Though currently living in Austin, Texas, Duane Carter - trumpet/flugelhorn player, composer/arranger, playwright/writer, comes from Los Angeles, California. His roots are deeply embedded amongst the Black Creoles of New Orleans. His cousin, jazz trumpeter and songwriter Dave Bartholomew, is still a prominent figure in the Crescent City. His father, Johnny Carter from Mansfield, Louisiana is a singer whose voice has been likened to the stylistic smoothness of Billy Eckstine.