Bruce Carter of Pleasure R.I.P.
Big_Chan
5,088 Posts
Just got a call from Nate Phillips of Pleasure. Original Pleasure member and drummer Bruce Carter passed away a few days ago in Portland, OR. Bruce left us with some GREAT drum playing on the Pleasure albums. Rest In Peace Bruce.
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R.I.P.
Drummer Bruce Carter dies at 49
"So solid" - He and other Portlanders formed Pleasure, a hit rhythm and blues act in the 1970s
Sunday, August 13, 2006
MARTY HUGHLEY
Bruce Carter, the drummer who helped make a group of Portland high school friends into a nationally successful 1970s rhythm and blues act named Pleasure, died Saturday morning. He was 49.
In later years, Carter toured with smooth-jazz superstar Kenny G.
The cause of death was not immediately determined, though Mark Young, the husband and manager of singer Linda Hornbuckle, said Carter collapsed of an apparent heart attack at his home and died shortly afterward at a Portland hospital. Carter recently had been playing with Hornbuckle's band.
Carter is survived by his wife, Esther, and son, Bruce Jr.
No information on memorial services was available Saturday.
Bruce Edward Carter was born Dec. 28, 1956, and as a teenager formed a Portland R&B band called the Franchise with friends Marlon McClain on guitar and Nathaniel Phillips on bass. In 1972, the band merged with a rival band, the Soul Masters, to form Pleasure.
By 1974 -- when Carter, the youngest member, was just 17 -- the noted jazz trombonist Wayne Henderson of the Crusaders had helped Pleasure land a contract with Fantasy Records and became the group's producer.
The band recorded several albums, toured nationally and scored a Top 10 hit on the Billboard R&B chart with the 1979 song "Glide." After that band dissolved in 1981, Carter joined Phillips' new band, Cool'R, which many musicians considered the most awe-inspiring group on the Portland club scene in that era.
Carter excelled at both the kind of emphatic rhythm that keeps a dance floor packed and the suppleness, precision and attention to sonic detail that reward close listening.
Valerie Day of the hit-making band Nu Shooz recalled the effect when Carter occasionally sat in with her band at clubs such as the Last Hurrah. "It changed everything, it was just so solid," she said. "The man just really commanded that instrument, and the whole band because of it."
I met Nate Phillips here in Seattle at a jazz festival we did two weeks ago. Had dinner with Nate and talked about all the old Pleasure albums. SUPER nice guy, he just emailed me an MP3 of an instrumental basic track of "Thoughts of Old Flames" Crazy dope! Just the drums, bass, guitar and keys. No vocals or horns. Nate lives in L.A. and still tours playing with various jazz groups. He and Gerald Albright were touring with a group called "Guitars and Saxes." Nate is into the records as well. He asked me if I could find him a copy of the "Black on White Affair" 45! Nate said that a couple of the other guys from the band are living in Seattle and one of them is a lawyer here.
I saw Phillips in Germany a few years ago as he performed with Billy Cobham. That guy is fucking amazing! A bass-monster!
By the way what's your favourite Pleasure LP? I go for Joyous...
I just lost my whole long rememberance to the soulstrut time out gremlins.
Pleasure had quit playing Portland clubs when I started clubbing in '79. Bruce along with some of the other guys were playing in a sensational jazz group called Lights Out. I saw them a lot. Bruce was amazing, and kind of the center point driving the group, keeping it funky and chewing gum non-stop. Sometimes Andy Stokes would sit in for an R&B set. That lead to Cool'r who were total
Lester McFarland might have played bass in some of those groups. He was total
One day about '91 I walked into Fred Meyers. A bank of TVs were showing a Kenny G concert and there was Bruce, the funkiest man this side of Clyde Stubblefield, behind Kenny on the drums. He played with Kenny for 15 years.
Nate and Marlon, and sometimes Bruce worked with the Crusaders and Herb Albert in the '90s and '00s. Nate and Marlon were doing a lot of producing in the '90s. They wrote and produced some SWV cuts. I think they might also have something to do with next Lifesavas album.
Bruce and Nate and Marlon are on almost all of Wayne Henderson's '70s productions. All those soul records you own that say Down Home Productions.
Dennis Springer still plays with jazz groups around town. Bruce Smith (not Carter, s was Pleasure's conga player) founded and ran the Northwest African American Ballet and taught percussion and dance in Portland schools until he made a few bad choices.
Nate used to come into my shop when I was on NE Broadway.
Bruce was a nice guy. Great Drummer. Worked in great bands, like Linda Hornbuckle's, who he was working with when he died.
Dan
Thanks Dan. I was a little upset when I saw this thread because I thought Bruce Carter was the guy who ran NWAAB. NWAAB ran african dance classes for kids at Dishman Community Center around the corner from my house. I really wanted my daughter to attend. Further investigation showed that Bruce Smith ran the ballet until he got caught touching his students. Bummer.
On a positive note, apparently this guy has moved to town and has been playing at Jimmy Mak's. I like it very much