Regina Carter

Regina Carter (born August 6, 1966) is an American jazz violinist. She is the cousin of jazz saxophonist James Carter.

Early life

Carter was born in Detroit, Michigan, and was one of three children in her family.

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, indicating that the Suzuki Method could be more conducive to her creativity. Carter's mother enrolled her at the Detroit Community Music School when she was four years old and Carter 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.

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, Gayelynn McKinney, Eileen Orr, and Marion Hayden. In the early to mid-1990s, Branford Marsalis 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. In 1991, she left the band and moved to New York City.

While with the trio, she released her first solo CD, Regina Carter (1995). Dedicated to her mother, Something for Grace was released in 1997. Carter 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).

In December 2001, she played a concert in Genoa using Il Cannone Guarnerius, a violin that was made in 1743 and was once owned and favoured by Niccolò Paganini. The violin was bequeathed 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 the first African American to play the instrument. She later recorded Paganini: After a Dream for Verve Records.

Active as an educator, mentor, and proponent of the Suzuki method, Carter has given workshops and master classes at numerous institutions. She was Artist in Residence at her alma mater, Oakland University from 2007–2018. She has also taught at the jazz summer camp at Stanford Jazz Workshop. In 2018, she was named Artistic Director of the New Jersey Performing Arts All-Female Jazz Camp.

During the 2000s, Carter performed at the head of a quintet. In 2005, she performed on Eddie Palmieri's album Listen Here! which won a Grammy award for best Latin Jazz album. In May 2006, she toured with Darryl Harper (clarinet), Xavier Davis (piano), Alvester Garnett (drums) (still with her in 2011), and Matt Parish (Upright bass).

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:

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, Bebop, Folk, and World – 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 defined predominantly by the classical tradition, Carter is pioneering new possibilities for the violin and for jazz.

In 2018, Carter was a recipient of the Doris Duke Award.

Carter married Alvester Garnett in Detroit, on September 5, 2004. Garnett is the drummer in her band. Carter has been a resident of Maywood, New Jersey.

Discography As leader or co-leader 1995: Regina Carter (Atlantic) 1997: Something for Grace (Atlantic) 1999: Rhythms of the Heart (Verve) 2000: Motor City Moments (Verve) 2001: Freefall (Verve), with Kenny Barron 2003: Paganini: After a Dream (Verve) 2006: I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (Verve) 2010: Reverse Thread (E1 Entertainment) 2014: Southern Comfort (Masterworks) 2017: Ella: Accentuate the Positive (Masterworks)

With Lyman Woodard Lyman Woodard Organization – Dedicacion (Corridor Records, 1985) With the String Trio of New York Intermobility (Arabesque, 1992) Octagon (Black Saint, 1992) Blues...? (Black Saint, 1993) An Outside Job (AA, 1994) With Kenny Barron Spirit Song (Verve, 1999) With Anthony Davis Ellington / Monk / Mingus / Davis (Music & Arts, 1997) With Mark Helias Loopin' the Cool (Enja, 1995) With Elliott Sharp Xenocodex (Tzadik, 1996) With Cassandra Wilson Traveling Miles (Blue Note, 1999) on two tracks With Steve Turre Lotus Flower (Verve, 1999) With James Carter Chasin' the Gypsy (Atlantic, 2000) Caribbean Rhapsody (EmArcy, 2011) With Sir Simon Rattle, Luther Henderson, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Lena Horne Classic Ellington (EMI Classics, 2000) With Carmen Lundy Something to Believe In (Justin Time, 2003) on three tracks With Joe Jackson The Duke (Razor & Tie, 2012) on three tracks Fast Forward (Caroline, 2015) on four tracks With Eddie Palmieri Listen Here! (Concord Records, 2005) With Danilo Perez Motherland (Verve Records, 2000) With Wynton Marsalis Blood on the Fields (Columbia Records, 1997) With the Soldier String Quartet In Four Color (2015) Inspect for Damaged Gods (2004) Jazz Standards on Mars (1997), with Robert Dick, Richard Bona With Dave Soldier Chamber Music (2006) on one track