Lots of young horn players can play like their heroes, but not many can play with them. Twenty-seven-year-old James Carter, the most commanding saxophonist to emerge in jazz since David Murray, does just that on his fourth album, engaging in a series of cross-generational dialogues with jazz statesmen including veteran Count Basie sidemen Harry "Sweets" Edison and Buddy Tate, and avant-garde leaders Hamiet Bluiett and Lester Bowie.

Backed by his flexible Detroit-based combo, Carter tackles everything from '30s Kansas City swing and '40s bebop to the unclassifiable "FreeReggaeHiBop," a Bowie-penned excursion that fuses reggae, New Orleans parade music and free blowing into groove jazz of the highest order. With his gritty timbre, swaggering phrasing and totally original approach to even the most familiar material, Carter's tribute to his own heroes also announces the arrival of a new hero – something jazz has been waiting on for a long time. (RS 738/739)

JASON FINE