After Wynton Marsalis, no one caused more of an uproar than James Carter did when he appeared on the New York jazz scene from his native Detroit. Carter's debut recording, JC on the Set, issued in 1993, was universally acclaimed as the finest debut by a saxophonist in decades. Critics lauded his ability to play in virtually any jazz style without appearing to ape anyone. Carter played and toured with Marsalis in 1986 at the age of 17 and became a member of Lester Bowie's band upon relocating to New York in 1988. Carter issued no less than six recordings under his own name between 1993 and 2000, all of them with different focuses, from a set of standards, Conversin' with the Elders in 1995, to an electric funk record, Layin' in the Cut, to tribute to Django Reinhardt, Chasin the Gypsy. Three years later, he honored the legendary Billie Holiday with Gardenias for Lady Day. Carter's Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge followed in 2004. Another live session, Out of Nowhere, was released in 2005. Carter has continued his whirlwind of activity, playing on session and in live settings with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Cyrus Chestnut, Rodney Whitaker, Frank Lowe, Julius Hemphill, Madeleine Peyroux, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Charles Mingus Big Band… In 2008, he released Present Tense on Universal Jazz. Carter followed that up a year later with the live album Heaven On Earth featuring a jazz supergroup including, among others, John Medeski and Christian McBride. He is the winner of several Downbeat critics and readers polls and considered today one of the new Giants of Jazz.
