Search - James Carter :: In Carterian Fashion

How Jazz Is SUPPOSED To Sound....

Meathook Williams | Warwick, Massachusetts | 08/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're a big fan of Kenny G., you might just as well stop reading this review right now. This disc is real jazz, thoughtfully created and carried out with inspired improvisation. "In Carterian Fashion" is an album of 10 awesome tracks and no gimicks. Even more so than, Joshua Redmond ( I'm a big fan of his too), Carter is the torchbearer carrying true jazz into the new millenium. A "young lion", as it were. To me, the true test for jazz players is being able to shine in a small combo setting and it seems that today, there's way too much production and electrified funk. Put a handful of players into a room and see what happens. In this case it's a resounding success. Jazz still lives and all is right within the musical world. This is Carter's fifth album as a leader, and he's not quite thirty. He's had a full apprenticeship with such luminaries as Lester Bowie and Julius Hemphill of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, one of the most far reaching aggregates in jazz history. Though he's often compared with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, he reminds me more of Eric Dolphy. Though he principally plays tenor sax, he plays all of them and even a delightful growling bass clarinet on "Odyssey". He makes his instruments howl and moan during some solos, yet keeps it all plain and somber on others. He's joined here by a stellar ensemble Craig Taborn, Henry Butler, and Cyrus Chestnut on Hammond and a perfectly suited rhythm section comprised of bassist Jaribu Shahid and, alternately, Tani Tabbal or Leonard King behind the traps. His brother, P-Funker Kevin Carter makes a welcome appearance on guitar (the only electrified material, still rather unembellished), and Dwight Adams shines on trumpet. The rest of the crew dazzles too, and this, to my ears is how small combo jazz is meant to sound. The tunes a re all captivating and the production minimal. Why aren't more players using this time tested formula? Nothing here could possibly be improved upon. It's all just superb music making. If you like classic jazz with cascading solos over solid, straight ahead ensemble playing, this is a release sure to please."

Great albums like this one reignite an age-old jazz debate

Meathook Williams | 01/14/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I never thought I'd hear an organ-combo "groove" album from any of the new crop of great players, but Carter has pulled it off. Judging by the range of comments this disc has elicited here, there's still a raging debate whether modern jazz should be "head" music or "body" music. Guys like Carter prove that when it's at its best, it's both. Let those who need sophisticated chord structures go back and pore over their Kenton charts, while the rest of us will be here rocking out to a great disc."

Acomplished tenor

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 04/03/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Another fine album from Carter, this time paying homage to the classic organ combos of the 1960s, though it is unmistakeably a 1990s album not a retro exercise. The compositions run from a couple traditional tunes ("Down to the River" & "Trouble in the World") to such overtly modern fare as Carter's own "Skull Grabbin'" & "In Carterian Fashion" or the guitarist Spencer Barefield's "Escape from Bizarro World". As suits the occasion, Carter mostly sticks to tenor, though there's one bass clarinet track, & one track where has overdubs himself on soprano, tenor & baritone. The organ duties are split between Craig Taborn, his usual keyboardist, & Henry Butler & Cyrus Chestnut (the latter only gets two tracks)."Skull Grabbin'" is a (perhaps too) clever uptempo exercise that sounds like it's indebted to "Tune Up" &, especially, Coltrane's rewriting of it on _Giant Steps_--there's a "Countdown"-style tenor-drums battle in the centre of it, & Carter shows no lack of ideas or facility but perhaps could have scaled them back a touch. On the other hand "Lianmo" is quite beautiful, right from its evocative start with a throbbing choir of saxophones & trumpet. There's a couple nicely-turned tributes to Don Byas ("Don's Idea") & Lockjaw Davis ("Lockjaw's Lament"), & an unabashed modern funk number in the title track. Carter's playing has his usual exaggerated swagger, which is mostly winning (though his fondness for distortion & freak high notes sometimes gets the better of him).Basically a winner: a fun, intelligent album that doesn't have the gravitas of an album like _The Real Quietstorm_ (shamefully already deleted by Atlantic) but nonetheless is an enjoyable listen."