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Regina Carter

Ella: Accentuate the Positive

Sony Masterworks | OKeh

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Regina Carter, Jazz violinist- full interview w/ Christian Howes.
1 Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive  
2 Crying in the Chapel  
3 I'll Never be Free  
4 All My Life  
5 Dedicated to You  
6 Reach for Tomorrow  
7 Undecided  
8 Judy  
9 I'll Chase the Blues Away  
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A hundred years after her birth, the ever-eloquent Ella Fitzgerald continues to teach us lessons.  Regina Carter has chosen this moment to celebrate the First Lady of Song's infectious and inclusive artistry with unabashed joy.  "Accentuate the Positive, I thought was the perfect title considering the mood of the country and the world right now," Ms. Carter says.  "We need some positive vibes."

On Ella:  Accentuate the Positive, out April 21 from Okeh/Sony Music Masterworks, the virtuoso violinist reveals the many faces of Fitzgerald that have influenced Carter's own remarkable path in music. Apart from the title track of Accentuate the Positive, Regina resists the allure of the songstress's most recognizable hits. Carter has mined tunes from deep within Ella's bountiful catalogue, and brought them to the surface with a distinct freshness.  The reward is rich for the listener.

"One of the many things that I adore about Ella is that she just loved music and didn't box herself in," Carter explains.  "She recorded everything, not just the American Songbook--doo-wop, Stevie Wonder and Beatles songs, even some country western music.  The fact that she experimented with so many different styles made me feel that, with this record, I would pay respect to her by taking the music and doing something else with it.  I feel that she would smile in agreement."

To realize her vision of the album, which transforms the songs through a lens of classic 1950s-'60s soul and blues, Carter calls on an impressive roster of musicians and arrangers.  The violinist is accompanied by her longtime rhythm section of bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Alvester Garnett, and is joined by pianist Xavier Davis and guitarist Marvin Sewell.  Both Lightcap and Sewell serve double-duty as arrangers.  

This talented group is supplemented by in-demand bassist Ben Williams, producer and hitmaker, Ray Angry, renowned vocalist, Charenee Wade and pianist Mike Wofford, Fitzgerald's own former accompanist and musical director.  Two tracks feature vocals by Regina's fellow Detroiters, actress and singer, Miche Braden; and longtime friend and vocalist extraordinaire, Carla Cook, who first introduced Carter to jazz violin while the two were classmates at Cass Technical School.

"When people arrange tunes, their voices become part of the recording as well," Carter says. "I wanted to have many voices and many stylistic approaches on this record."

  • Regina Carter set to headline 2024 Twin Cities Jazz Festival / Star Tribune
    Posted At: February 28, 2024 12:00 AM
    Regina Carter is part of the lineup strung together for the 26th annual Twin Cities Jazz Festival in St. Paul.Star Tribune's Chris Riemenschneider writes…Still one of the most popular annual music fests in town — and still free to attend! — the Twin Cities Jazz Festival has announced violin maestro Regina Carter, vibraphonist and composer Stefon Harris, locally rooted singer Karrin Allyson and sax man Joe L...
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  • Regina Carter opens the Athenaeum Jazz at Scripps Research series w/Xavier Davis / The San Diego Union-Tribune
    Posted At: September 14, 2023 12:00 AM
    The San Diego Union-Tribune's GEORGE VARGA writes…..Acclaimed violinist Regina Carter cites her 2018 “Fandango at the Wall” concert performance on the Tijuana side of the U.S./Mexico border as a career highlight. “That whole experience was life-changing,” says Carter, who will perform in San Diego Sunday with pianist Xavier Davis. The 2023 NEA Jazz Masters honoree and 2006 MacArthur Foundation “genius ...
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  • Regina Carter tackles gentrification....with her violin / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Posted At: December 12, 2022 12:00 AM
    Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's TIMOTHY COX writes……When violinist Regina Carter comes to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, her performance will relay a distinct message within her music, one challenging the demolition of mostly Black neighborhoods in her native Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh’s Hill District.Carter, 56, will perform at 7 and 9 p.m. Wednesday at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Downto...
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  • Regina Carter wins JazzTimes: Critics Poll for 'Best Violinist'
    Posted At: February 1, 2021 12:00 AM

    For this annual companion poll to our Top 50 Critics' Picks, our regular contributors participated in this survey based on our yearly Readers' Poll. Contributors were asked to focus on artists' achievements during 2020 rather than assessing entire careers. Regina Carter wins for 'Best Violinist. Trying to fit Regina Carter into a neatly defined musical category is pointless. She enjoys performing...
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  • Cousins James and Regina Cater reconnect during the pandemic to examine America's extremely difficult 400 year history / DOWNBEAT
    Posted At: July 21, 2020 12:00 AM

    First came the coronavirus and then the killing of George Floyd, his neck fatally compressed under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. For Black Americans, a convergence of plagues compounds disappointment and outrage-a double whammy. "Being on ‘lockdown' and glued to the news during the pandemic, the world witnessed a speck of the systemic racism that Black Americans face, daily," said v...
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  • Chicago Sinfonietta close their 2019 season highlighting musical icons throughout history with Regina Carter / BroadwayWorld
    Posted At: April 19, 2019 12:00 AM

    The nation's most diverse orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, and Music Director Mei-Ann Chen are proud to present the finale to the illustrious 2018-2019 season with SoundSketch on Saturday, May 11, at Wentz Concert Hall and on Monday, May 13 at Symphony Center in Chicago. A concert rooted in painting portraits in rhythm, blues and beyond, the orchestra puts its own spin on the concept of "the trib...
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  • Straight Ahead at the Detroit Jazz Festival / Oakland Press
    Posted At: August 31, 2018 12:00 AM

    Group members Regina Carter, Marian Hayden, Gayelynn McKinney and Eileen Orr, along with newcomer Alina Morr, have joined forces to play as Straight Ahead once again -- back in February at the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe in Grosse Pointe Woods and now on Saturday, Sept. 1, as part of the 39th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival. The troupe will celebrate a legacy of breaking ground over the course of four albums a...
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  • 3rd annual Sugar Hill Festival to feature Regina Carter
    Posted At: August 2, 2018 12:00 AM

    WHILE WE ARE STILL HERE Presents - The 3rd Annual Sugar Hill Music Festival With the Regina Carter and Xavier Davis Duo on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at 3:00 pm at the Sugar Hill Luminaries Lawn - Edgecombe Avenue at 155th Street, Harlem, NY. Violinist Regina Carter has played with not only artists such as Tom Harrell, Wynton Marsalis, and Oliver Lake, but artists as diverse as Faith Evans...
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  • Regina Carter named NJPAC: all-female jazz residency artistic director / New Jersey Stage
    Posted At: June 13, 2018 12:00 AM

    The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) has announced that acclaimed jazz violinist Regina Carter will serve as Artistic Director of this summer's All-Female Jazz Residency. Carter succeeds the late jazz pianist and composer Geri Allen, the residency's founding Artistic Director. Carter will be accompanied in her new position by a collective of music professionals, some of whom will be faculty...
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  • Regina Carter reunites with Straight Ahead for Dirty Dog and the Detroit Jazz Festival / Oakland Press
    Posted At: February 21, 2018 12:00 AM

    Straight Ahead is back on track. At least for a few shows this year. The primary lineup of all-female jazz group from Detroit, which recorded for Atlantic Records during the late 80s and early 90s, is back together for the first time in 25 years, reuniting for shows this week the Dirty Dog tonight and tomorrow - Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 21-22, as well as a performance at the 39th Detroit Jazz Fes...
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  • Regina Carter brings 'Simply Ella' to Naperville's Wentz Concert Hall / Chicago Tribune
    Posted At: February 15, 2018 12:00 AM

    A violinist at the top of her game takes on the works of a jazz giant when Regina Carter presents "Simply Ella" at North Central College in Naperville, Feb. 24 at Wentz Concert Hall. To mark the 100th birthday of a musical legend, Carter released "Ella: Accentuate the Positive" in 2017, celebrating the legendary Ella Fitzgerald. Growing up in Detroit, Carter was influenced at a young age by Ella Fitz...
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  • Regina Carter, Xavier Davis, Crooner's Lounge performance was near-telepathic / TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
    Posted At: January 30, 2018 12:00 AM

    During her first set at the Twin Cities Winter Jazz Festival Sunday, violinist Regina Carter briefly glanced across the stage at pianist Xavier Davis to signal that she was nearing the end of her solo. Davis quickly picked up on the subtle, momentary gesture, smoothly resuming the main melody. With near-telepathic communication like that, Carter and Davis' duet performance was a simpatico merging of two ...
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  • Highlights from the Detroit Jazz Festival - Regina Carter / Dearborn Press and Guide
    Posted At: September 5, 2017 12:00 AM

    p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px} Call it the unfinished Detroit Jazz Festival. After three and a half glorious days of superb weather and fantastic jazz, an untimely late Labor Day afternoon thunderstorm on Monday, Sept. 4, dampened the weekend glow and forced the early suspension of the 38th annual event in downtown Detroit. Despite the closing nigh...
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  • Regina Carter paves the way for others / HUFFPOST
    Posted At: August 8, 2017 12:00 AM

    I had the pleasure of attending concerts as part of the Festival Mozaic in July in San Luis Obispo, California. As I listened to the musicians, I thought back on what I had learned – that for a significant part of history women couldn't play certain instruments considered too masculine – and that even today women and minorities are often not selected for orchestra positions when the audit...
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  • Regina Carter - Ella: Accentuate the Positive featured on Punto Radio's 'Anima jazz'
    Posted At: July 11, 2017 12:00 AM

    A hundred years after her birth, the ever-eloquent Ella Fitzgerald continues to teach us lessons.  Regina Carter has chosen this moment to celebrate the First Lady of Song's infectious and inclusive artistry with unabashed joy.  "Accentuate the Positive, I thought was the perfect title considering the mood of the country and the world right now," Ms. Carter says.  "We need some positiv...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Regina Carter set to headline Atlanta Jazz Festival / ARTSATL
    Posted At: May 25, 2017 12:00 AM

    When Mayor Maynard Jackson founded the Atlanta Jazz Festival in 1978, he wanted to spotlight the city as an international center of the arts and education, and promote an art form that was indigenous to the South. Forty years later, the free outdoor event remains a Memorial Day weekend staple for aficionados, and continues the tradition of drawing world-class talent like Dizzy Gillespie, Nina Simone and ...
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  • Regina Carter brings Ella to Jazz Standard / Zealnyc
    Posted At: May 23, 2017 12:00 AM

    Last month, virtuoso violinist Regina Carter released her tenth album, Ella: Accentuate the Positive, on SonyMusic Masterwork's imprint OKeh. It's not only a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald's in the centennial of her birth, but it's a personal homage to the First Lady of Song. "I love Ella," said Carter between her sound check and the first-night set of her lively and gracious four-night stand at NYC'...
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  • Regina Carter named 2017 JJA Jazz Award - Violinist/Violist/Cellist of the Year
    Posted At: May 16, 2017 12:00 AM

    The winners of the 21st annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards have been announced. Professional Journalist Members of the JJA made open nominations in a first selection round; those who received the most nominations advanced to the final ballot. Congratulations Regina Carter on being named 2017 JJA Jazz Award - Violinist/Violist/Cellist of the Year. For Sony Masterworks artist Reg...
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  • Detroit's own Regina Carter celebrates Ella Fitzgerald's centennial / Dirty Dog
    Posted At: May 9, 2017 12:00 AM

    Detroit's own Regina Carter celebrates Ella Fitzgerald's centennial, (April 25, 1917-June 15, 1996) with her new album "Accentuate the Positive" (Okeh/Sony Masterworks) and with her 2017 Detroit Jazz Festival performance, "Simply Ella",  this coming Labor Day weekend.  Internationally acclaimed Jazz violinist Regina Carter has chosen to pay tribute to the First Lady of Song's virtuosic artistry...
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  • Regina Carter - Ella: Accentuate the Positive makes Violinist.com weekly roundup
    Posted At: May 5, 2017 12:00 AM

    Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening! For this week - Ella: Accentuate the Positive from Regina Carter, violin. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Ar...
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  • Regina Carter pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald at dakota / Star Tribune
    Posted At: May 2, 2017 12:00 AM

    The centennial birthday of Ella Fitzgerald on April 25 has brought forth a bevy of tributes to the quintessential scat singer and interpreter of the American Songbook. Two of the more noteworthy tributes come from contemporary jazz violinist Regina Carter, with the album "Ella: Accentuate the Positive" and the tour "Simply Ella." Keeping the soulful touch she demonstrated on "Southern Comfort" and "Rever...
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  • Regina Carter picks up 2017 JJA nom for 'Violinist-Violist-Cellist Of The Year'
    Posted At: April 24, 2017 12:00 AM

    2017 JJA Jazz Awards Nominees were chosen by the votes of Jazz Journalists Association members. Nominations were made on the basis of work done in calendar year 2016, with the exception of Lifetime Achievement Awards categories, in which nominations are for a lifetime body of work. Members and others were able to submit their own work for consideration in the Photo of the Year category; a committee of JJ...
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  • Accentuate the Positive. Regina Carter's homage to Ella / Jazz Weekly
    Posted At: April 24, 2017 12:00 AM

    Violinist Regina Carter gives homage to the songs that were performed by Ella Fitzgerald, but with her own signature delivery.  Her violin is a rich and flowing voice in and of itself, and she teams up with Marvin Sewell/g, Xavier Davis/key, Chris Lightcap/g and Alvester Garnet/dr for a wide variety of moods and textures. With vocalist Miche Braden, the band has a fun revival meeting on the title tr...
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  • Detroit Jazz Festival lineup is shaping up / Detroit Free Press
    Posted At: April 19, 2017 12:00 AM

    A wide-ranging set of artists including Herbie Hancock and Regina Carter will join a 2017 Detroit Jazz Festival lineup that includes previously announced artist-in-residence Wayne Shorter. Details of the 38th annual Labor Day weekend event were revealed Wednesday during a preview luncheon at the Detroit Athletic Club. The four-day, four-stage jazz fest will kick off with a Sept. 1 slate that includes Han...
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  • Regina Carter feature on KUVOJAZZ: Denver
    Posted At: March 14, 2017 12:00 AM

    Violinist Regina Carter is a highly original soloist whose sophisticated technique and rich, lush tone took the jazz world by pleasant surprise when she arrived in New York from her native Detroit. And jazz fans weren't the only people who heard that mercurial quality in her playing: artists as diverse as Faith Evans, Elliot Sharp, and Mary J. Blige have employed her talents on their recordings, as h...
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  • Regina Carter's 'Simply Ella' at The Kennedy Center is not to be missed / DC Metro Theater Arts review
    Posted At: February 19, 2017 12:00 AM

    If you get a chance to experience Regina Carter: Simply Ella, the jazz quintet composed of Regina Carter (violin), Marvin Sewell (guitar), Brandon McCune (piano), Chris Lightcap (bass), and Alvester Garnett (drums), then buy your tickets now. It is an experience not to be missed. Not only will memories be summoned of the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald–the First Lady of Song, the Queen of Jazz, or sim...
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  • Regina Carter in St. Louis for 'Jazz at the Bistro' dates, stops by Fox2 for perf/chat
    Posted At: January 21, 2017 12:00 AM

    Jazz violinist Regina Carter, known for her ability to make her violin sound like a "human voice," is set to release her new Sony Masterworks CD, Ella: Accentuate the Positive, in April of this year.  The source of Carter's inspiration, Ella Fitzgerald.  The CD and her upcoming touring program, Simply Ella, mark the 100th birthday of a musical legend. The program celebrates the incomparabl...
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  • Regina Carter chats with Radio Columbia in advance of MO show
    Posted At: January 18, 2017 12:00 AM

    For her ninth release 'Southern Comfort', jazz violinist Regina Carter researched music of American South from the early 20th century. In a recent interview with KBIA's Trevor Harris, Carter talked about her early Detroit influences, the value of knowing your musical history and the timelessness of Ella Fitzgerald. Carter brings her 'Simply Ella' program to Columbia's Lela Raney W...
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  • Regina Carter honors Ella Fitzgerald's 100th year anniversary with 4 shows at NYC's Jazz Standard / Patch.com
    Posted At: January 4, 2017 12:00 AM

    Jazz violinist Regina Carter will honor legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald - in what would have been her 100th year - with four tribute concerts over two nights this week at the Jazz Standard, located at 116 East 27 St. The event, called "Regina Carter: Simply Ella," will run from Thursday, Jan. 5 to Friday, Jan. 6. Concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. each night. Carter was awarded a Ma...
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  • Regina Carter wins 'Violinist/Violist/Cellist of the Year' at 2016 JJA Jazz Awards
    Posted At: May 17, 2016 12:00 AM

    Congratulations to Regina Carter on her win for - Violinist/Violist/Cellist of the Year at the 20th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards. Professional Journalist Members of the JJA made open nominations in a first selection round; those who received the most nominations advanced to the final ballot.  Carter is considered the foremost jazz violinist of her gene...
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  • Regina Carter plays Ronnie Scott's / theguardian
    Posted At: May 2, 2016 12:00 AM

    Regina Carter recently played - London's Ronnie Scott's and brought a fresh and thrilling creative edge to her respect for jazz and classical traditions If attention spans are getting shorter in the 21st century, nobody's told Regina Carter. The Detroit-born jazz violinist played Ronnie Scott's with a drummer-less acoustic group, sometimes at a barely perceptible murmur, but her un...
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  • Regina Carter set to play NOLA's Contemporary Arts Center / WWNO Radio
    Posted At: March 9, 2016 12:00 AM

    This week on WWNO: New Orleans Inside the Arts, we talk with renowned violin virtuoso Regina Carter. The multi-genre violinist will perform works from her most recent release on Sony Masterworks, Southern Comfort, in concert at the Contemporary Arts Center. Ms. Carter is considered the foremost jazz violinist of her generation – a designation which doesn't quite paint the picture.  As a r...
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  • Regina Carter chats with WBGO's Sheila Anderson
    Posted At: October 22, 2015 12:00 AM

    Violinist Regina Carter is a highly original soloist whose sophisticated technique and rich, lush tone took the jazz world by pleasant surprise when she arrived in New York from her native Detroit. And jazz fans weren't the only people who heard that mercurial quality in her playing: artists as diverse as Faith Evans, Elliot Sharp, and Mary J. Blige have employed her talents on their recordings, as h...
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  • Listen to Regina Carter's Jazz Port Townsend concert on KPLU: Jazz Northwest
    Posted At: September 14, 2015 12:00 AM

    Violinist Regina Carter demonstrated her varied training and experience during her concert at this Summer's Jazz Port Townsend, presented by Centrum.  The concert ,which will air exclusively on 88.5 KPLU: Tacoma WA and kplu.org on Sunday September 13 at 2 PM Pacific, includes standards and blues, African music and an original by her drummer Alvester Garnett.  Also joining Regina Carter in t...
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  • Regina Carter On WCLK's - Jazz In The New Millennium
    Posted At: August 15, 2015 12:00 AM

    Violinist Regina Carter is considered the foremost jazz violinist of her generation – a designation which doesn't quite paint the picture.  As a result of her curiosity, passion, and quest for beauty brought to every stop taken on her full musical journey, the Detroit's native was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (a "genius grant").  Rick Mitchell's Jazz In The New Millenni...
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  • Regina Carter talks with WBGO Radio about Southern Comfort and her upcoming NYC - Jazz Standard shows
    Posted At: July 30, 2015 12:00 AM

    Violinist Regina Carter is considered the foremost jazz violinist of her generation- a designation which doesn't quite paint the picture. As a result of her curiosity, passion, and quest for beauty brought to every stop taken on her full musical journey, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (a "genius grant"). Those are more apparent than ever on her debut Southern Comfort (Sony Music Mas...
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