JAMES CARTER
Chasin' the Gypsy
Atlantic

JAMES CARTER
Layin' in the Cut
Atlantic

Chasin' the Gypsy is the instant fave here. Opening with an in-your-face bass saxophone rendition of Reinhardt's hugely hummable World War II hit "Nuages," Carter and a band featuring violinist Regina Carter and drummer Joey Baron swing romantically ("Manoir de Mes Rêves"), jauntily ("Oriental Shuffle"), moodily ("I'll Never Be the Same"). The title tune is a gut-busting flag-waver, the closer a literal lullaby. Carter's affection for a bygone culture is palpable throughout, and never deadened by piety.

But the freshly improvised, quickly recorded Layin' in the Cut is just as impressive. Topping a rhythm section with roots in Ulmer and Ornette and the very different twixt-jazz-and-rock guitarists Marc Ribot and Jef Lee Johnson, Carter is as at home pumping percussive funk as he is rolling out buoyant swing. His distinctly hard-edged embouchure is especially well-suited to this harmolodic style, with its determination to make jazz guitar loud and r&b horns free. Like everything Carter does, it will make guardians of jazz taste wince and lovers of its spirit rejoice.

Rolling Stone, 2000