Carter was born in Detroit, Michigan and learned to play there before moving to New York City. He has been prominent as a performer and recording artist on the jazz scene since the mid-1990s, playing saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet. As a young man, he attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and was a member of the group, Bird-Trane-Sco-Now. On his album, Chasin' the Gypsy (2000), he recorded with his cousin Regina Carter, a jazz violinist. Carter has won the critics' choice award for baritone saxophone three years in a row from Down Beat magazine. He has played on albums with Cyrus Chestnut, Wynton Marsalis and the Mingus Big Band.

Discography

• 1991: Tough Young Tenors: Alone Together
• 1994: J.C. on the Set
• 1995: Jurassic Classics
• 1995: The Real Quietstorm
• 1996: Conversin' with the Elders
• 1998: In Carterian Fashion
• 2000: Layin' in the Cut
• 2000: Chasin' the Gypsy
• 2003: Gardenias for Lady Day
• 2004: Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge
• 2005: Out of Nowhere
• 2005: Gold Sounds (Tribute to Pavement)
• 2008: "Present tense"

External links

• Official Website
• High kicks and belly blows — article (with photos) by Tony Gieske
• James Carter — biography from American International Artists
• MusicMatch Guide
• Concert review
• Photographed live at Jazz Alley — photos by Bruce C Moore
• Edutain-The James Carter Discography