James Carter was born in Detroit, Michigan, and learned to play under the tutelage of Donald Washington, becoming a member of his youth jazz ensemble Bird-Trane-Sco-NOW!! As a young man, he attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, becoming the youngest faculty member at the camp. He first toured Scandinavia with the International Jazz Band in 1985 at the age of 16. On May 31, 1988, at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), Carter was a last-minute addition for guest artist Lester Bowie, which turned into an invitation to play with his new quintet (forerunner of his New York Organ Ensemble) in New York City that following November at the now defunct Carlos 1 jazz club. This was pivotal in his career, putting him in musical contact with the world, and he moved to New York 2 years later. He has been prominent as a performer & recording artist on the jazz scene since the late 1980s, focusing on saxophones, flute & clarinets. In 1996, he took part in Robert Altman’s film Kansas City, where he played Ben Webster alongside several other contemporary jazz musicians playing the roles of players from the 1930s, including Joshua Redman as Lester Young, Craig Handy as Coleman Hawkins & Geri Allen as Mary Lou Williams. “Seldom Seen” ‘s fictional “Hey Hey Club” set the stage for several jam sessions caught on film in real time and included on a soundtrack produced by Hal Willner & trumpeter Steven Bernstein. Mr. Carter embraces all elements of jazz history, from Dixieland to fusion to free jazz, and was one of the few prominent players of his generation to do so, participating in a number of projects in all these styles, and incorporating these different influences in the compositions and soloing on his own albums. On his album Chasin’ the Gypsy (2000), he recorded with his cousin Regina Carter. He has won DownBeat magazine’s Critics & Readers Choice award for baritone saxophone several years in a row. He has performed, toured & played on albums with Lester Bowie, Julius Hemphill, Frank Lowe & the Saxemble, Kathleen Battle, the World Saxophone Quartet, Cyrus Chestnut, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Mingus Big Band. His sound blends the soul of Billie Holiday, the swing of Count Basie, and the edge of Hendrix, all delivered with jaw-dropping technical command. Whether tearing through Coltrane tempos or whispering ballads, Carter’s mastery of saxophones, flute, and clarinet is unparallel.
S I had a chance to catch up with Mr. James Carter before he heads to Madison to play two sets at Cafe Coda on October 25. This saxophone powerhouse will be bringing the fire, finesse, and fearless improvisation we have grown to love here. We talk about what this event will feel like and who else is with him making this groove come alive. We listen in as he discusses how much of this music will be made up on the spot and how much is the natural flow of songs they know. We get into how he found his groove, from growing up in a musical family that got him itching from the sting o the music bug to growing that feeling with the array of artists he has worked with. For someone who dancing often in that moment of the music, we chat about how that translates when trying to lay something down on a record which dovetailed nicely into a mention of a new project or two that are in the works.
