Regina Carter
Encyclopedia
Regina Carter is an American
jazz
violin
ist. She is the cousin of famous jazz saxophonist James Carter
.
employee, and Grace Williamson Carter, who was a kindergarten teacher. She has two older brothers, Danny and Reginald.
She began piano lessons at the age of two after playing a melody by ear for her brother's piano teacher. After she deliberately played the wrong ending note at a concert, the piano teacher suggested she take up the violin. She suggested that the Suzuki Method
was more conducive to her creativity. Carter's mother enrolled her at the Detroit Community Music School when she was four years old and she began studying the violin. She still studied the piano, as well as tap and ballet.
As a teenager, she played in the youth division of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
. While at school, she was able to take master classes from Itzhak Perlman
and Yehudi Menuhin
.
Carter attended Cass Technical High School
with a close friend, jazz singer Carla Cook
, who introduced her to Ella Fitzgerald
. In high school, Carter performed with the Detroit Civic Orchestra and played in a pop-funk group named Brainstorm. In addition to taking violin lessons, she also took viola, oboe, and choir lessons.
Carter was studying classical violin at the New England Conservatory of Music
in Boston
when she decided to switch to jazz, but sadly the school did not have that as a program. She transferred to Oakland University
in Rochester, Michigan. Here she studied jazz with Marcus Belgrave
. Through Belgrave Carter was able to meet a lot of people active in the Detroit jazz scene, including Lyman Woodard
. She graduated in 1985. After graduating, she taught strings in Detroit public schools. After a while, she wanted to change things up. She went to Europe and spent two years in Germany. While making connections, she worked as a nanny for a German family and taught violin on a U.S. military base.
was quoted as saying, "They truly swing.” They released a trio of albums on the Atlantic Jazz
label including their self-titled debut, Body and Soul, and Look Straight Ahead. Carter went solo before the release of their third album Dance of the Forest Rain and began an impressive run, establishing herself as a force in the jazz world on the violin. In 1991 she left the band and moved to New York City.
While in New York she was a relative unknown and undertook work accompanying performers such as Aretha Franklin
, Lauryn Hill
, Mary J. Blige
, Billy Joel
, and Dolly Parton
. She also played with Max Roach
and Oliver Lake
, as well as being in the String Trio of New York
. Carter worked on the albums Intermobility (1993), Octagon (1994), and Blues...? (1996) with the group.
While with the trio, she released her first solo CD, Regina Carter (1995). 1997 saw the release of her second solo album dedicated to her mother, entitled Something For Grace. She toured with Wynton Marsalis
for the 1997 production Blood on the Fields
. She then changed record companies, from Atlantic Records
to Verve Music Group
, which allowed her more artistic freedom and she released Rhythms of the Heart (1999).
She released Motor City Moments in 2000, paying homage to her hometown.
In December 2001, she played a concert in Genoa
on Il Cannone Guarnerius, once owned and favoured by Niccolò Paganini
, a violin that was made in 1743. The violin was bequethed to Genoa after Paganini's death in 1840. The name of instrument is given because an "explosive" sound can be achieved. Carter was invited to play after the incidents of the September 11 attacks as a gesture of solidarity. She was both the first jazz musician and African American to play the instrument. She later recorded Paganini: After a Dream for Verve Records
. The album featured classical works by Maurice Ravel
and Claude Debussy
, and Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone
.
I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey, Carter's sixtch CD and was conceived as a tribute album to her late mother, which included some of her favorites as well as American standards from the 1920s-1940s. Some songs include Blue Rose (Duke Ellington
), Sentimental Journey
(Les Brown
), A-Tisket, A-Tasket
(Ella Fitzgerald
), as well as I'll Be Seeing You
.
Active as an educator, mentor
, and proponent of the Suzuki method
, Carter has taught at numerous institutions, including at Berklee College of Music
, and two appearances at Stanford Jazz Workshop
.
She currently performs at the head of a quintet. In May 2006, she was touring with Mark Krose (clarinet), Xavier Davis (piano), Alvester Garnett (drums)(still with her in 2011), and Matt Parish (Upright bass).
Regina Carter was awarded a MacArthur Fellows Program
grant, also known as a "genius grant," in September 2006. The award includes a grant of $500,000 over five years, and the committee stated this about Carter:
in Detroit, Michigan on September 5, 2004. They knew each other because Garnett plays drums in her band.
With the String Trio of New York
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist. She is the cousin of famous jazz saxophonist James Carter
James Carter (musician)
James Carter is an American jazz musician.Carter was born in Detroit, Michigan and learned to play there before moving to New York City. He has been prominent as a performer and recording artist on the jazz scene since the mid-1990s, playing saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet...
.
Early life
She does not like to reveal her age, but it is believed to be born on August 6, 1963, and some sources say 1966. She was born to Dan Carter, a Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
employee, and Grace Williamson Carter, who was a kindergarten teacher. She has two older brothers, Danny and Reginald.
She began piano lessons at the age of two after playing a melody by ear for her brother's piano teacher. After she deliberately played the wrong ending note at a concert, the piano teacher suggested she take up the violin. She suggested that the Suzuki Method
Suzuki method
The Suzuki method is a method of teaching music that emerged in the mid-20th century.-Background:The Suzuki Method was conceived in the mid-20th century by Shin'ichi Suzuki, a Japanese violinist who desired to bring beauty to the lives of children in his country after the devastation of World War II...
was more conducive to her creativity. Carter's mother enrolled her at the Detroit Community Music School when she was four years old and she began studying the violin. She still studied the piano, as well as tap and ballet.
As a teenager, she played in the youth division of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
. While at school, she was able to take master classes from Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
and Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
.
Carter attended Cass Technical High School
Cass Technical High School
The Cass Tech Technicians football team is a high school football program in Division 1 Public School League, representing the prestigious Cass Technical High School in Detroit, MI. Cass Tech High School has long been recognized nationwide for its extraordinary football program dating back to its...
with a close friend, jazz singer Carla Cook
Carla Cook
-Biography:A Detroit, Michigan native, music seized hold of Cook at an early age. As a student at Cass Technical High School she played string bass in the school orchestra, studied piano and voice on weekends, and sang in her church’s choir...
, who introduced her to Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
. In high school, Carter performed with the Detroit Civic Orchestra and played in a pop-funk group named Brainstorm. In addition to taking violin lessons, she also took viola, oboe, and choir lessons.
Carter was studying classical violin at the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
when she decided to switch to jazz, but sadly the school did not have that as a program. She transferred to Oakland University
Oakland University
Oakland University is a public university co-founded by Matilda Dodge Wilson and John A. Hannah whose campus is located in central Oakland County, Michigan, United States in the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. It is the only major research university in Oakland County, from which OU...
in Rochester, Michigan. Here she studied jazz with Marcus Belgrave
Marcus Belgrave
Marcus Belgrave is a jazz trumpet player from Detroit, born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He has recorded with a variety of famous musicians, bandleaders, and record labels since the 1950s. Notable among them are: Ray Charles, Charles Mingus, Gunther Schuller, Motown Records, Tribe Records, Blue Note...
. Through Belgrave Carter was able to meet a lot of people active in the Detroit jazz scene, including Lyman Woodard
Lyman Woodard
Lyman Woodard was a Detroit-based jazz organist noted for fusing his music with Latin and Afro-Cuban-inspired rhythms. From the late '60s, Woodard recorded with a number of Motown acts, and served as musical director for Martha and the Vandellas...
. She graduated in 1985. After graduating, she taught strings in Detroit public schools. After a while, she wanted to change things up. She went to Europe and spent two years in Germany. While making connections, she worked as a nanny for a German family and taught violin on a U.S. military base.
Career
Carter returned to the U.S. and first came into the spotlight as the violinist for the all female pop-jazz quintet Straight Ahead in 1987, with Cynthia Dewberry, Gailyn Mckinney, Eilleen Orr, and Marion Hayden. In the early to mid 90’s, Branford MarsalisBranford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.-Biography:Marsalis was born...
was quoted as saying, "They truly swing.” They released a trio of albums on the Atlantic Jazz
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
label including their self-titled debut, Body and Soul, and Look Straight Ahead. Carter went solo before the release of their third album Dance of the Forest Rain and began an impressive run, establishing herself as a force in the jazz world on the violin. In 1991 she left the band and moved to New York City.
While in New York she was a relative unknown and undertook work accompanying performers such as Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
, Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
, Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, and Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
. She also played with Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
and Oliver Lake
Oliver Lake
Oliver Lake is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer and poet. He is known mainly on alto saxophone but also performs on soprano saxophone and flute....
, as well as being in the String Trio of New York
String Trio of New York
The String Trio of New York is an American jazz chamber ensemble.The group was founded in 1977 by bassist John Lindberg, violinist Billy Bang, and guitarist James Emery. Though they initially worked on improvisational playing and on their own compositions, they eventually began taking on...
. Carter worked on the albums Intermobility (1993), Octagon (1994), and Blues...? (1996) with the group.
While with the trio, she released her first solo CD, Regina Carter (1995). 1997 saw the release of her second solo album dedicated to her mother, entitled Something For Grace. She toured with Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
for the 1997 production Blood on the Fields
Blood on the Fields
Blood on the Fields is a three-and-a-half-hour jazz oratorio, by Wynton Marsalis. It was commissioned by Lincoln Center and concerns a couple moving from slavery to freedom....
. She then changed record companies, from Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
to Verve Music Group
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
, which allowed her more artistic freedom and she released Rhythms of the Heart (1999).
She released Motor City Moments in 2000, paying homage to her hometown.
In December 2001, she played a concert in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
on Il Cannone Guarnerius, once owned and favoured by Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique...
, a violin that was made in 1743. The violin was bequethed to Genoa after Paganini's death in 1840. The name of instrument is given because an "explosive" sound can be achieved. Carter was invited to play after the incidents of the September 11 attacks as a gesture of solidarity. She was both the first jazz musician and African American to play the instrument. She later recorded Paganini: After a Dream for Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
. The album featured classical works by Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
and Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, and Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
.
I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey, Carter's sixtch CD and was conceived as a tribute album to her late mother, which included some of her favorites as well as American standards from the 1920s-1940s. Some songs include Blue Rose (Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
), Sentimental Journey
Sentimental Journey (song)
"Sentimental Journey" is a popular song, published in 1944. The music was written by Les Brown and Ben Homer, and the lyrics were written by Arthur Green.-History:...
(Les Brown
Les Brown (bandleader)
Les Brown, Sr. and the Band of Renown are a big band that began in the late 1930s, initially as the group Les Brown and His Blue Devils that Brown led while a student at Duke University. He was the first president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences...
), A-Tisket, A-Tasket
A-Tisket, A-Tasket
A Tisket A Tasket is a nursery rhyme first recorded in America in the late nineteenth century. It was used as the basis for a very successful and highly regarded 1938 recording by Ella Fitzgerald...
(Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
), as well as I'll Be Seeing You
I'll Be Seeing You (song)
"I'll Be Seeing You" is a popular song, with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kahal. Published in 1938, the song was inserted into the Broadway musical Right This Way, which closed after fifteen performances. The song is a jazz standard, and has been covered by countless musicians.The...
.
Active as an educator, mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
, and proponent of the Suzuki method
Suzuki method
The Suzuki method is a method of teaching music that emerged in the mid-20th century.-Background:The Suzuki Method was conceived in the mid-20th century by Shin'ichi Suzuki, a Japanese violinist who desired to bring beauty to the lives of children in his country after the devastation of World War II...
, Carter has taught at numerous institutions, including at Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
, and two appearances at Stanford Jazz Workshop
Stanford Jazz Workshop
Stanford Jazz Workshop was founded in 1972 by saxophonist and educator Jim Nadel to create an environment conducive to learning, experiencing and appreciating jazz...
.
She currently performs at the head of a quintet. In May 2006, she was touring with Mark Krose (clarinet), Xavier Davis (piano), Alvester Garnett (drums)(still with her in 2011), and Matt Parish (Upright bass).
Regina Carter was awarded a MacArthur Fellows Program
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
grant, also known as a "genius grant," in September 2006. The award includes a grant of $500,000 over five years, and the committee stated this about Carter:
Regina Carter is a master of improvisational jazz violin. Though her work draws upon a wide range of musical influences--including Motown, Afro-Cuban, Swing, BebopBebopBebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
, FolkFolk musicFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and WorldWorld musicWorld music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
--she has crafted a signature voice and style...Carter's performances highlight the often overlooked potential of the jazz violin for its lyric, melodic, and percussive potential. Her early training as a classical musician is reflected in the fluidity, grace, and balance of her performance. Carter's repertoire retains a firm connection with the familiar while venturing in new, unexpected directions...Through artistry with an instrument that has been defines predominantly by the classical tradition, Carter is pioneering new possibilities for the violin and for jazz.
Personal life
Carter married Alvester GarnettAlvester Garnett
Alvester Garnett is an American jazz drummer who, among many other productions, has appeared on Great Performances on PBS in a tribute to Kurt Weill. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.-External links:**...
in Detroit, Michigan on September 5, 2004. They knew each other because Garnett plays drums in her band.
Discography
- 1995 Regina Carter (Atlantic)
- 1997 Something for Grace (Atlantic)
- 1999 Rhythms of the Heart (Verve)
- 2000 Motor City Moments (Verve)
- 2003 Paganini: After a Dream (Verve)
- 2006 I’ll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (Verve)
- 2010 Reverse Thread (E1 Entertainment)
With the String Trio of New York
String Trio of New York
The String Trio of New York is an American jazz chamber ensemble.The group was founded in 1977 by bassist John Lindberg, violinist Billy Bang, and guitarist James Emery. Though they initially worked on improvisational playing and on their own compositions, they eventually began taking on...
- Intermobility (Arabesque RecordsArabesque RecordsArabesque Records is an American classical and jazz record label.Arabesque began as a classical music subsidiary of the Caedmon company. In 1988, Marvin Reiss and Ward Botsford bought the company, turning it into an independent, and continued releasing classical until 1992, when it switched focuses...
, 1992) - OctagonOctagon (String Trio of New York album)Octagon is an album by American jazz group the String Trio of New York recorded in 1992 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review awarded the album 4½ stars.-Track listing:# "The Pursuit of Happiness" - 7:05...
(Black Saint, 1992) - Blues...?Blues...?Blues...? is an album by American jazz group the String Trio of New York recorded in 1993 for the Italian Black Saint label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars stating "this is a successful effort, well worth seeking out by adventurous listeners".-Track listing:#...
(Black Saint, 1993)
External links
- Official website
- "Regina Carter's Encounter with a 'Cannon'", from National Public Radio Morning Edition program, May 14, 2003
- Regina Carter: Improvising a Life in Jazz, AllAboutJazz, February 18, 2006
- womeninjazz.org
- Regina Carter: Translating African Folk To The Jazz Violin, from National Public Radio Studio Sessions, May 21, 2010
- metrotimes.com