James Carter: Present Tense

Released this spring on EmArcy,  Present Tense finds Carter on most of his horns—soprano, tenor and bari sax, bass clarinet and flute. He’s surrounded by fine company, including trumpeter/flugelhornist  Dwight Adams, pianist D.D. Jackson, bassist James Genus, and drummer Victor Lewis; along with guitarist  Rodney Jones and percussionist Eli Fountain on several tracks. Notes Carter, "I titled this album  Present Tense because it captures where I am right now...what appeals to me right now. I've always had eclectic tastes, so the styles of these pieces are diverse. But I'm also dealing with more lyricism on this album, and I'm making more concise statements in the music versus playing out for 10 or 11 minutes. Some of the tunes are in the four-minute range." Award-winning  producer Michael Cuscuna shepherded this project, noting that “It struck me that many of his [previous] albums are ingenious concepts. As successful as each was, none of them captured the breadth of James's mastery of this music."

James Carter © Andrea Canter

In an arsenal as broad as Carter’s, the tenor sax might seem a bit mundane, but he never coasts. Carter says that the music of “Sussa Nita” was given to him by Billie Holiday in a dream. With Rodney Jones on guitar and Eli Fountain on percussion, there’s an added layer giving the track a taste of tango. Jones in particular is an underappreciated titan whose phrasing and articulation play off perfectly against the always dexterous Carter. Victor Young’s “Song of Delilah” finds Carter skillfully weaving together two tracks of tenor for a self-propelled, hip-hoppish duet. (One James Carter is scary enough, thank you.) The original “Bossa JC” again finds the additional guitar and percussion washing the track in sunshine and swing.

It might seem odd that the Django Reinhardt composition, “Pour Que Ma Vie Demeure,” does not feature guitar, but Carter’s soprano creates an elastic voice with all the passion and sweetness associated with Django. Carter’s legato phrases are slippery even when he is adding squeal and sneer, as if his octaves are greased. Jackson is simply exquisite in support, while Genus’s hollow-toned solo here tugs the heart as much as the leader’s horn. “Dodo’s Bounce” (by Dodo Marmarosa) literally bounces with Carter’s acrobatic flute. Jones is again featured on guitar, and hops and skips well under Adams’ muted trumpet accents. Adams (with Genus) and Carter alternate trades with a subtle Victor Lewis in one of the album’s most effective multipart exchanges.

The two bass clarinet tracks standout in part because so few musicians seem to have mastered this deeply resonating reed. On “Bro Dolphy,” Carter somersaults through the theme that pays homage to Dolphy while showing off the virtuosic best of James, his gnarly tone supported by well-spaced trumpet chords and a sympathetic rhythm section. Jackson shows off his melodic chops as well, barely keeping it inside but nevertheless with a mellow, bell-like delicacy in his runs which hang together in a thick braid of sound. Following artful demonstrations from Genus and Lewis, the ensemble cooks up a very Dolphyish attack on tonality that ends abruptly in a high squeal. Although Jimmy Jones’ “Shadowy Sands” was a bari sax vehicle for Harry Carney, Carter here chooses the more haunting bass clarinet and a brisk tango featuring Fountain on congas, closing with some tropical harmonizing with Adams on flugelhorn.

Present Tense is all about connections between past and future, horn and horn, James Carter and his current team of collaborators. In some respects it reflects Carter as less the flamboyant virtuoso and more the thoughtful master of music’s fate, letting each tune evolve fully but refraining from self indulgence. As such, it may be his most successful outing yet.

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