- 109Recommend It!
- 2,656views
CD/LP/Track Review
James Carter Organ Trio: At The Crossroads (2011)
Mark F. Turner
Considering himself a modern day 'Jazz Explorer' Mark continues to discover new and exciting music territories.
No one brings more swagger and flavor with their playing than multi-reedman James Carter. A zealous nod to the blues, gospel, and jazz, he looks back to the music's rich history and presses onward in At the Crossroads with his organ trio including organist Gerard Gibbs
Gerard Gibbs
b.1967
organ, Hammond B3
and drummer Leonard King Jr., who have performed together for nearly ten years
Carter has been sometimes criticized as being too loud and showy but he's a unequivocal virtuoso, with encyclopedic releases that have spanned everything from a Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
1910 - 1953
guitar
tribute in Chasin' The Gypsy (Atlantic, 2000) to classical music excursions in Caribbean Rhapsody (Emarcy, 2011), with composer Roberto Sierra. But Carter's a post-bop bluesman at heart with the ability to take it to the streets while providing moments of unmistakable brilliance.
An unabashed showman, Carter puts down his unmistakable skronks, wails, and incendiary alto bursts in the thrilling "Lettuce Toss Yo' Salad" or lush soprano sonorities in the ballad "Misterio." While the command over his instruments is remarkable, his trio mates who are also Detroit natives, warrant equal respect. There are shades of Richard "Groove" Holmes
Richard "Groove" Holmes
1931 - 1991
organ, Hammond B3
and Jimmy McGriff
Jimmy McGriff
1936 - 2008
organ, Hammond B3
in Gibb's raspy organ that's got both sophistication and a little grease under the fingernails. And drummer Leonard King Jr.'s traps are on point at every twist and turning cadence, bringing the rhythmic pulse in addition to providing vocals and insightful liner notes.
At the Crossroads profits not only from the trio's bond but a fine roster of guests that includes veteran blues and Broadway singer Miche Braden and versatile guitarist Brandon Ross
Brandon Ross
guitar
among others. It remembers its roots when Braden brings the gospel in "Tis The Old Ship of Zion" or highlighting Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
1899 - 1974
piano
's majesty in "Come Sunday," sung by King. The house shakes, rattles, and rolls in "The Walking Blues" and staggers straight out of the juke joint in "Ramblin Blues," a seedy place that youngsters are told not to frequent. As the elders used to say, "This is grown folk's business." The music is likewise.
The set finishes with a hard groove, a remake of World Saxophone Quartet
World Saxophone Quartet
band/orchestra
founder Julius Hemphill
Julius Hemphill
1938 - 1995
sax, alto
's "Hard Blues" that's even funkier than the original, with a nasty organ vamp, a grinding backbeat, and Carter and Ross trading heat like an imaginary meeting between Hemphill and Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
1942 - 1970
guitar, electric
. At the Crossroads is a ten-year celebration of Carter's organ trio, where the elements of history, the present, and the future share a common bond.
Track Listing: Oh Gee; JC Off The Set; Aged Pain; The Walking Blues; My Whole Life Through; Walking The Dog; Lettuce Toss Yo Salad; Mysterio; Ramblin Blues; Come Sunday; Tis The Old Ship of Zion; The Hard Blues.
Personnel: James Carter: saxophones; Leonard King Jr.: drums, vocals (10); Gerard Gibbs: organ; Miche Braden: vocals (4, 11); Brandon Ross: guitar (4, 12); Bruce Edwards: guitar (1, 3, 6) Keyon Harrold: trumpet (4, 10); Vincent Chandler: trombone (4, 10); Eli Fountain: tambourines(10).
Record Label: EmArcy
Style: Modern Jazz
Julia Hulsmann Quartet
Gwyneth Herbert
Youn Sun Nah
Eric Le Lann
Girls in Airports
David Murray Infinity Quartet
Gabriel Reyes Trebol
La Pieuvre and Circum Grand...
Jonathan Finlayson
The West Point Band's Jazz...
The Rosenthals
Gianni Bardaro / Pierluigi...
