Present Tense (James Carter album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
All About Jazz	[3]
The Guardian	[4]

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek says, "Present Tense showcases Carter at his most disciplined and ambitious ... This may be Carter's finest album because of its insistence on the balance between restraint and adventure".[2] In JazzTimes David R. Adler called the album "an unselfconscious mix of influences, more three-dimensional than his various tribute discs and the recent organ-trio blowouts".[5] On All About Jazz Greg Camphire noted, "This solid, straight-ahead outing sounds both "old-timey" (in the best sense), with deep roots in blues and swing; and exploratory, never sacrificing Carter's personal approach, while maintaining his place in the jazz tradition".[3] The Guardian critic John Fordham wrote, "The whole set is a jazz history, rescued from cheesiness by Carter's mastery of every technical detail".[4]

All compositions by James Carter except where noted.

1. "Rapid Shave" (Dave Burns) - 7:28
2. "Bro. Dolphy" - 7:13
3. "Pour Que Ma Vie Demeure" (Django Reinhardt) - 5:05
4. "Sussa Nita" - 6:00
5. "Song of Delilah" (Victor Young, Ray Evans, Jay Livingston) - 5:11
6. "Dodo's Bounce" (Dodo Marmarosa) - 6:00
7. "Shadowy Sands" (Jimmy Jones) - 8:28
8. "Hymn of the Orient" (Gigi Gryce) - 4:23
9. "Bossa J.C." - 4:41
10. "Tenderly" (Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence) - 8:12

• James Carter - flute, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
• Dwight Adams - trumpet, flugelhorn
• D. D. Jackson - piano
• Rodney Jones - guitar (tracks 4, 6 & 9)
• James Genus - bass
• Victor Lewis - drums
• Eli Fountain - congas, percussion (tracks 4, 7 & 9)