James Carter Organ Trio, Ronnie Scott’s

Sax giant James Carter leads his organ trio, featuring Gerard Gibbs on electric organ and Elmar Fey on drums, in this tribute to gypsy jazz icon Django Reinhardt.
"After Wynton Marsalis, no one caused more of an uproar than James Carter did when he appeared on the New York jazz scene," writes journalist Thom Jurek and it’s a difficult claim to refute. The saxophonist was hailed as a prodigy when he broke cover in the early 90s, on account of his incredible facility, his jaw-dropping command of extended technique and his ability to ape any style. Though he’s now in his 40s and is a little less talked about, at least in the UK, he’s still a force to be reckoned with.
This tribute, which will no doubt be interspersed with standards and originals from Carter’s extensive back catalogue, is his second dedication to Reinhardt, who also provided the inspiration for 2000 release Chasin’ The Gypsy.
But here, the French guitarist’s music gets a hefty injection of funk courtesy of this punchy trio. Expect judicious use of the blues and plenty of high energy solos for Carter in which he makes full use of his fabled bag of tricks, everything from slap tongue to chordal honks and altissimo squeals.
If it was anyone else you’d worry it might sound tasteless, but Carter had such natural flair and such a profound understanding of jazz tradition that it’s hard to see it to going wrong. For enviable sax playing and gypsy jazz as never before this is a must see.