Music review: James Carter is sublime at the Dakota - TwinCities.com

Listening to 43-year-old saxophone phenom James Carter, you get the impression that he can play anything he wants on his instrument, which depending on the moment, might be tenor, alto or soprano saxophone, or flute. Carter, who returned to the Dakota jazz club Sunday night, doesn't limit himself to any particular corner of the jazz universe.

He plays all kinds: postbop, modern, "free" jazz, and even the blues and gospel-inflected style most often heard in black communities. The later is the main focus of his organ trio, which is comprised of three musicians who undoubtedly heard plenty of blues, gospel and "soul jazz" growing up in Detroit, especially at Baker's Keyboard Lounge, a longtime Motor City house of good times and finishing school for young jazz hotshots.

Carter has had a long-standing relationship with the group's 74-year old drummer and vocalist, Leonard King, who has been one of Carter's musical mentors for years. Hammond B-3 player Gerard Gibbs honed his chops on the R&B circuit; his playing has been compared to the driving style of the late Richard "Groove" Holmes.

The group played several tunes from their enjoyable, 2011 CD "At the Crossroads," which landed on a number of "best of the year" lists.

Carter kicked things off with an octave-leaping workout on soprano sax, on "Pour Que Ma Vie Demeure," a ballad the great gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt wrote back in the 1950s but never recorded. Showing his mastery of the instrument, the

animated Carter played some potentially glass-shattering altissimo (above the scale) riffs, along with some expressive, vocal-like tones.

Gibbs started the next piece, the late Jack McDuff's version of "Walkin' the Dog," in dramatic fashion, alternating churchy organ chords with some comedic, staccato keyboard hammering, and some unexpected stops and starts which amused his bandmates.

Carter played that tune on alto sax, again showing his propensity for testing the upper limits of the horn.

King got the tune rolling like a train going downhill, playing the venerable "double shuffle" beat. He's a great shuffle drummer, which is sometimes an underappreciated skill in the jazz world, but one which always gets audiences moving.

Carter and Gibbs did some call-and-response riff-trading before taking the tune out with some unison riffing.

With Carter on tenor, the band sailed through the Miles Davis-Charlie Parker bebop anthem "Milestones," with King -- who is also a world-class jazz vocalist -- scatting the melody along with the sax.

Then, with Carter on flute, King took the audience to church, singing Duke Ellington's spiritual ballad "Come Sunday," in a mellow baritone.

After that, Carter broke into a bouncy rendition of "Down By the Riverside," showing his ability to wring more melodic twists and turns out of a tune than anyone since Sonny Rollins.

Dan Emerson is a freelance writer and musician in Minneapolis.

Source: http://www.twincities.com/music/ci_21188417/james-carter-is-sublime-sax-at-dakota?source=rss

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