Carrier

Xavier Lecouturier is a picture of intuitive concentration and joy.
All About Jazz

A young and vital member of the Seattle jazz scene, drummer Xavier Lecouturier discovered a circle of like-minded and talented colleagues after arriving in town from the Bay Area. Carrier documents a collection of the original works they've been performing around the region over the last two years, as they looked for, and found, their voice. Featuring through-composed pieces drawing from numerous influences, this album encapsulates the sound, interplay, and collective compositional styles as they nudge boundaries, while staying rooted in a passionate study of the jazz tradition.

Production Info:

Produced by Xavier Lecouturier
Recorded by Chris Spencer at
Sophia Hat Studios, Seattle, WA
Recorded on August 7-8, 2018
Mixed by Floyd Reitsma at Studio Litho, Seattle
Mastered by Dan Dean at
Dan Dean Productions, Mercer Island, WA
Cover photography by Steve Korn
Band photo by Ben Feldman
Cover design & layout by John Bishop

Reviews of Carrier

Earshot Jazz (Paul Rauch)
21-year-old drummer/composer Xavier Lecouturier has been making a definite impression on the jazz scene in Seattle. As a student at Cornish College of the Arts, he made his way to jam sessions, and acquainted himself with the best players in town, eventually landing in the quintet of trumpeter Thomas Marriott. His debut album as band-leader, Carrie ...

All About Jazz (Paul Rauch)
4-STARS 21 year old drummer and composer Xavier Lecouturier seems like he's been around for a while. There is a maturity about his playing one witnesses on the bandstand, a lack of fear of moving and directing flow, of steering time in waves of variance. The fact of the matter is, he hasn't been here long at all, he has just utilized his strand of ...

Midwest Record (Chris Spector)
A contemporary crew of drummer led jazzbos that serve up easy moving stuff with some edge and bite make the most of the debut impressing every step of the way. These youngsters have learned their lessons well, respect the elders and have their eyes and ears on the future. In short, everything you could want from some talented young lions is here ...

Jazz Weekly (George W. Harris)
Drummer Xavier Lecouturier features guitarist Lucas Winter in an excellent light along with his band of Ben Feldman/b, Gus Carns/p, Santosh Sharma/ts-EWI and guest Thomas Marriott/tp on an album of originals. Tunes like the spacious and pulsating "Aube" features Winter's warm strings along with rich tenor sounds while Sharma's switch to EWI creates ...

JazzHalo (Belgium) (Georges Tonla Briquet)
You could safely describe 'Carrier' as the guitar album of a drummer. Xavier Lecouturier delivers only five of the ten compositions while his guitarist takes care of three. Bassist ( Ben Feldman ) and pianist ( Gus Carns ) each also wrote a song. A generous group leader who rather plays the role of game distributor and gives his fellow musicians a ...

KZSU - Stanford (Tom McCarter)
On drummer Lecouturier's debut disc as a leader, the tunes allude to a variety of influences both compositionally and spatially, while displaying a deep connection to jazz tradition. While Lecouturier is the primary force on the record both as a musician and composer, there is a definite collective feel to the effort. If You Like: Art Blakey, Mile ...