Jurassic Classics

Artist: James Carter
Label: Disk Union
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 4988044008861
ASIN: B000001C3O

Release Date: 1999-08-13

Related Categories:

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Tracks:

Take the "A" Train
Out of Nowhere
Epistrophy
Ask Me Now
Equinox
Sandu
Oleo

Similar Items:

JC on the Set
Conversin' with the Elders
Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge
In Carterian Fashion
Layin' in the Cut

Customer Reviews:

High Testosterone.......2006-06-21

I love this CD because his approach to this Standards is so aggressive and different. For example, Take The A Train sounds like a true Train full of power. CArter is a master and the Piano player Craig Taborn is excellent as well. I love all his recordindgs.

Show-off!.......2005-04-09

James Carter has a lot of nerve covering tracks made famous by such jazz superstars as Coltrane and Monk, not to mention a number of less famous though no less talented musicians. He has a lot of talent, too, because he pulls it off. Great listening here.

Overcompensating coming-out.......2002-07-28

Clearly a "display piece" by youthful, indefatigable brilliance, this album is meant to dazzle and impress rather than express or communicate. Carter takes on each of his major progenitors on their own territory--Trane and Sanders, Hawk and Hodges, Rollins and Carney. His opening marathon solo on "A Train" is in itself a reprise of the history of the saxophone, from Boots Randolph to Albert Ayler. Give Carter credit. Even though these tracks are impersonations rather than assimilations of the tradition, it's doubtful any other player could have brought them off so convincingly.

Some classic tracks deconstructed!.......2001-06-03

This album contains versions of tracks that James Carter must have listened to in the original versions, and wanted to deconstruct in his own way.There's no doubt that this is a showcase for his sax playing, whether it's on soprano, alto or tenor. The band are clearly fully supportive, and all grew up and played together out of Detroit. Special mention for Craig Taborn on piano who never swamps Carter, but drives him on to find new expression for these tracks. Favourites here are the two Thelonius Monk tracks, in particular "Epistrophy" at 13.45, which gives the leader a chance to stretch out in every direction. The track itself with its "clumps" of notes is an ideal vehicle for what Carter sets out to do.I also like the reworking of Clifford Brown's "Sandu".The great thing about this album is that it helps to explain the direction that Carter has taken since, with him playing at the top of his form, and storming through what could have been a bland revisitation, to make the tracks his own.It's an interesting contrast, as well, with the currently unavailable Greg Osby album "Further ado" where the leader on that album sets his playing firmly within the group setting. This, on the other hand is very much a James Carter masterwork

A decidedly modern take on jazz classics.......2001-02-26

This is the only James Carter CD I own, so I can't really speak to how it compares with his others. However, I have really enjoyed listening to this CD and I think with a little more growth and maturity, Carter could become a real modern jazz legend. His chops are outstanding and his mastery of alto sax (as well as a few other wind instruments) is very impressive. At his best, Carter's playing overflows with intesity, passion, and more than a little humor. His take on Rollin's "Oleo" is wonderfully concieved, adding strange and quirky harmonies to the melody which re-conceptualizing the chord structure (no "rhythm changes" here). Monk's "Epistrophy" is the other outstanding track on this disk -- a little more straight-laced than "Oleo," but no less interesting to listen to. Carter's solo on this track is particularly tasty, mostly because he keeps a stricter rein on his penchant to play mind-numbingly fast.

There are failures on this CD as well, particularly "Take the 'A' Train" On this track Carter is really just showboating -- playing all sorts of growls and harmonics and 32nd note runs during his solo but with very little attention to things like phrasing and harmony. The results are impressive, but suggest that Carter virtuouso skill on the horn may have developed faster than his musicality.

Music CD:

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Face to Face ~ Trevor Rabin

Live from the Other Side ~ Marty Willson-Piper

Is That Your Beer? ~ Scary Chicken

Bitter & Direct ~ Staireo

The Best of Bar-Kays ~ The Bar-Kays

Craig Mack Flava in Ya Ear Remix ~ Rampage, LL Cool, Craig Mack

Special Forces ~ Big Ed the Assassin

To Your Soul ~ The Jaz