Carter Improvises With Technique, Emotion

If there was any single note James Carter missed on any of his three burnished gold saxophones during his opening night at Catalina Bar & Grill on Tuesday, it’s hard to imagine what it could have been.

Notes were flying around with such abandon that there were times when Carter came close to overwhelming the sound and presence of his four musical associates--alto saxophonist Cassius Richmond, pianist Craig Taborn, bassist Jaribu Shahid and drummer Leonard King. At 30, the talented young Carter is a master technician, clearly capable of playing just about anything that comes to mind.

But technique alone does not make for creativity, and what was particularly impressive about Carter’s performance was the extent to which he has used his control of the instrument to devise a kind of vocalized expression. On tune after tune, on soprano, alto and tenor instruments, his urgent note flurries blurred into a sound that moved beyond the saxophone’s timbre into shouts, screams and sheer declamatory preaching. It was improvising on a different level--often difficult to accept because of the intensity of its sheer emotional demands, but never less than compelling.

Viewed from a superficial perspective, Carter’s soloing could be seen as a ‘90s manifestation of the honking, crowd-pleasing saxophone styles of ‘50s rhythm and blues or, perhaps, of the Jazz at the Philharmonic saxophone battles. And, in his earlier work, that was certainly true. But he now has moved into another arena. And if he sometimes--notably on his ballads--pushed the envelope a bit too aggressively, that may be part of the price he pays for striking out on such a determinedly individual path.

In fact, listening to Carter spraying notes in all directions, an image from the film “Amadeus” kept coming to mind in which Mozart, told that he uses too many notes, simply replies, “Tell me which ones I don’t need, and I’ll remove them.”

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* The James Carter Quintet at Catalina Bar & Grill, through Sunday. 1640 N. Cahuenga Blvd., (213) 466-2210. $14 cover Sunday, $16 cover tonight and Saturday, with two-drink minimum. Shows at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.