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About James Carter
Instrument: Multi-instrumentalist
The James Carter Organ Trio at FlynnSpace
by Doug Collette
The James Carter Organ Trio Flynn Center for the Performing Arts/FlynnSpace Burlington, VT February 22, 2014 There were no Motown tunes among the eclectic mix of material that the James Carter Organ Trio played during their early show at FlynnSpace, but shortly into their set, when the threesome hit their stride on a brisk and insistent improvisation during “Melodie Au Crepuscule," lines from Martha & The Vandellas' “Dancing in the Street' came to mind: ..."There'll ...
Continue ReadingJames Carter Organ Trio: At The Crossroads
by C. Michael Bailey
James Carter Organ Trio At the Crossroads Emarcy Records 2011 Jazz has many faces. Some are searching and expansive, like those of alto saxophonists Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane, seeking the outer edges of the music. Some are reverent and deferential, like the Modern Jazz Quartet and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, trying to lend respectability to the music borne in the whore houses of New Orleans' Storyville district. But like every family, ...
Continue ReadingJames Carter Organ Trio: At The Crossroads
by Troy Collins
A ubiquitous presence in the mid-1990s, saxophonist James Carter faded from the limelight when Atlantic Records disbanded its jazz department in 2000. Undeterred, Carter forged ahead, eventually signing with EmArcy Records in 2008, turning misfortune into opportunity. In addition to releasing Carter's engaging Present Tense the same year, the label also issued his long-awaited premiere of composer Roberto Sierra's “Concerto for Saxophones," featured on Caribbean Rhapsody (2011).Picking up where Atlantic left off, EmArcy continues to encourage Carter's stylistic ...
Continue ReadingJames Carter Organ Trio: At The Crossroads
by Mark F. Turner
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 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 ...
Continue ReadingDe Nazaten - James Carter: For Now
by AAJ Italy Staff
Le quattro stelle le merita proprio tutte questo For Now che porta la firma dell'effervescente ottetto dei De Nazaten (composto da jazzisti olandesi e percussionisti del Suriname) qui affiancato da uno special guest di chiara fama, il sassofonista americano James Carter. A dire la verità è la seconda volta che questo magico triangolo musicale che ha i suoi vertici artistici tra l'Europa del Nord, il Centro America e gli Stati Uniti si materializza: già nel 2009 il baritonista di Detroit ...
Continue ReadingJames Carter: Caribbean Rhapsody
by Dan Bilawsky
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. While James Carter's collaboration with composer Roberto Sierra should rightly be hailed for all of the ...
Continue ReadingJames Carter: Caribbean Rhapsody
by C. Michael Bailey
James CarterCaribbean RhapsodyEmarcy2011 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. Carter has been inventive in his projects, two of which were the well-received Chasin' The Gypsy (Atlantic, 2000), addressing the music of guitarist Django Reinhardt, and Gardenias For Lady Day (Sony, 2003), tipping his ...
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