James Carter (b. 1969) is one of today's
bright young stars on the
jazz saxophone.
I really should write "saxophones" since, rather
than focusing on one or two instruments, Carter
has mastered pretty much every saxophone from
soprano down to
bass, as well as the
bass clarinet.
Coming out of
Detroit, Michigan, he has hit
the scene in the last 5 years or so. His musical
roots are definitely
hard bop and he plays with
a raw fury which, in my opinion, distinguishes him
from his contemporary,
Joshua Redman. In addition,
the
baritone and
bass saxophones
are frequent vehicles for his music. He tours with
his own
combo as well as records on
movie soundtracks
and appears alongside some of jazz's big stars.
For example, I just saw him in February with
Steve
Turré in a tribute to
Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
His pure energy just about
stole the show.
I haven't seen confirmation of it yet, but I'm pretty
sure that jazz violinist Regina Carter is his sister.
Gosh, lots of dangling hard-links. Looks like I have
some more noding to do. Stay tuned.