Robert Kahakalau, better known as Bob Carter (February 11, 1922 – August 1, 1993) was an American jazz bassist and arranger.Born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1922, Carter learned bass and guitar from his father, a vaudeville performer of Hawaiian heritage. He played in local orchestras from 1937 to 1940, toured from 1940 to 1942 and worked with his own trio in Boston in 1944. In 1944-45 he worked in various groups on 52nd Street in New York City, with Tony Scott, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Stuff Smith, and Charlie Shavers among others. Following time spent playing bebop with Allen Eager and Max Roach in 1946, he worked with Charlie Ventura from 1947 to 1949 and again in 1953-54. In the interim he played with Benny Goodman in 1949-50.
In 1953, he worked with jazz guitarist Johnny Smith and appeared on Smith's albums Jazz at NBC and The Johnny Smith Quintet Featuring Stan Getz.After his second stint with Ventura he studied composition with Wesley LaViolette. Later that decade his arrangements were used by Red Norvo, Bob Harrington, and Shelly Manne. He spent 1957-58 in Hawaii, then returned to New York in 1959, where he played with Bobby Hackett. In the early 1960s, he worked in Germany in the orchestra of Kurt Edelhagen. He did little playing after the end of the 1960s.
Carter died in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1993 at the age of 71.
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