Paul Carr’s sax is a weapon of chill destruction, not too souped-up (there’s no sign that he’s battling for shelf space with fusion proggers) and not too old school either. His new album administers straight-up commuter feel-goodness similar to Sonny Rollins or a more freestyle Ronny Laws. The set boots up with the album’s eponymous track, a snappy metered original spotlighting his breezy but intense perspective not only on the notes themselves but also on the innards of his instrument. It’s not until track #4 (Carrie Fischer’s “You’ve Changed”) that there’s a turn for the nostalgic, but thankfully the feel is far less forlorn than smilingly introspective. Passages are traded here and there with trumpet player Terrell Stanford, and these are without a doubt the highlights of the record; a 6 1/2 minute version of the Gershwins’ “But Not For Me” starts as a thoughtful gift to the foxtrotters until Carr can no longer control an urge to get medieval on the scale, pianist Bob Butta returning a volley in kind. Order from Amazon.com
