Tod Carver was exposed to
jazz at an early age by his father, Ron Carver, a radio
announcer who hosted the only jazz radio show in
Youngstown, Ohio in the 60s. By age 11, Tod was listening
to John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Cal Tjader
and other jazz greats. He soon became interested in the
progressive rock sounds of Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds, Cream,
Soft Machine and others. By 16, Tod was playing lead guitar
in his first band, playing original rock-oriented
arrangements of tunes like "My Favorite Things" and Miles
Davis' "Milestones," along with contemporary rock and
blues.
Tod then studied guitar in Las Vegas, Nevada with Jim
Wilkinson, a Newark, New Jersey guitarist who had studied
with the renowned teacher Dennis Sandole. Armed with new
technique and a 1940 Epiphone Emperor, Tod moved to the
then-thriving jazz scene of Portland, Oregon. He was soon
working with the best players there, among them
keyboardists Jeff Lorber and Tom Grant, and saxophonists
Jim Pepper and Sonny King. In 1979 Tod got a call from the
legendary drummer Tony Williams, inviting him to join the
new Tony Williams Band. Ditching the Epiphone for a Les
Paul, Tod toured the U.S. and Europe with one of the
greatest innovators in contemporary music.
By the end of the 80s, Tod was leading his own group
featuring his original compositions, as well as doing
production and composing work for industrial and
educational films. The desire to find new playing
opportunities led Tod and his wife, Netta, to make the
radical move to Tokyo in 1992. Since then, Tod has worked
with many of the top artists in Japan, including R&B
vocalist Masaki Ueda and pop-jazz saxophonist Malta, as
well as playing a wide assortment of gigs ranging from
straight-ahead jazz to Japanese pop to Brazilian samba to
French "chanson."