Layin' In The Cut
The collective electric improvisations that make upLayin' in the Cutshowcase the intrepid, high-wire quality of James Carter's free jazz/super-bop side, much as the romantic acoustic arrangements of sibling releaseChasin' the Gypsyfocus on the saxophonist's lyrical talents. Drummer Grant Calvin Weston and electric bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma afford Carter a loose yet deeply centered rhythmic focus upon which to conceive a postmodern bridge between hard funk and modern jazz. While swing is clearly a second language here (the coda to "There's a Paddle" being an energetic example), wherever Carter dares to tread, he matches his ferocious energy with his band's grace and power--especially on the title cut and "Motown Mash."Electric guitaristsMarc Ribotand Jef Lee Johnson confer an open-ended brand of melodic fluidity and timbral flexibility, enabling the saxophonist to split the difference betweenJohn ColtraneandJimi Hendrix, as on "Requiem for Hartford Ave."--Ribot's pensive classical-styled intro and Johnson's bluesy retorts inspire alternating serene and shrieking soprano phrases. On "Terminal B," a trademark Tacuma-Weston harmolodic march leads to a psychedelic free-for-all. Their most amiable radio-friendly collective work comes on "GP," with Ribot'sWes Montgomery-styled inflections gently framing Carter's lyric tenor in Latin raiment. And from his wailing ascent up the scale on "There's a Paddle" to his gorgeous gospel-blues inflections on "Drafadelic in D Flat," Carter's unbridled tenor work is deeply compelling. While these arrangements rarely venture out of the straight vamp mode into the more harmonically expansive vistas of, say, Sam Rivers's big-band jazz-funk (tryInspirationorCulmination), Carter's potential for growth is unmistakable.--Chip Stern