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                                                On one of the coldest nights of the year (Jan. 21, 2011), alto saxophonist Carl Bartlett, Jr. brought a crowd to fill the spacious Laurie Beechman Theatre on 42^nd St. in Manhattan. He was celebrating his debut CD, entitled Hopeful. With him were the rhythm section of Sharp Radway on piano, Eric Lemon on bass and Emanuel Harrold on drums. Special guests were guitarist Ron Jackson and trumpeter Charles Bartlett, Carl’s uncle.

Carl Bartlett, Jr. is a very classy young man. Dressed in a pin-striped suit and tie, he greeted audience members as they came in, and spoke easily onstage. He entertained the audience with his mostly original, modern jazz music.

The opener, one of Carl’s originals, “Fidgety Season,” was played in an upbeat swing, and right away I could sense Carl’s seriousness about his artform. He has great intonation on the alto, and has mastered a variety of styles. Pianist Radway also has great chops, and kept the mood bright with tremolos and lots of movement.

“Julie B” was a ballad named after Carl’s mother. The texture of this piece was based on modern jazz, but not so far outside the tradition that made it unpleasant listening. “Release” was a thoughtful and intelligent bossa-nova. Both of these original pieces were well-played. But the highlight of the evening was the featured special guest musicians. Carl brought up Ron Jackson to play guitar on “Quantum Leaps (and Bounds).” It was a wild and fast melody that they played in unison. Ron jumped right into a solo, playing tasteful phrases all the way up the neck of his guitar. He received shouts from the crowd, and then the two lead instruments traded phrases in an exciting “battle of the axes.” Someone yelled out “That was crazy!” and everyone laughed.

Trumpeter Charles Bartlett came onstage for the Jimmy Van Heusen standard, “It Could Happen to You.” An introduction on solo trumpet changed the mood to one of relaxed swing, and one could sense the rapport between uncle and nephew as they weaved a tapestry of sound throughout the song.

The remainder of the set consisted of: “Seven-Up,” a natural-sounding blues in an unusual meter, 7/4; “I Love Lucy,” a feature for the talented drummer Harrold; and towards the end of the evening a Monk tune was included, “Straight, No Chaser,” bringing everyone back to the stage. Altogether, the evening was a rousing success.

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