Customer Reviews

Heaven on Earth (Dig)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was at the Blue Note for both sets the night this was recorded. I attend a lot of jazz shows and this was one of the best I've ever seen. Each musician in the band stands alone as a great artist; sometimes an All-Star cast doesn't necessarily guarantee that they will play well together. In this case, the combination is dazzlingly excellent. One of the best recordings of 2009.

First off I must say as far as bands go this is like a Jazz All Star team. You've got players covering almost the entire spectrum of jazz music. Leading this group is James Carter who I feel is seriously underrated as far as sax players go. He plays tenor, soprano and baritone here & he plays them great with his original sound and his take on saxophone multiphonics in my opinion in an attempt to emulate guitar players like Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck who are masters of controlling feedback. On Hammond B3 is John Medeski who I feel needs no introduction he plays soulful organ more in the style of Larry Young rather then Jimmy Smith. Joey Baron at the drum set is killing, laying down greasy funk back beats and then swinging hard like Philly Joe he's awesome and this record wouldn't have come off as well without him. The incomparable Christian McBride is playing acoustic & electric bass. He is also killing throughout the entire album laying down james brown style electric grooves & swinging hard straight ahead style on upright while turning in some great solos as well. On guitar is Adam Rogers who in my opinion is becoming one of the best guitarists on the scene. I have to say that this is a live album and the band is not a regular working unit so there's a loose jam feeling to the tunes but these masters pull it off with grace. The music is a wide stylistic mixture of covers ranging from Django Reinhardt's "Diminishing" to Larry Young's "Heaven on Earth" also played is a Lucky Thompson tune Slap's Mistake and Street of Dreams. The songs are all extended with long solos and ensemble interplay which in my opinion makes the album. Bottom line is you get to hear five masters going to work at the Blue Note & having lots of fun enjoying each mans company.

Bought this as a gift for a James Carter lover, the all-star lineup is an added bonus. Highly recommended!

I like James Carter.
Already seen him in Paris.
About this very CD : Club mood and atmosphere - Live Performance - Blue Note Spirit -

Heaven on Earth features James Carter on saxophone, John Medeski on organ, Adam Rogers on guitar, Christian McBride on bass, and Joey Baron on drums. Yes, this is certainly a band of all-stars, and there is some hot playing, but overall, the music never really seems to completely cohere. It just sounds like a bunch of guys playing. This might be entertaining when seen live, but as a recording, something to be played in the home, over and over again, it falls a bit short.

The main culprit is the leader, James Carter, who just seems to try too hard with his little bleeps and honks and squeaks. A little of this kind of stuff can add excitement, but when applied on just about every cut, these effects wear thin.

This is not a bad recording, and I am not condemning it to the dustbin of jazz history. It is an OK recording, with some fun moments, but for my ears at least, it is no better than that. Those who like this style of jazz would be well served to look up the recordings that Joey Baron cut as a leader on the ECM label, Down Home and We'll Soon Find Out. Featuring Arthur Blythe on sax, those were some greasy, funky, soulful sessions, and they come across as much more musically coherent that what we have here.

"Heaven On Earth" is co-led by all five players, but it seems that James Carter is the reason for the disc. James Carter is the most virtuosic saxophone player today, and he's playing with John Medeski on organ (probably today's most prominent organist), Adam Rogers on guitar, Christian McBride on bass (one of the top contemporary bassists), and Joey Baron on drums (whose playing with Naked City marks him as one of the most virtuosic drummers around). The songs are loose soul-jazz, with plenty of time to jam. Though that might be a recipe for disaster, it is another recent all-star assembly where the players play well together. The overall mood is fun - for example, McBride's bass solo on "Diminishing" references a funky Sesame Street theme. I recommend "Heaven On Earth" most strongly to fans of James Carter or soul-jazz.

Heard reed expert James Carter play beautifully, ethereally,in Grace Cathedral, San Francisco with Roy Hargrove as a part of the San Francisco Jazz Festival, May 2009. Knew I had to have his cd's.
Live at Blue Note, a favorite place for jazz, recorded a couple weeks before Grace Cathedral, is more funky, but shows off Carter's love of the sax. Extraordinary talent.