wersax and brutlix: glad you guys dug my tale of woe with James Carter!
My exposure to him worked as a sort of "vaccination" -- from that point on, I realized that "where I stood" as a player maybe wasn't where even some younger cats are, but, hey, once you've been humbled by the best, I mean, bring 'em on! In the years since, I've encountered plenty of younger players who've amazed and impressed me, but instead of them making me want to hang it up, I just want to practice more. I had my musical "mid-life crisis" at the age of 24, which has given me plenty of time to get over it!
There's a bit of a postscript to the story, since I ran into James in New York about a year and a half ago, at a Selmer event at Steinway Hall. I was directed to a roomful of Selmer saxes available to play test. Heading down the corridor I heard a WAILING bari and instantly said to myself: "James!"
Turned the corner, and there he was! Last time I'd seen him was about 20 years ago. Went up to him, he pondered me for a moment, said "Kelly!" and gave me a great big hug.
I pointed out that last time I saw him he was 16, and now he was all grown up and looking great; he said that I looked good too, but had way less hair (something that I'd already been aware of...).
Maturity has been good to James. He was a super nice and humble person, enthusiastic about music, a very friendly, warm guy. I was even more glad that I'd never smothered him in his sleep with a pillow.
