James Carter - Chasin' the Gypsy
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CD Details
Artist: James CarterEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2000-06-06
Music Label: Atlantic / Wea
Soundtracks:
- Nuages
- Derni?re Berg?re (The Last Shepherdess)
- Manoir de Mes Reves/Django's Castle
- Artillerie Lourde (Heavy Artillery)
- Chasin' the Gypsy
- Oriental Shuffle
- I'll Never Be the Same
- Avalon
- Imari's Lullaby
Music reviews of Chasin' the Gypsy
Music Review: Partake at Your Peril
Rating: 2 Stars
Saxophonist James Carter has prodigious talent; unfortunately, he also has a tendency to be a hot dog. The result on this outing is a CD that is a glorious mess. Sonically, this is a dazzling CD, full of unusual, powerful, startling, and sometimes-effective sounds. Bell sounds coming out of nowhere, huge tones from the saxophone, crisp drums, subtle guitars, a glorious aural kaleidescope--but not always a glorious musical experience.
Listening to a James Carter recording is like taking a trip to the state fair: lots of fun, plenty of color and bright lights and exciting sounds and smells, but when it is all over, you just can't wait to get home and put all the garishness behind you. And so it is here. Carter has put together a heck of a band for his tribute to the music of Django Reinhardt, including Regina Carter (his sister) on violin, Jay Berliner on steel-string guitar, Romereo Lubamba on nylon-string guitar, Charlie Giordano on accordion, Steve Kirby on bass, Cyro Baptista on percussion, and Joey Baron on drums.
It is Carter's saxophone, though, that dominates the soundscape throughout, especially when he picks up his mighty bass saxophone on several of the cuts. Whoa! If only Carter could have backed off just a little, with not quite so many little flourishes and slides and squeals and pops and smears and trills and so darn many NOTES. If only he had done this, it might have been something of a musical trip to the Hot Club of France; but no, it's the state fair, and the overly boiled hot dogs just have too darn much mustard on them. Guilty pleasure to the max, but then comes the indigestion. Partake at your peril.
Description of Chasin' the Gypsy
For Chasin' the Gypsy, James Carter enlists violinist (and cousin) Regina Carter, drummer Joey Baron, guitar mainstay Jay Berliner, and several others to tackle this homage to Gypsy guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt. The bustle and muscle are in balance, with accordion, steel-string guitar, bass saxophone, violin, and drums flawlessly chugging through these nine tunes. --Andrew BartlettAt first glance, jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt might seem an unlikely inspiration for a modern jazz saxophonist. But in referencing the fiery gypsy virtuoso (while employing dual acoustic guitarists), James Carter has fashioned his most compelling, fully formed recital as a leader. While his galloping soprano on the title tune enhances Carter's reputation as fiery technical craftsman (all the more joyous for the torrid exchanges with his cousin, violinist Regina Carter), Chasin' the Gypsy showcases his gifts as a torch player, while deepening his connections to the rich timbres, macho articulations, and swinging romanticism of the pre-bebop saxophone tradition. In the process, he finds provocative new applications for forgotten instruments of the 1920s. On "Oriental Shuffle," he elicits a ripe, bulbous tonality from the F Mezzo--like a soprano sax on steroids--carefully layering taut melodic nuggets until busting out in a Djangoish reverie. Even more satisfying is his portrayal of the classic chestnut "I'll Never Be the Same," in which James matches Regina's soaring lyricism by transforming the ungainly bass saxophone from an ugly duckling into a lithesome swan (as he also does on Django's classic "Nuages," with Charlie Giordano's accordion providing authentic period counterpoint). Fans of Carter's timeless tenor saxophone tone won't be disappointed by the tender inflections marking his intimate performance of "Django's Castle" and an original for his freshly minted baby daughter, "Imari's Lullaby." This is a big step up in class for the young heavyweight. --Chip Stern
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