Jazz Articles

Paul Carr: Straight Ahead Soul

by C. Michael Bailey
September 7, 2010

If saxophonist Paul Carr could be described in a single word, it would be durable. Carr's two previous recordings--Just Noodlin' (PCJE, 2008) and Musically Yours (PCJE, 2006)--displayed a dependable adherence to the Ray Charles' principles of rhythm and blues. His tone and attack are made of the same precious metal as that of Hank Crawford and David “Fathead" Newman. On Straight Ahead Soul, Carr does his part to move adult contemporary jazz toward respectability with the fussy and hard-to-please traditionalist. ...

Paul Carr: Musically Yours

by Michael P. Gladstone
June 17, 2008

Houston's tenor saxophonist Paul Carr has provided, within a short recording career span, a number of intriguing and solid appearances. On his debut, Just Noodlin' (Jazz Karma, 2006), Carr provides a soulful and robust tenor sax in the style of Hank Mobley without seeking any deliberate comparisons. In addition, with his appearance on Eric Byrd's Brother Ray (Self Published, 2008), Carr is one of the four-man sax section which pays homage to the Ray Charles Atlantic Records period. Carr is ...

Paul Carr: Musically Yours: Remembering Joe Henderson

by C. Michael Bailey
March 15, 2008

Listening to the music of tenor saxophonist Paul Carr, one recognizes that he has completely imbued the music of the late Joe Henderson, to whom he pays tribute on Musically Yours: Remembering Joe Henderson. Growing up in Texas under the spell of such “Texas Tenors" as Don Wilkerson and Arnett Cobb, Carr developed a big blusey tone.

Carr uses this to great effect as he draws the funk and blues out of the Henderson's compositions--performing them quite differently from how ...

Paul Carr: Musically Yours

by Edward Blanco
March 14, 2008

Remembering one of the great tenor masters of jazz, saxophonist and educator Paul Carr pays homage to the late Joe Henderson by offering an artful session of hard-driving bop with his third album as a leader on Musically Yours. He borrows the title from Henderson, who once autographed an album that Carr brought with him to a gig at the now closed Washington, DC jazz club, The One Step Down, where the saxophonist signed “To Paul, Musically Yours, Joe."

The Pierce College Jazz Ensemble: The Weekly Dance / Pierced Ears

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 2002

I first heard the Pierce College Jazz Ensemble at the IAJE Conference in Long Beach, CA, in January 2001 and was quite impressed, enough so to ask director Norm Wallen to keep me in mind for reviews if the ensemble were to record any CDs. After sending a master of the band’s performance at the conference, Norm followed up with these two albums, the band’s first “official” recordings ( The Weekly Dance came first), which show clearly why many observers ...