I hope I can be a healing force in the world, on and off stage. There's an education to be had from this music, this heritage; as my teacher says, 'keep your eyes on the prize, study the music.' ...I'm paying homage to where I come from. Music as a whole gives a person a third eye, like a sixth sense... I make music the center of my everyday life."

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James Carter has been studying and playing the saxophone since the age of 11 and performs on all reed instruments, from piccolo to contrabass clarinet. His work pays homage to his musical influences, from Dixieland through the "avant-garde" jazz traditions, from opera singers to the polytonal freedom of blues and rock and roll pianists and guitarists. In addition to re-working standard tunes with a fierce abandon that's an essential part of the tradition, Carter's own compositions push at the boundaries of the known world with a rare fluidity between imagination and technique.

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James Carter was born in 1969 and raised in Detroit.



ALBUMS
As a leader
The Real Quietstorm-Atlantic
Jurassic Classics-DIW
JC on the Set-DIW

With Lester Bowie
Funky Cool T-DIW
Organizer-DIW

With Julius Hemphill
Five Chord Stud-Black Saint

With various others
Tough Young Tenors-Antilles
Inappropriate Choices-ITM Pacific