Layin' in the Cut is the seventh album by American saxophonist James Carter, released on the Atlantic label in 2000.

[1] Devoted to free funk in the style of Ornette Coleman's late 1970s and '80s bands, it was one of two Carter albums released on the same day.

The AllMusic review by Richard S. Ginell says, "The second of James Carter's pair of 2000 releases shifts wildly, and perhaps trendily, toward electric funk ... Carter is a freewheeling dynamo on soprano and tenor saxes, not afraid to reach wildly to the outside even when the funk backgrounds are merely mild mannered.

"[2] In JazzTimes Bill Milkowski wrote, "Carter's Layin' in the Cut is more about bluster than nuance ... he explores the outer fringes of funk with some freestyle originals that combine elements of Maceo Parker ("Layin' in the Cut") and Fela Kuti ("Motown Mash"), with healthy doses of tenor and bari overblowing and the kind of savage, aggressively out guitar work usually associated with New York's renegade downtown scene".

[6] On All About Jazz Mark Corroto noted, "Layin’ doesn’t opt to cross boundaries as much as it plays itself out as a jazz/funk bar band ...