Whatever happened to James Carter?

[mikeweil]

On their gig I witnessed last year Leonard King looked like he was smoking a little bit too much ... playing somewhat too loud and not really interacting.

Edited May 23, 2007 by mikeweil

[king ubu]

Well, I decided to skip the concert anyway... rememberd I have some live broadcasts of this group and indeed there's not much to it besides Carter (I remember finding Gibbs a pretty drab soloist, too, sorry).

[sal]

On their gig I witnessed last year Leonard King looked like he was smoking a little bit too much ... playing somewhat too loud and not really interacting.

Thats how he was when I saw him. Pretty much killed the show for me. I can't stand obnoxious drummers.

[JamesJazz]

Leonard may have the occasional 'off nite' but he's a fine drummer and good all-round percussionist. He was a mainstay of the Detroit music scene for decades, leading several different groups like the "Visger Road Drum Band" and worked in a really interesting duet with bassist Rodney Whitaker - the Proportioned Orchestra. I've known King for many years and admired him as both player and teacher...always involved in one or more youth-oriented music projects.

[ghost of miles]

Cuscuna produced Carter's forthcoming new release:

James Carter Debuts on Emarcy Records May 20 with "Present Tense"

Ever since he arrived in New York City from his native Detroit at age 21, James Carter's awesome virtuosity on a number of instruments and his postmodernist embrace of the past, present, and future of jazz have been causing listeners' jaws to drop. A consistent winner and/or runner-up in Down Beat polls, the now-39-year-old musician most recently placed at number one on baritone saxophone and at nine on tenor saxophone in the magazine's Readers Poll, and at number two on baritone and ten on tenor in the Critics Poll.

Carter is featured on both horns, as well as on soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute, on “Present Tense," which will be released May 20 by Emarcy Records, a division of the Decca Label Group. Produced by Michael Cuscuna, himself a frequent Down Beat poll winner, the CD is Carter's first new recording in three years and his first for a major label in four. He's joined by a highly empathetic cast of players: trumpeter-flugelhornist Dwight Adams, pianist D.D. Jackson, bassist James Genus, and drummer Victor Lewis, who appear on all ten selections, and guitarist Rodney Jones and percussionist Eli Fountain, who contribute to several tracks.

“I titled this album 'Present Tense' because it captures where I am right now," states Carter, who began his recording career in 1991. “This is what appeals to me right now. I've always had eclectic tastes, so the styles of these pieces are diverse. But I'm also dealing with more lyricism on this album, and I'm making more concise statements in the music versus playing out for 10 or 11 minutes. Some of the tunes are in the four-minute range."

“Present Tense" is perhaps the quintessential James Carter album. “On going through James's entire output prior to recording 'Present Tense,'" Cuscuna explains, “it struck me that many of his albums are ingenious concepts. As successful as each was, none of them captured the breadth of James's mastery of this music."

Carter draws directly from the jazz tradition on the new disc, yet, as has always been his habit, he takes conscious liberties with it. On the bopping opening track, a tune by trumpeter Dave Burns titled “Rapid Shave" that was previously recorded by tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, Carter opted to play baritone instead of tenor. For the Victor Young-Ray Evans-Jay Livingston composition “Song of Delilah," associated in jazz circles with trumpet legend Clifford Brown and tenor colossus Sonny Rollins, Carter blows some Coltranesque soprano before beginning a two-tenor duet with himself, all over a hip-hop-like groove. He also plays tenor on his original “J.C. Bossa" in a performance that is in some ways reminiscent of Gene Ammons's classic “Ca'Purange (Jungle Soul)."

On other selections, he pays homage to two of his heroes and one heroine. “Bro. Dolphy," an original Carter composition, salutes the late, great Eric Dolphy and is played on bass clarinet, one of several instruments on which Dolphy was a master, much as Carter is today. Carter further displays his virtuosity on bass clarinet with the gentle “Shadowy Sands," a tune by pianist Jimmy Jones that Duke Ellington had utilized as a rare bass clarinet showcase for his baritone saxophone star Harry Carney. The haunting tango-tinged ballad “Sussa Nita," played by Carter on tenor, was inspired by Billie Holiday, who in a dream, Carter says, gave him the song's opening phrases.

Django Reinhardt wrote the lovely “Pour Ma Vie Demeure," though he never recorded it himself. Carter performs it on soprano saxophone. “James's tone on soprano," Cuscuna comments, “is absolutely gorgeous with all the size and strength and romance that one associates with Sidney Bechet."

Carter again wields the big baritone on Gigi Gryce's “Hymn of the Orient" and on a rhapsodic rendition of the standard ballad “Tenderly," which he recorded at his wife's suggestion. And on “Dodo's Bounce," penned by pioneering bop pianist Dodo Marmarosa, Carter displays breathtaking control of the flute. “It's a select group of reedmen that know how to play this instrument and improvise," Cuscuna says. Carter is clearly one of them.

There are few jazz musicians, past or present, who have demonstrated such absolute command of as many instruments as James Carter does. He stands as one of the music's greatest living virtuosos, and ample proof is provided throughout “Present Tense."

Carter will celebrate the release of “Present Tense" with a septet engagement at Birdland, New York, on May 21-24. He appears the following month at Iridium with Odean Pope (June 5-8). Tours of Europe and Japan are planned for July and August respectively. The saxophonist heads home to Detroit September 1 to perform at the Detroit International Jazz Festival; soon to be announced are September dates in Boston and San Francisco.

[Guest Bill Barton]

Thanks, ghost...

I have very ambivalent feelings about Carter. Back when he was just beginning to develop a following I heard him in a small club with the Taborn, Shahid, Tabbal group. It was a revelation. The two sets were smokin' - mostly brilliant music. Later I heard him with the Chasin' the Gypsy band, in a tenor battle with Ricky Ford at the Montreal Jazz Festival's famed after-hours jam and with Steve Turre in a tribute to Rahsaan Roland Kirk. There's no question that the man is a virtuoso. What he chooses to say with his virtuosity is sometimes another matter, however. When he's not in a showboating mood he can be remarkable. The Rah tribute was an example of that side of his playing, and I remember being very moved by his clarinet work on this occasion. Let's hope that the new recording is more Hemingway than Jackie Susann.

Edited April 26, 2008 by Bill Barton

[Alexander Hawkins]

Bill - I think that's probably my reaction to Carter.

I'm glad I have the couple of records I do, though, just because of Taborn-Shahid-Tabbal. Extraordinary rhythm playing!

[JohnS]

His recordings never seem to deliver the real James Carter. He plays in too many styles and touches too many bases for my taste although clearly he's a fine player. Saw him a couple of times, once with Lester Bowie which was exciting but hampered by poor sound and another gig where he played baritone only which was excellent, excinting stuff. I've heard a boot of the organ trio and have to admit that was pretty good.

[ValerieB]

he played on the North Sea Jazz Cruise last July and is scheduled to be on the Playboy Jazz Cruise to the Caribbean next January.

[kh1958]

he played on the North Sea Jazz Cruise last July and is scheduled to be on the Playboy Jazz Cruise to the Caribbean next January.

He's at Birdland in New York just before Memorial Day, leading a sextet.

[Van Basten II]

Thanks, ghost...

I have very ambivalent feelings about Carter. Back when he was just beginning to develop a following I heard him in a small club with the Taborn, Shahid, Tabbal group. It was a revelation. The two sets were smokin' - mostly brilliant music. Later I heard him with the Chasin' the Gypsy band, in a tenor battle with Ricky Ford at the Montreal Jazz Festival's famed after-hours jam and with Steve Turre in a tribute to Rahsaan Roland Kirk. There's no question that the man is a virtuoso. What he chooses to say with his virtuosity is sometimes another matter, however. When he's not in a showboating mood he can be remarkable. The Rah tribute was an example of that side of his playing, and I remember being very moved by his clarinet work on this occasion. Let's hope that the new recording is more Hemingway than Jackie Susann.

You pretty well described my feelings about Carter also. Last time i saw him was when he was on his funk thing, gotta say i enjoyed it. Have not bought a Cd of his in a while. Think my latest is Chasin the gipsy.

Your story about the Montreal jam session reminds me of another session that i was unfortunately not able to witness first hand but was told to me by reliable sources. That once Carter and Chris Potter shared the stage and both guys decided to show their stuff and started a cutting contest, while Carter was trying to pull all the stunts in his typical fashion, Potter kicked his ass just by playing lyrically.

[crabgrass]

Your story about the Montreal jam session reminds me of another session that i was unfortunately not able to witness first hand but was told to me by reliable sources. That once Carter and Chris Potter shared the stage and both guys decided to show their stuff and started a cutting contest, while Carter was trying to pull all the stunts in his typical fashion, Potter kicked his ass just by playing lyrically.

I saw him back when the all-star Big Band from the Altman movie "Kansas City" was touring. The horns were Carter, Joshua Redman and Don Byron. They got into a cutting contest and Byron easily handed both of them their heads. Not even close. Don used sheer muscle to take out JC's attempts at pyrotechnics.

[uli]

what is JC doing would be the more approriate thread.

anyway, digging this right now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LlPIcboTMo

next up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx2_Njkru8A

[Guy Berger]

Has this guy stopped playing?

[jazztrain]

13 minutes ago, Guy Berger said:

Has this guy stopped playing?

No.  See here for information on his current touring plans:  http://jamescarterlive.com/performances

[mikeweil]

I lile it how he keeps going without seeking the limelight or hunting after record dates. Consider what happened to all the great sax talents that entered the scene over the last twenty years. Hard times.

[kh1958]

I just heard him at Winter Jazzfest in January. An excellent set.

He has a single new track on the anthology, Detroit Jazz City from a couple of years ago. 

Edited February 10, 2018 by kh1958