Frank Carter

“It’s important to bare my soul the way I have,” Frank Carter tells Apple Music. “I have a platform and a responsibility to use it for good, to ask questions and make statements that I know other people feel but maybe don’t have the bravery or the means to.” End of Suffering, Carter’s third album with The Rattlesnakes, is the product of two years of unflinching self-reflection. Confessional and courageous, it spans moments of both great joy and profound despair. “I’ve constantly validated myself through the opinion of others,” he says. “I’ve looked to fill that void with drugs and alcohol and sex and relationships, and they’ve all fallen short. It can only come from within. We’re human: We’re very complicated, we’re extremely multifaceted. The minute you try and repress any one of those faces, that’s when the problems start.” The music soundtracking these reflections is equally searching and absorbing. “We made sure that everything’s in there, from techno and dance through to Elton John and Black Flag.” This is Frank’s track-by-track guide to his journey.

Altoist Frank Morgan leads an all-star group on this excellent hard bop set. With tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Al Foster also in the sextet, it is not surprising that Morgan sounds a bit inspired. The musicians all play up to their usual level, performing "Caravan" (which was added to the CD version) and Sonny Rollins' "Sonnymoon for Two," plus a song apiece by Thelonious Monk ("Reflections"), Miller, Hutcherson, Henderson and Carter. Recommended.