Fitzgerald: An Annotated Discography; Including a Complete Discography of Chick Webb |date=5 August 2010 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-5039-8 |page=220 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zCEkCQAAQBAJ&dq=The+Soft+Winds+Frigo&pg=PA220 |access-date=20 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref> [Irene Kral](/source/Irene_Kral), [Stan Getz](/source/Stan_Getz), and [Woody Herman](/source/Woody_Herman).

After the trio disbanded in 1950,<ref>{{cite web |title=THE SOFT WINDS |url=https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/artist/the-soft-winds |publisher=JazzMusicArchives.com |access-date=20 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Carter was a sideman for various bands and worked on two of [Buck Clayton](/source/Buck_Clayton)'s studio albums. A reunion of the Soft Winds occurred during the 1995 Floating Jazz Festival. The double album ''Then and Now...: The Soft Winds, 1946–1996'' was released. The album included previously unreleased radio recordings from 1947 to 1948 and 11 new tracks.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=The Soft Winds - Then and Now: The Soft Winds, 1946-1996 Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/then-and-now-the-soft-winds-1946-1996-mw0000092011 |publisher=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) |access-date=20 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

Carter also had a side career as a performer of novelty songs, in the persona of "Louie the Singing Cab Driver." Bronx-accented Louie was a regular on ''[The Perry Como Show](/source/The_Perry_Como_Show)'' in the 1950s, and recorded an album in 1957 titled ''Louie's Love Songs.''<ref>{{cite web|website=AllMusic| title=Louie's Love Songs|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/louies-love-songs-mw0001896214#userReviews|first=Jason|last=Ankeny|accessdate=May 14, 2024}}</ref> Tracks included "If I Had a Nose Full of Nickels" and "The Murials on the Wall."<ref>{{cite web|website=Discogs|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/4972863-Lou-Carter-Louies-Love-Songs|title=Lou Carter – Louie's Love Songs|accessdate=May 14, 2024}}</ref> ''Louie Writes Again'' followed in 1958, containing songs like "I Don't Talk Very Good" and "Her Toot'brush Was Gone."<ref>{{cite web|website=Discogs|url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1497809-Lou-Carter-Louie-Writes-Again|title=Lou Carter – Louie Writes Again|accessdate=May 14, 2024}}</ref>

A longtime resident of [Bloomfield, New Jersey](/source/Bloomfield%2C_New_Jersey), Carter died at the age of 87 at [Mountainside Hospital](/source/Mountainside_Hospital) in [Glen Ridge, New Jersey](/source/Glen_Ridge%2C_New_Jersey).<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/glen-ridge-voice-obituary-for-louis-cart/128537755/ "Louis Carter"], ''Glen Ridge Voice'', October 6, 2005. Accessed July 19,2023, via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com). "A Mass for Louis Carter, 87, of Bloomfield was offered Sept. 28 in St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Bloomfield, after the funeral from the Biondi Funeral Home of Nutley. Mr. Carter died Sept. 25 in Mountainside Hospital, Glen Ridge.... Born in Newark, he lived in Bloomfield for 41 years."</ref>

==Discography==
===Studio albums===
*''How Deep Is Which Ocean?'' (1960)
*''Louie Writes Again'' (1958)
*''Louie's Love Songs'' (1957)

===Songs===
*"[Detour Ahead](/source/Detour_Ahead)"
*"[I Told Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out](/source/I_Told_Ya_I_Love_Ya%2C_Now_Get_Out)"

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Lou}}
Category:1918 births
Category:2005 deaths
Category:20th-century American pianists
Category:American jazz musicians
Category:Chesky Records artists
Category:Musicians from Newark, New Jersey
Category:People from Bloomfield, New Jersey
Category:Jazz musicians from New Jersey
Category:American male jazz musicians
Category:20th-century American male pianists

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lou Carter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Carter) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Carter?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.