★★★★★
Charlie Parker no doubt helped inspire subsequent saxophonists--Branford Marsalis and David Sánchez come to mind--to want to perform backed by strings. James Carter, on the other hand, claims he had to be talked into it...
- jazztimes.com
2011-07-11
★★★★★
Reconciling the improvisational nature of jazz with the semi-rigid confines of classical constructs like the concerto has never been easy. While concertos are meant to highlight a soloist, making this format seem like a perfect home in which a jazz instrumentalist can dwell, the oft-scripted nature of all parts involved, including the solo, works against one of the key principles in jazz: spontaneous composition...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2011-06-20
★★★★★
James Carter Caribbean Rhapsody Emarcy 2011 Multi-reedist James Carter is both a student and master of all things saxophone. He is a keeper of the jazz flame much in the same way trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is, without Marsalis' conservative inclinations...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2011-05-30
★★★★★
It's interesting that the opening tune on this Detroit homecoming for saxophonist James Carter, Oscar Pettiford's "Tricotism," would feature a second line drumming configuration, though it isn't surprising. Carter is a man devoid of cliché and quick to embrace new means of expression...
- www.jazzreview.com
2010-08-23
★★★★★
Multi-instrumentalist James Carter has always had eclectic tastes. That was evident on his debut, JC on the Set (Columbia, 1994), where the squeaks and blips linked him to the avant camp of Eric Dolphy and the tenor swoons nestled him comfortably within the traditional velvet of Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2010-08-20
★★★★★
James Carter Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge Warner Bros. 2004 James Carter is a passionate player whose solos are frequently pushed over the top by his awesome virtuosity. That tendency is put to good use on this live extravaganza recorded before a raucous crowd at Baker's Keyboard Lounge...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2010-08-20
★★★★★
James Carter Organ Trio Out of Nowhere Half Note 2005 Like last year's superb major-label-contract-fulfilling blowing session Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge, the elders James Carter invited to the Blue Note in New York City for this date don't so much reign him in as provide justification for his flashier moves. Hamiet Bluiett excels on his "Song for Camille, a duet with Carter's baritone that soaks the ballad in the blues...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2010-08-20
★★★★★
Just when you had him pegged as a rip-snorting tenor and bari monster with a wicked penchant for ferocious overblowing, he comes across as a shameless romantic on Chasin' the Gypsy, his lovely ode to Django. Still, Carter's characteristic bravado, tenor squeals, trills and remarkable displays of multiphonics are still intact here, even in the lush setting of "The Last Shepherdess" and "Django's Castle...
- www.jazztimes.com
2010-02-19
★★★★★
James Carter is sure to win over the skeptics with this CD. He almost got me, and I pride myself in having the jazz world's most sensitive hype detector. And really, who can resist? Carter's just so good. He's practically perfect. What's to doubt? I was ready to pronounce him King of Jazz after the first track, before David Murray slapped me upside the head and brought me to my senses a few tunes in...
- www.jazztimes.com
2010-02-19