Billboard : 03/03/1962
Four stars

Trad fans should get a boot out of this fine new album featuring jazz giants such as Benny Carter (now back and swing again), and Coleman Hawkins, plus Phil Woods as backer-upper. Carter and Hawkins are heard again on Crazy Rhythm and Honeysuckle Rose, tunes they made classics on records in 1937. The new recordings are a joy. Also there are waxings of Cotton Tail, Body and Soul and Cherry. A strong jazz set.

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American Record Guide
Mait Edey : June, 1962

It’s not often that you get so diverse a group of individualists as this one, and have them play so sympathetically together. The only man who sounds awkward is the young bassist, Jimmy Garrison, who is coping with a mainstream style rather unfamiliar to him. (His part is emphasized by the inexcusably inept recording job, which also puts pianist Dick Katz off in the next room, behind a wall of echo.) The main soloists are four saxophonists – two pre-bop giants, Carter and Coleman Hawkins, and two younger modernists, Phil Woods and Charlie Rouse. All are excellent improvisors, and all play close to the limits of their ability. Hawkins’ creativity on these tunes, some of which he has been playing for decades, is miraculous. The rhythm section, which also includes guitarist John Collins and drummer Jo Jones, finds itself at cross purposes once or twice at the slower tempos, but otherwise swings with wonderful elasticity.

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Charlotte News
Jerry Reece : 03/24/1962

In the spring of 1937 two American jazzmen were in Paris. Both were saxophonists of the swing school and immensely popular in France as well as this country.

While in Paris they cut a record with a combo which included the now-legendary Django Reinhardt. For one side of the record the group played Crazy Rhythm; for the other they played Honeysuckle Rose.

In time the record became a collector’s item and the two sax men became giants of the musical world.

Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins have come a long way since that recording date 25 years ago, but they have not traveled the same route.

Coleman has remained a playing jazzman. Benny has forsaken his horn to become an arranger and leader of studio bands. (His latest credit was as arranger-conductor of a Dakota Staton album.)

Benny leaves his score sheets and rejoins Coleman, however, on a new album titled Further Definitions. Fronting a combo of rather unusual makeup (two tenor saxes, two alto saxes, piano, bass, guitar and drums), Benny manages to take his share of the solos and prove that he has not lost any of his playing talent.

The material played by the group includes two carter originals ( Blue Star and Doozy), one of Duke Ellington‘s (Cotton Tail), one by Quincy Jones (The Midnight Sun Will Never Set, one of Don Redman‘s (Cherry) as well as the two numbers that Benny and Coleman recorded in Paris so long ago.

The musical lineup is topped only by the lineup of talent: Carter (alto sax) Hawkins (tenor sax) Jo Jones (drums), Phil Woods (alto sax), Charles Rouse (tenor sax), Dick Katz (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass) and John Collins (guitar).

All things considered the album is one of the brightest spots in a good current crop of jazz albums and should appeal to bopsters as well as swing devotees.

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HiFi / Stereo Review
Nat Hentoff : June, 1962

This bridging of generations of jazz personnel has resulted in Benny Cater‘s most invigorating album in the past ten years – a continually stimulating determination by jazz elders to prove that a quarter-century had not diminished their powers, while the younger musicians demonstrate that they have a strong enough jazz foundation to avoid being overloaded by such seasoned battlers.

Carter, who has long been a masterful arranger for jazz reed sections, has scored the eight numbers with considerable variety and ingenuity. Furthermore, calling on his experience in the 1930’s as the leader of one of New York’s most advanced orchestral training grounds for jazz musicians, Carter has managed to make the section blend so vivid and cohesive that the four reeds sound as if they’d been on the road together for months.

It is a particular delight to hear in so lively a context the brightly lucid alto playing of Carter who still phrases with knife-like clarity and swings with seeming effortlessness, while also communicating intense force. Hawkins, obviously enjoying the challenges of the date, is at the top of his surging form. Phil Woods, whose clear, hard sound often resembles that of a somewhat updated Carter, holds his own impressively. Charlie Rouse, despite his long tenure with Thelonious Monk, has yet to develop a powerfully individual style. But Rouse too is lifted to a new level of consistency by the pressures of the occasion.

The success of the rhythm section is as much due to the flexibility and taste of pianist Dick Katz as it is to the redoubtable Jo Jones. And bassist Jimmy Garrison has never before recorded with so robust a tone and so elastic a beat. It’s to be hoped that Further Definitions will encourage other A&R men to combine jazz generations. Not all musicians from either side of thirty-five are capable musically and temperamentally of such a union, but many are, and it is surprising how comparatively few attempts have been made to break down age barriers on jazz recordings. This experiment worked out excellently, emphasizing the continuing youthfulness of Carter, Hawkins and Jones and the confident maturity of Phil Woods and Dick Katz.

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High Fidelity
John S. Wilson : May, 1962

“And his Orchestra” may be gilding Carter‘s group a little – it’s only four saxophones and a rhythm section. But what saxophones! Carter and Phil Woods on alto, Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Rouse on tenors. Under the circumstances, it is hardly any discredit to Woods and Rouse that they are overshadowed – they are playing in the company of two unqualified masters. Carter has written some gorgeous ensembles for the group, notably on Duke Ellington‘s Cotton Tail, Quincy Jones‘ The Midnight Sun Will Never Set, a scoring of Hawkins’ famous Body and Soul solo, and a recollection of a recording of Crazy Rhythm made in Paris in 1937 by Carter and Hawkins. From these ensembles, and in the strictly solo arrangement of Carter’s lovely ballad Blue Star, both Hawkins and Carter step out with a succession of brilliant solos – Hawkins swaggeringly assured and dominant. Carter singing with a lean, pure tone. Both men are in excellent form and spirits, and play like the superb masters they are.

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Kansas City Call
Bob Greene : 03/23/1962

Most fans remember Benny Carter as a trumpeter, jazz composer and arranger. Here he takes charge on an alto sax, backed up by an improbable-sounding octet of four saxes, piano, guitar, bass and drums.

Carter picked only the best to be with him on this festive recording date. Alto saxist Phil Woods (of Phil and Quill fame), tenor men Coleman Hawkins and Charles Rouse, pianist Dick Katz, guitarist John Collins, bass Jimmy Garrison and Jo Jones on drums. Both Jo Jones and the “Hawk” are identified with Kansas City’s golden era of jazz that saw illuminous figures as Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Lester Young, Bennie Moten, Julia and George Lee, Ben Webster, Jimmy Rushing, Walter Brown and a host of other “swinging cats” all along 12th street.

The instrumentation here is the same as on April 28, 1937 when Hawkins and Carter recorded together in Paris. At that time they did Crazy Rhythm and Honeysuckle Rose, and both performances became classics for both men. Here, in November of last year, they re-recorded these same two tunes. And they could easily become classics again.

Also on the men are The Midnight Sun Will Never Set, a Quincy Jones tune; Ellington‘s Cotton Tail, Johnny Green famous Body and Soul, Don Redman‘s Cherry and two Carter originals – Blue Star and Doozy.

The whole album swings and sounds extremely good today even though this can easily be distinguished as swing. Be sure to hear Body and Soul, which is a tribute to the skill of the “Hawk.” The liner notes state that the ad-libbing Hawkins does at the end had Charlie Rouse’s jaw hanging open in “amazed delight.”

A very good buy.

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Oakland Tribune
Russ Wilson : 04/08/1962

Further Definitions belongs in the “indispensable” category of current jazz albums. First off it reunites two all-time saxophone greats – altoist Benny Carter and tenorist Coleman Hawkins – for the first time since they recorded in 1937. Their playing, which has lost none of its great artistry, is complemented by that of altoist Phil Woods and tenorist Charles Rouse. Carter’s arrangements for the four reeds is a beautiful illustration of his great talent in this department. The noteworthy rhythm sections completing the octet has Dick Katz, piano; John Collins, guitar; Jimmy Garrison, bass; and Jo Jones, drums. The eight tunes were chosen perceptively and are a complete delight.

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Ottawa Citizen
Lois Moody : 09/26/1968

Still another set from 1961, originally issued under the same title as Impulse A-12, featuring a gifted performer with matching skills as composer, arranger and leader.

Carter focusses on his own instrumental family for this session. Joining him on alto sax is Phil Woods, while Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Rouse handle tenors. A four-man rhythm section completes the group which sounds larger – thanks to Carter’s voicings for the band.

It’s a great program for pacing and display of Carter’s multiple talents, whether in a jump-band mood for a Fats Waller tune and Ellington‘s Cotton Tail or a lushly phrased romantic ballad like The Midnight Sun Will Never Set or Blue Star.

The contrasting sounds and attacks of the four reedmen keep the interest high, but they breathe as one person in the arranged ensembles, a tribute to both the arranger who drew on their personalities and to the performers themselves.

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San Francisco Chronicle
Ralph J. Gleason : 03/18/1962

In the recent flood of album releases, two superior big band packages stand out as the sort of thing one will return to again and again to play for pure pleasure.

Benny Carter, an exceptionally gifted musician who is equally at home on the alto saxophone and the trumpet and, in addition, has for many years enjoyed a reputation as a top arranger, is the leader for one album.

Carter’s effort, Further Definitions, has the leader-composer-soloist fronting a studio group which consists of tenor saxophonists Charlie Rouse and Coleman Hawkins, altoists Carter and Phil Woods, and a fine rhythm section featuring Jo Jones on drums.

Carter did the arrangements of the tunes and wrote two of them himself. Curiously enough, the band has the instrumentation that is usually referred to as a hotel band; i.e. saxes and no brass. But it certainly does not sound that way. Carter has scored the section work so that band gets some of the Ellington depth of color as well as some of the Basie swinging section feeling.

It is a fine-sounding album and among the pleasures one finds in it are the solos by Charlie Rouse (who has never sounded as free and as swinging as here) and Phil Woods. The latter, who has sometimes been ranked as a mere imitator of Parker on alto, seems to me to have achieve an autonomy from this and now is capable of imbuing his solos with a rare quality of personal expression and a high degree of lyric intensity. I found this album one of the most delightful to come to my attention in recent months. My favorite number is Jumpin’ Pumpkins where the tempo alone is enough to send shivers down your spine.

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Saturday Review
Mait Edey : 04/14/1962

This excellent album’s only flew is the recording – bad balance (bass up front and piano off in the next room) and splashes of artificial echo. Most of the music is superb. Of the four saxophonists, two – Hawkins and Carter – are older pre-bop players, and two – Woods and Rouse – are younger modernists. Carter has not played so consistently on record for some time, and Hawkins has, among other marvelous moments, a solo on Crazy Rhythm which should give John Coltrane followers a long, thoughtful pause. Rouse and Woods are no less impressive. The rhythm section sometimes lacks cohesion on the slower tempos (Garrison sounds awkward playing in a more traditional vein than usual) but swings with beautiful looseness on the faster ones.

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Skelmersdale Reporter
Greg Murphy : 10/27/1976

Further Definitions, a 1961 recording by Benny Carter, has also been reissued on Impulse 8037. Featuring Carter’s alto teamed with altoist Phil Woods and tenorists Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Rouse over a rhythm section, the band tackle eight selections, two penned by Carter. Tackle is the operative word, taking Honeysuckle Rose, Crazy Rhythm and Doozy at a scorching pace, yet catch Hawkins’ rhapsodic solo on Midnight Sun.

With men as stylistically opposed as Hawkins and Rouse it’s a tribute to Carter’s arranging that the date goes so well. For sheer playing delight, good material, and thoughtful arranging Further Definitions is an album not to be missed at £2.99.

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Down Beat : 04/26/1962
John S. Wilson : 4.5 stars

With arrangements by Carter, some of them reflecting sessions he had with Hawkins in Paris in the ’30s, and with both Carter and Hawkins in brilliant form, this set is a swinging joy.

Carter’s writing for the four saxophones is rich and solid, particularly his orchestration of the opening sections of Hawkins’ classic 1939 Body and Soul solo. In contrasting moods, his ensemble treatment of Cotton Tail is vibrantly strong while his writing on Sun glows with a lovely sheen.

Out of these ensembles Hawkins leaps, swaggers, or rises imposingly, as the situation demands. His is the dominant, commanding voice, but Carter, in his light, fluent way, is unfailingly interesting.

Stacked against two such giants as Hawkins and Carter, Rouse and Woods can only come out second best. But they hold their ends up creditably even though their solos are, almost inevitably, stage waits until the two starts come on again. The rhythm section backs them commendably although Garrison‘s loose, slapping bass sometimes seems out of place.

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Liner Notes by Martin Williams

The Music
The longer we live, the saying goes, the more we are convinced that the great reputations are deserved. The truly great reputations on alto saxophone in jazz have belonged to Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, and the late Charlie Parker. And possibly because he has had fewer direct imitators, Carter’s real originality shines forth perhaps most boldly of the three. Jazzmen who number him among the great alto players include Erroll Garner, Pete Rugolo, Lester Young, J.J. Johnson, Dizzy Gillespie, and Louis Armstrong. But Carter’s reputation does not depend only on the alto, for he has been an outstanding jazz composer-arranger and trumpet soloist as well. Miles Davis (who regularly plays Carter’s piece When Lights Are Low, by the way) has attested that Carter is a whole musical education in himself. And Cannonball Adderley has written of him that “he was one of the first virtuosi… but he makes it look so easy.”

Carter has done some jazz recording lately and written a lot for the Count Basie orchestra, but much of his time has been spent scoring for television (M-Squad, for example), for movies (Flower Drum Song, for example) and for several singers (Dakota Staton, for example). This LP announces his intention to be more active as a jazz player from now on. And, as we shall see, it contains succinct examples of his ability as an arranger as well.

The recital also reunites Benny Carter with Coleman Hawkins. Hawkins, as I probably do not need to remark, was and is one of the tenor saxophonists in jazz, and perhaps the first to develop a really authentic jazz style on his instrument. And, like Carter, he is the kind of player whose best work never becomes dated.

In 1937 (on April 28th, to be exact) Hawkins and Carter recorded together in Paris, Crazy Rhythm and Honeysuckle Rose, and both performances became classics for both men. The instrumentation here is exactly the same as it was on those original sides: four saxes, four rhythm (piano, bass, drums, and guitarist Django Reinhardt).

The sessions that went into making this LP were particularly happy and were well-attended by visitors. Coleman Hawkins, by the way, arrived for one session in his working uniform of black tie and tux, swearing that he had not just come from last night’s gig, but was already prepared for tonight’s. Hawkins seemed especially glad to be able to tell visiting Buster Bailey, who was a fellow member with both Hawkins and Carter of the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, that Carter wanted to return to more active life as a player. Participant Charlie Rouse, when complimented on the exciting way that things were going, beamed that “we are all so happy to be playing with Benny.”

Phil Woods, one of the comparative youngsters in this company, read these charts with a beautiful understanding and sympathy; he seemed to recognized their musical meaning immediately. Woods made the suggestion that the rhythm play double-time on Blue Star, during Carter’s outstanding section writing toward the end of that piece. Otherwise, as he said (and as you can hear), those sax variations would sound like dance-band ballad player, and they are far more than that. Wood’s own style has become very individual and, to me, it now reflects a selective knowledge of the jazz of the thirties as well of his own generation (hear him on Crazy Rhythm, for instance).

Bassist Jimmy Garrison‘s fine exuberance can be felt immediately on hearing this music. Garrison has worked with a variety of players, including Lenny Tristano, Kenny Dorham, Bill Evans and, more recently, Ornette Coleman. Here, he reminds me of a cross between Pops Foster and Percy Heath – and that is a compliment to all three of them.

Quickness of mind is one of the first and most exciting aspects of Carter’s playing. And it is, for me, one of the outstanding qualities of pianist Dick Katz. Katz is the kind of player who has sound judgment and taste about what is really artistic, and what is merely fashionable, in the jazz tradition. One can hear his quick receptive feeling for Carter and Hawkins constantly here – in the fleet, discreet response with which he complements phrase after phrase in the writing and by the soloists. Katz is also one of those players who has developed the capacity to swing with real musical ideals with almost understated quietness and delicacy. And his solo on Cotton Tail has a humor (watch that subtly appropriate excursion into left-handed melody) that fits the spirit of this music as the earnest solemnity of some of his younger colleagues would not.

Drummer Jo Jones needs no credentials, to be sure, but the appropriateness of his presence in this company might be pointed out. He brought a lightness and ease to jazz drumming rather like the lightness and ease which Carter brought to jazz playing and jazz writing. Here, he does Cotton Tail, for instance, with the responses of an intimate knowledge. Yet it isn’t his piece, of course; it was originally Ellington‘s and Ben Webster‘s with Sonny Greer on drums. He is decidedly a part of the exceptional swinging and creative groove that develops on Carter’s blues Doozy. Jo Jones’s fills between phrases are more spare than those of some of his younger colleagues perhaps, but the important thing is that they are never wrong.

Time and again Johnny Collins‘s guitar provides expert rhythmic and harmonic stability. But most outstanding is his ability to blend with the group: one is never aware of the sore-thumb ching-a-ching with which so much small-group rhythm guitar sticks out. Collins played with Carter’s big band of the mid-forties and he has also worked with such illustrious jazzmen as Art Tatum, Roy Eldridge, Lester Young, and Dizzy Gillespie. Since 1953, he has worked with Nat “King” Cole.

Honeysuckle Rose begins and ends with original Carter scoring. Soloists in order are Rouse, Woods, Hawkins (entering from a very unexpected place), and Carter (notice his fine conclusion). Then four-bar phrases by each man in the same order.

The first slow piece is Quincy Jones‘s The Midnight Sun Will Never Set: Hawkins, Katz and Carter contribute in that order.

Crazy Rhythm, the second memorial to the 1937 date, inspires, in 1961, a still exuberant Hawkins, then Woods, Rouse, a still original Carter, and Katz.

Blue Star has the especially lovely, deceptively simple saxophone writing I have mentioned. Those variations the saxes play toward the end have been running through my own head since I first heard them, and that is about as high a tribute as I could play them. The soloists are Hawkins on the theme-opening, with the decoratively improvised chorus by Carter. Katz has the bridge of the last chorus, with Carter ad-libbing a finish on the appropriately subdued ending.

On Cotton Tail, Carter has retained the nearly classic saxophone writing from the Ellington-Webster version. That’s Hawkins who breaks through on the bridge of the first chorus. Then the order of sax solos is Carter, Rouse, Woods, and Hawkins.

The opening ensemble on Body and Soul is Carter’s fresh and understanding scoring of Hawkins’s still-classic 1939 version of the piece. Woods follows on the section writing, then Rouse, Carter, and Hawkins. Notice the bridge that Hawkins uses; it is based on an altered chord-sequence that Carter and Katz suggested in the studio. Hawkins chews up these new changes, and the coda he ad-libbed at the end had Charlie Rouse’s jaw hanging open in amazed delight.

On Cherry Carter’s opening leads into the sax section. Rouse takes the bridge in solo. The section swings together, bending the notes the way a good soloist does. Then we hear from Carter (use this one to demonstrate his real individuality and ease), Rouse (with some virtuoso runs), Woods, and Hawkins.

The soloists who contribute to the rocking groove on Doozy are Katz (introducing at first), Woods (don’t let anybody tell you he can’t play the blues), Hawkins, Carter, Rouse, and then Katz in variation. Notice how Rouse at first returns to the melody to build his part – no doubt his three years with Thelonious Monk, who likes to use the theme in his solos, have encouraged the practice.

Of course, one reason for the continuing reputation of men like Carter and Hawkins is that each is a professional and thoroughly dependable craftsman. Each is also more than that. We can discuss techniques easily, but a jazzman’s artistry, after all, is not really arguable. It is a matter between him and every individual listener who hears him play. I can only say that I believe in the artistry of each man, and that my belief has been rewarded for a long time.