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 violinist Regina Carter from her home in New Jersey. "Examining and discussing America's ugly history over the last 400 years is extremely difficult for some, but there is no other choice; George Floyd was the last straw." Multireedist James Carter echoed the urgency expressed by his cousin and a multitude of others demonstrating in the streets around the world. "It's good to see so many young people, especially white Americans with Black Lives Matter signs, in the demonstrations," he said. "The pandemic, poverty and the police have brutally assailed the Black community." No place or profession is immune to the coronavirus pandemic or disparities based on race. But setbacks are not defeats for these two musicians, whom I've known since they were coming of age in Detroit-Regina when she was a member of the all-female ensemble Straight Ahead and James when he was with the youth ensemble Bird-Trane-Sco-Now! Both are as talented as they are resilient, and though at the moment they can't perform together-as they have on numerous studio dates-the pandemic has put them back in touch. "When James called me about sharing my thoughts during this bleak period, it was an opportunity I welcomed," Regina said. "This is a good way of reconnecting, something that is absolutely indispensable for us musicians."
 (Photo: John Abbott & Christopher Drukker) READ THE FULL DOWNBEAT ARTICLE

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 tribute" by highlighting musical icons throughout history in a string-centric program, with MacArthur Genius and violin virtuoso Regina Carter as a featured special guest. Chicago Sinfonietta's performances will occur  In celebration of prominent and iconic women in music across genres and generations, the concert will include performances of Jessie Montgomery's highly string-percussive Strum led by Project Inclusion Conducting Fellow Paola Avila, followed by David Schiff's 4 Sisters, featuring the musical stylings of Regina Carter. Paying homage to jazz and R&B greats Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan, 4 Sisters has four movements titled Soul, Scat, Satin and Sassy.  "I am thrilled to finally be taking the stage with the incredible musicians of Chicago Sinfonietta and Mei-Ann Chen for this concert," said Regina Carter. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} READ THE FULL BroadwayWorld ARTICLE

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 and international performances, making music that sounds as fresh and impressive now as it did back in the 80s and 90s. READ THE FULL Oakland Press ARTICLE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

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, Elliot Sharp, Mary J. Blige, and filmmaker Ken Burns for his soundtrack - The Civil War. The New England Conservatory grad has won a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and has gone on to record a syellar discography. Some recent recordings include; Reverse Thread for Eone, along with Southern Comfort and Ella: Accentuate the Positive for Sony/Okeh. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

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 members for the week-long curriculum and others as visiting artists to conduct master classes. The overnight residency at Rutgers University-Newark is open to young women musicians, ages 14-25, from July 8-14. "This is a proud moment," she said. "It's a rare opportunity to nurture a community and build confidence in young women of jazz who are embarking on careers in the industry or considering their options. They'll hear straight talk – and learn in the best possible ways – from first-in-class professionals I'm also grateful to call colleagues and collaborators."   SEE New Jersey Stage PAGE

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 Festival over Labor Day Weekend. It brings back together a groundbreaking band that made an international mark, and whose members have gone on to formidable accomplishments as performers and educators. And violinist Regina Carter tells us that in joining forces again with Marion Hayden, Eileen Orr and Gayelynn McKinney, along with newcomer Elden Kelly, it feels like almost no time has passed at all. READ THE FULL The Oakland Press ARTICLE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

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 Fitzgerald. "I've been a huge fan of Ella since I was a kid," she said. "There were so many records that we had and so much music playing in our house when I was growing up, the first time I put on Ella was just a record laying around, basically. I put it on and I was immediately drawn to her. And of course as an adult, recognizing what an incredible musician she was. And almost every jazz project, I recorded one of her tunes that she had recorded. So with last year being her 100th birthday, I wanted to do a whole record, a tribute to her. But I knew that probably a lot of musicians would do Ella tributes. There's so much music she recorded, and not all of her work is really well-known, so I decided to do a B-side project." READ THE FULL Naperville Sun - Chicago Tribune ARTICLE. Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

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 great musical minds and four talented hands. The festival setting, the Dunsmore Room at Crooner's Lounge and Supper Club in Fridley, proved to be perfect match of performers and venue. It's an intimate listening space perfect for appreciating the layers of nuance and subtlety offered by two virtuosos like Davis and Carter. READ THE FULL TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press ARTICLE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

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 night setback, Monday's storm couldn't diminish the 60-plus buoyant, entertaining and stimulating jazz performances that enthralled jazz fans throughout the festival weekend. Festival highlights included; Detroit violinist Regina Carter, made a homecoming visit leading a quintet of piano/organ, bass, guitar and drums focused upon instrumental versions of B-side song repertoire of Ella Fitzgerald. The performance supported Carter's new album, "Ella, Accentuate the Positive," her own reimagining of Fitzgerald's monumental jazz contributions. Dressed in a paisley orange gown, Carter set the mood when she introduced the first song by playing a snippet of a classic Fitzgerald song from her iPhone. The set was bright, upbeat and swinging. "I'll Never Be Free," arranged by bassist Chris Lightcap, felt like a honky tonk blues. Before she performed Fitzgerald's "Undecided," Carter played the familiar melody on her violin, and asked the audience if they recognized it. Of course, they did. But the re-invented version Carter played contained greasy organ licks and funky soul electric guitar. It was worlds away from the original. "It's because I'm a Motown jazz music baby," explained Carter. Later, she enchanted and coaxed the audience to sing-along: "Don't stop the groove, ‘cause it puts you in the mood." It had everyone feeling groovy about Ella. READ THE FULL Dearborn Press and Guide REVIEW p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px}

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 auditions are not conducted "blind" – meaning that the selection committee cannot see the musicians, just hear their musical ability. As with other fields of endeavor, it took some trailblazing women to pave the way for others to follow.  Jazz violinist Regina Carter began playing the piano when she was two years old. Her formal study of the Suzuki method for playing the violin began when she was four. As a teenager, Carter played with the youth division of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. She studied jazz in college, graduating in 1985. She has recorded numerous albums, played with various groups and in 2006 was awarded a MacArthur Fellows Program grant that recognized her prowess in creating "new possibilities for violin and for jazz." Unlike Harrison, Carter has a full range of opportunities available to her – she tours regularly, serves as a mentor, and teaches the Suzuki Method to violin students. Carter is currently celebrating the legacy of jazz great Ella Fitzgerald. READ THE FULL HUFFPOST ARTICLE

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, 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. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial} Ella:  Accentuate the Positive is featured on episode No. 770 "ANIMAJAZZ", from Punto Radio - Pisa Italy. The show is designed and conducted by BRUNO POLLACCI and is set for air on Thursday, July 13 at 19.30.

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 Ray Charles to Piedmont Park. But with so many established and emerging artists to choose from over the three-day festival, having to decide where to focus your attention can be daunting. So ArtsATL has compiled a Top Six list to help get the party started - in chronological order. Growing up as part of a music-loving family in Detroit, Regina Carter's ears were filled with the melodies of Motown, classical, jazz and movie soundtracks. But the tone that really captivated her imagination came from a primary source: Ella Fitzgerald. "Something about her voice made me feel like I had a personal connection," says Carter. "When she sang, I felt really warm and safe, almost a maternal connection. It just felt like love." Fans of the jazz violinist and MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" fellowship recipient could say the same of Carter's playing - the technique and virtuosity of which are the aural equivalent of Southern comfort sealed with a warm embrace. READ THE FULL ARTSATL ARTICLE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px}

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's Jazz Standard. "I've always loved her since I was a child. We had lots of music around the house. My brothers were listening to Motown, the Beatles and there was lots of jazz. But the first time I put on an Ella record, I felt that motherly love wrap around me. I loved the music because it I could go to another place. When I was a teenager, I would daydream about going out on a date and dancing to Ella's music." READ THE FULL Zealnyc ARTICLE

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 Regina Carter, the violin isn't simply an improvisational vehicle; it's a passport to unexpected realms. It's a Rosetta Stone that unlocks the doors to a myriad of cultures, sounds, and worlds apart. Her quest for beauty combined with her passion for excellence did not escape the attention of the MacArthur Foundation, which awarded Regina their prestigious MacArthur fellowship "genius grant". San Francisco Performances also took note of Regina's exceptional work and appointed her Artist-in-Residence for five years.  She also served as one of the Resident Artistic Directors for the discerning SFJAZZ during its inaugural season in its spectacular new home.

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 with love and appreciation. "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." p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px} Dirty Dog is produced by Detroit Public Radio mainstay, Judy Adams, a trained pianist, composer and musicologist who hosts a Jazz and contemporary music show on CJAM 99.1FM and guest hosts on WRCJ 90.9FM.     READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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 Arial} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px} Regina Carter's homage to Ella Fitzgerald is a collection of nine of the singer's "B-side" hits, reimagined for jazz violin. "There was a period when I would wake up every morning and put on Ella: Ella and coffee, that's what I needed to get through the day," Carter told The Chicago Tribune. It's a beautiful collection, and below is a sample: "Judy," the Connee Boswell song that won Fitzgerald first prize during Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem in 1934.  

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 "Reverse Thread," Carter opts for lesser-known items in Ella's catalog and mixes resonant rhythm and blues in with the jazz swing that was Fitzgerald's stock-in-trade. Wed., May 3 at dakota, Mpls. READ THE FULL Star Tribune ARTICLE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px}

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 JJA Members chose the nominees in that category from among the submissions. Winners of the 2017 JJA Jazz Awards in all categories will be determined by the votes of JJA Professional Journalist Members; and will be announced on May 15. Regina Carter picks up 2017 JJA nom for 'Violinist-Violist-Cellist Of The Year'  SEE JJA PAGE LISTING ALL NOMINEES p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px}

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 track, while Carla Cook's voice delivers a surprisingly funky soul groove with Sewell's electric guitar on "Undecided." Thing get real rural with slide guitar earth tones on "I'll Chase The Clouds away" and folksy during "Reach For Tomorrow." All of the tunes are arranged by a different artist each time as well; Ben Williams delivers lithe guitar and violin sounds on "Crying in the Chapel" and Chris Lightcap is gospel deep on a bluesy "I'll Never Be Free." Carter herself is rich and sensuous in all frames, crying with lusciousness on "Dedicated to You" and lovely sighing on "Judy." Still, a charmer with pluck. SEE Jazz Weekly PAGE

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 Hancock, the Wayne Shorter Quartet, jazz fusionist Miles Mosley and a Detroit jam session led by hometown saxophonist George Benson. With Hancock and Shorter on opening night, the festival gets two of the surviving members of Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet of the '60s (following last year's artist-in-residence Ron Carter, the third surviving member). It sets a tone for a weekend featuring several other players known for their work with Davis, including Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield and Dave Liebman. The lineup finds the festival broadening to embrace a wide sweep of styles and approaches, from 88-year-old hard-bop saxophonist Benny Golson to hot California players Miles Mosley and Kamasi Washington (known for their work on rapper Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp a Butterfly"), from the Afro-Cuban sounds of Chucho Valdés-Joe Lovano to Shorter's highly distinguished quartet. In addition violinist Regina Carter, who will be performing an Ella Fitzgerald tribute as the world marks the 100th anniversary of the late jazz singer's birth. The 1973 double album "Live at the Lighthouse" by late Detroit drummer Elvin Jones will be spotlighted in a performance that includes Liebman, Gene Perla, Adam Niewood and Adam Nussbaum. p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px} More than 30 performances were announced during Wednesday's event, with the full lineup to be fleshed out in coming months and available at detroitjazzfest.com.   READ THE FULL Detroit Free Press ARTICLE

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 has filmmaker Ken Burns on his soundtrack for The Civil War.  Watch the attached video SEE KUVO: Denver PAGE p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px}

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 simply Lady Ella–but visions of musical conversations about love and harmony and a world of wonder will stimulate and flood your mind. 2017 celebrates the 100th birthday of Ella Fitzgerald, and Simply Ella is Ms. Carter's contribution to that joy. Taken from her upcoming album, Ella: Accentuate the Positive, the set highlights not Ella's most famous numbers but many of her B-side hits. READ THE FULL DC Metro Theater Arts REVIEW p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px}

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 incomparable Ella Fitzgerald – THE source of Regina's musical inspiration. An influence she has cherished throughout her life,   Regina Carter is the foremost jazz violinist of her generation. Her quest for beauty combined with her passion for excellence did not escape the attention of the MacArthur Foundation, who awarded Regina their prestigious fellowship "genius grant." Carter is finishing up her Jazz at the Bistro dates tonight, Saturday Jan 21         Carter and band stop by Fox2 St. Louis   WATCH THE FOX2 SEGMENT    

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 Wood Hall on Monday, January 23. LISTEN TO RC's interview with KBIA: Radio Columbia MO - Trevor Harris  p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px}

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 MacArthur "genius" grant in 2006. She is known for music that aims to "make the past, present" by exploring her own family's roots and legendary artists of the past. To celebrate the 100th birthday of Fitzgerald - Carter's "musical idol and inspiration," who fought hardships and racism to win 13 Grammy awards and sell over 40 million albums in her lifetime - Carter has released a new Sony Masterworks album called Simply Ella. She'll be playing from that album this Thursday and Friday. SEE THE Patch.com PAGE SEE BroadwayWorld.com PAGE p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px}

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 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 Sony Music Masterworks debut album Southern Comfort in which she explores the folk music of the South. The album will be released on and coincide with an international tour. SEE THE 2016 JJA Jazz Awards PAGE

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 unfolding of a theme is so revealing, and her improv ideas so fresh, that listeners soon sense they can't afford to miss a beat. Carter set off on the 1940s hit A Sentimental Journey at a leisurely mid-tempo at first; then came airily embellished longer lines, ringing upper tones and raffish Stephane Grappelli-like swoops, over an escalating swing from Jesse Murphy's bass and pianist Xavier Davis's discreetly prodding chords. READ THE FULL guardian REVIEW

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 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").  Inside the Arts will also check out Cuba's newest dance export, Malpaso Dance Company, heads to the Crescent City. We talk with founder and artistic director Osnel Delgado. And, we round out with a fingerpickin' concert as acclaimed New Orleans guitarist Jimmy Robinson joins the Bruskers Duo who are in town from Italy. Airs Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. and Thursdays at 8:45 a.m.  Listen to WWNO: New Orleans Inside the Arts Segment

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 has filmmaker Ken Burns on his soundtrack for The Civil War. Add this to an extremely long list of jazzers who include Tom Harrell, Wynton Marsalis, and Oliver Lake.  Among a select few who can claim the title of "innovator," Carter brings her violin mastery into the language of jazz, and does so with aplomb. She sat down with fellow Gemini Sheila Anderson to talk about her music, remember her late mentor Marcus Belgrave, and pick some favorite tunes for Newark NJ's WBGO.        LISTEN TO THE CHAT

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 this concert are pianist Benny Green and bassist John Clayton. Drawing upon classical technique and the easy swing of such early jazz violinists as Stuff Smith, Ms. Carter drew expressive music from her violin that reflected her wide ranging musical interests.  Her opening piece was a tribute to Stuff Smith and Nat King Cole, "When I Grow Too Old to Dream."  She also played music by the contemporary African bassist and composer Richard Bona, as well as a moving spiritual "I'm Going Home" which was introduced by a field recording of the song. A native of Detroit and classically trained, Regina Carter has recorded nine CDs as a leader ranging from classical music performed on a violin once owned by Paganini, to music of the American South and Africa as she traced her own roots. Jazz Northwest is recorded and produced by Jim Wilke, exclusively for 88.5 KPLU. The program airs Sundays at 2 PM Pacific and streams at kplu.org. LISTEN TO THE CONCERT  

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 Millennium features Carter tomorrow, Sunday at 3pm on WLCK: Atlanta. She began playing jazz music as a student at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and her inimitable style has been in the spotlight since her 1987 debut with the all female jazz quintet Straight Ahead.

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 Masterworks), in which she explores her musical and cultural heritage and the folk music of the South.   Carter talks with WBGO - Newark NJ's Gary Walker about the album and her upcoming Jazz Standard shows which start tomorrow July 31 and go through August 2. LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW.

Congratulations to all the winners of the 19th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards  listed below. Professional Journalist Members of the JJA made open nominations and Regina Carter was selected 'Violinist/Violist/Cellist of the Year.' Considered the foremost jazz violinist of her generation, Carter's latest Sony Masterworks recording - Southern Comfort explores the folk music of the South. The MacArthur Fellowship ( "genius grant") recipient's curiosity, passion, and quest for beauty brought her to every stop taken on this full musical journey. You can help the Jazz Journalists Association continue to get the word out about jazz through programs like JazzApril and the JJA Jazz Awards. Please make a donation. Contributions of any size, no matter how small, are gratefully accepted. Or become a JJA Member. Membership is open to jazz musicians, educators, presenters, promoters, publishers or anyone who wants to support our work as well as professional jazz journalists.

Regina Carter is an extraordinary musician. Time magazine said of the jazz violinist, "Wonderfully listenable, probingly intelligent and, at times, breathtakingly daring." But this adventurous artist, who performs with her quartet at Stanford's Dinkelspiel Auditorium on Saturday, also remains a student of music. Her appetite for expanding her musical knowledge is insatiable. In recent years, Carter has been consumed with a need to explore her musical roots. Her 2006 album, "I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey," delved into the early jazz standards her mother loved. After receiving the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, she felt an urge to find out as much as she could about her ancestry. "I decided that it would be interesting to record some of the music that related to my findings and work that out as a project, because some of the field recordings I was finding were so powerful and beautiful and were not something that we were going to hear on commercial radio stations ... or any radio stations, for that matter." 2010's "Reverse Thread" brought listeners African music through the prism of Carter's imaginative interpretations. Her latest album, "Southern Comfort," examines the folk tunes her grandfather, a coal miner, might have heard during his laboring days in Alabama. To research the projects, Carter drew upon distant relatives, books and Library of Congress music collections. "I was educating myself to so many musicians and styles of music and culture that I wasn't aware of. I was really excited by the music I was hearing. So it all kind of started with 'Reverse Thread.' "And then with 'Southern Comfort,' it was a bit more personal, because I was researching my immediate family, my grandfather on my father's side, and hooking up my family tree with other relatives' family trees. I was discovering other relatives that I didn't know and reconnecting with some that I hadn't been in touch with in a long time." When Carter performs music from "Southern Comfort," she presents some of the original field recordings for the audience. "I want them to have an idea of where these arrangements come from, to see their growth and to see what we've done with them, to turn them on to these collections -- the Alan Lomax collection and the John Work III collection. It gets people excited, as well, to want to discover their past, their own families, backgrounds and ancestry, to see how far back they can go. And to hear the music that might have been relevant for them, as well."   READ THE FULL San Jose Mercury News ARTICLE

Jazz violin star Regina Carter convened a suitably instrumented acoustic band to perform the songs from her latest release, Southern Comfort in which she delves into the songs of her grandparents' time in Alabama. Backed by Marvin Sewell on electric and acoustic guitars, Chris Lightcap on upright bass, Will Holshouser on accordion and the irrepressibly good-humoured drumming of Alvester Garnett, this was jazz meets Americana done to perfection.

The set was built from the very simple materials aired on the CD, some of them sampled in their most elemental form using field recordings played from Carter's iPhone. The simplicity is affecting, although just occasionally overwhelmed by long solos from guitar and accordion that these songs didn't really call for. No such problem with Carter's solos, though, which invariably tell a story that grips you to the end.

Her superb violin sound, captured beautifully on the recording, came across even more penetratingly in the QEH - a shift of venue after ticket sales made it clear the Purcell Room would be too small. And although her cohorts are all fine musicians, it was Carter who held the attention for 90 minutes plus. READ THE FULL London Jazz News REVIEW.

On Friday night, Regina Carter opened the second annual Jazz at the Logan series at the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts. Carter played roots music from Carter played roots music from several continents with a degree of care and control one sooner expects to encounter in works of Beethoven and Brahms. Furthermore, she was joined by a quintet of like-minded musicians who ignore distinctions between "high art" and "low," instead addressing jazz, tango, world and various facets of contemporary music with equal respect and ardor. This wasn't a highbrow violinist stooping to play populist fare in the manner of, say, opera singers who maul Broadway classics. To the contrary, Carter played "Shoo-Rye" with all the verve, ebullience and fire of a country fiddler – but without sacrificing the technical acuity or melodic poetry of her work. When she segued into declamatory vocals, "Shoo-Rye" took listeners to a distant time and place: the world of her grandfather, who was born in 1893 and whose era she explores on her beguiling recent album Southern Comfort. READ THE FULL Chicago Tribune REVIEW. READ THE FULL Chicago Maroon REVIEW.

If ever a musician understood the importance of exposure to music at an early age, it would be Regina Carter, who - family legend has it - at two years old, played a melody by ear on the piano after hearing her brother's lesson. At four, she began studying the violin, and she hasn't looked back since. From classical training as a teen and later at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, she switched to jazz at Michigan's Oakland University and entered the Detroit jazz scene through trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. The Regina Carter Quintet (Will Holshouser, accordion; Marvin Sewell, guitar; Chris Lightcap, bass; and Alvester Garnett, drums) comes to Providence RI to play a FirstWorks concert October 18 at 8 pm at the RISD Auditorium. A free pre-concert conversation, "Cultural Identity and the Power of Improvisation" precedes it, 6:30 pm at RISD's Chace Center. READ THE FULL Providence Phoenix INTERVIEW       Read more: http://providence.thephoenix.com/music/160117-spark-of-inspiration/#ixzz3GJmYO2Im

Regina Carter will perform in the Celebrity Series of Boston on October 17 at Harvard University's Sanders Hall. Making her third Celebrity Series appearance, Ms. Carter is the foremost jazz violinist of her generation and was honored with a MacArthur Fellowship in 2006. Her concert will feature music from her latest Sony Masterworks release - Southern Comfort, which explores the folk tunes her coalmining grandfather would have heard as he toiled in Alabama, as well as other folk tunes of the South. Established by Aaron Richmond in 1938, The Celebrity Series of Boston presents world-class performing artists who inspire and enrich the community. Over the years, it has become a mainstay of Boston's cultural life.

Regina Carter's latest album, "Southern Comfort," her Sony Masterworks debut, gave the Detroit-born musician a way to explore her Southern heritage. This is the third album to specifically dig into herpersonal history. "I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey" (2006) was a tribute to her late mother, with jazz standards from the '20s to the '40s. "Reverse Thread" (2010) looked at the traditional music of Africa. READ THE FULL Boston Globe INTERVIEW

Renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter may not have lived in Detroit since 1991, but whenever she comes home, she says it feels like a family reunion and she can feel the love. Carter will be back in her hometown to perform at the 2014 Detroit Jazz Festival, which takes place during Labor Day Weekend (Aug. 29-Sept. 1). She'll be performing with her own band that Sunday and with the Homecoming Big Band on Labor Day. READ THE FULL MLive ARTICLE HERE

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 new release Southern Comfort, in which she explores the folk music of the South.  Regina Carter's quintet featuring Marvin Sewell on guitar. Will Holshouser on accordion, Jesse Murphy on bass, and Alvester Garnett on drums bring the Southern Comfort project to the Jazz Standard on Thursday, August 14th through Sunday, August 17th.  READ THE FULL LAJazz.com/Jazz Police Notice

This concentrated six-question, six-minute interview took place just a few minutes before Regina Carter's performance at the Church of the Gesù venue at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

This interview began by asking her about the field recordings of songs from Alabama, where her paternal grandfather was a coal-miner, to the tunes on the album, Southern Comfort. READ THE FULL London Jazz News INTERVIEW.

Jazz violinist Regina Carter talks about her career and growing up in Detroit. Plus, we'll sample some tunes from her new album, Southern Comfort. Ken Coleman takes a look back at African-American life in Detroit. WATCH THE FULL PBS 'American Black Journal' INTERVIEW.

Digging into one's family history, violinist Regina Carter said, is not only worthwhile for musicians and artists. It's something everyone should do. Carter, a prolific and well-known jazz violinist and a MacArthur Fellowship winner, devoted two previous albums to exploring her past: I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey, a collection of her mother's favorite early standards, released in 2006, and Reverse Thread, a trip through African musical styles that came out in 2010. Southern Comfort, her latest album and Sony Masterworks debut, released earlier this year, delves into music her paternal grandfather, an Alabama coal miner, might have known. READ THE FULL Hartford Courant INTERVIEW.

There is an inherent familiarity about Southern Comfort, the latest record from renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter. Sometimes it appears in obvious ways. For example, there's her funky take on the Hank Williams classic "Honky Tonkin'." Airing the song's famous melody over a strutting drum beat and gently punchy bass line, Carter's violin - calling it a fiddle might be more apropos in this rustic setting - rambles woozily, evoking - mimicking, even - the country-music godfather's playful drawl. That performance will likely draw smiles and knowing nods when Carter and her band appear at the Flynn MainStage this Friday, May 30, as part of the 2014 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. "That one always gets the crowd going," says Carter in a recent phone interview with Seven Days. "It's just a fun song to play, and it's always nice to give the audience something they'll know." READ THE FULL Seven Days INTERVIEW.

Violinist Regina Carter reflects on her work with Bay Area public school students and the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars while being a 2013-14 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director. Watch her interview and learn more about SFJAZZ.

When Detroit-based violinist Regina Carter set out on her latest musical venture, Southern Comfort, she didn't know very much about her father's side of the family. She knew her paternal grandfather was a coal miner and that he lived in Alabama and with that, Carter set out on a journey of both self and musical discovery. She researched her ancestry and gleaned a sense of life and the traditions of the time through its music. "I thought while I'm digging and doing this it would be interesting to check out the music that was going on while my grandfather was alive and the types of music that was happening in the different places that he lived and worked," Carter says. READ THE FULL Rhythms Magazine REVIEW.

Making a recording is always a personal journey-everyone has a story to tell. Jazz violinist Regina Carter's latest, Southern Comfort, is an eloquent musical expression of Carter tracing the roots of her paternal lineage back five generations. For the project's sound engineer, Joe Ferla, it's the final project of a engineering career, and the beginning point of his new life as a practicing musician. The entwining of these journeys gives the album's music and sound a rare honesty. Released by Sony Masterworks, Southern Comfort began as a Web addiction. "I got hooked on this Ancestry.com site, and there's a DNA test, and I started reading, and I thought, 'You know what, let me delve into this and see if I can get any further.' I know more information about my mother's side of the family than I do about my father's. And I thought, 'Man, that might be an interesting project-to see what music may have been happening during the time that my grandfather was alive, and I could try to make some connections through the music.'" Carter's paternal grandfather, Dan Carter, was a coal miner. Born in Georgia in 1893, he later moved to Alabama. "He would move around, depending on where there was work. He and my grandmother raised 14 kids. Two sets of twins, my father and his twin being the oldest-or so I was told. But going on Ancestry.com and looking for records, it might be another story. It's interesting what you find out." READ THE FULL Stereophile INTERVIEW.

Southern Comfort, the whiskey-tinged liqueur, is described as being made from neutral spirits, but the spirits in "Southern Comfort," the new CD from violinist Regina Carter, are anything but neutral. READ THE FULL San Francisco Examiner REVIEW

There's a barefoot beauty to Regina Carter's simple reverence for the songs of her ancestors. Although Regina grew up in Detroit, Michigan, she remembers her childhood trips to rural Alabama in the Appalachian Mountains-the ancient eastern spine of North America. Here the heart-rending simplicity in its folk tunes has formed an ancestral DNA for American music and it's here where Regina Carter draws from this deep well of her own descendants for her new album, Southern Comfort. READ THE FULL Vancouver Observer REVIEW

If you're lucky, you learn something new every day. For instance, during a break in Regina Carter's appearance at Albany NY - The Egg's Swyer Theatre, I learned that Carter's exploration of her family heritage had included getting her DNA tested. The test results showed the Detroit native was 77 percent West African and 13 percent Finnish. "That tells you a lot about my family," Carter laughed. READ THE FULL Nippertown REVIEW.

Making a recording is always a personal journey-everyone has as a story to tell. Jazz violinist Regina Carter's latest, Southern Comfort, is an eloquent musical expression of Carter tracing the roots of her paternal lineage back five generations. For the project's sound engineer, Joe Ferla, it's the final project of an engineering career, and the beginning of his new life as a practicing musician. The entwining of these journeys gives the album's music and sound a rare honesty. Pick up your May 2014 issue of Stereophile to read the full article.

In a musician's life, moments of true clarity are rare and thus well remembered. So it was that Regina Carter, asked whether there was a moment when she knew she had arrived as a violinist, immediately recounted a vision she had the night of her debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Carter vividly recalled the moment. In January 2004, when, at the age of 42, she gazed out from the stage of Orchestra Hall in her native Detroit and suddenly saw herself as the young violinist she had once been-the eager aspirant, accompanied by her ever present mother, peering down from the upper balcony in the hope that she would one day stand on a stage like the one on which she now stood. "I remember looking up and saying ‘Oh, my god. I'm standing here now," she said. "It was pretty mind-blowing." Pick up the May 2014 edition of Downbeat Magazine to read the full article and read more about her latest release, Southern Comfort.

What is American music? It's earthy and real, down-home and straight-ahead, by turns gutsy and gentle and simple as a gospel song or complex as a jazz fiddler's solo. A thousand different beats and tones make up music in this polyglot country of ours, and few performers could have delivered the point as urgently or poetically as the two great women of music who packed Orchestra Hall on Friday night. Technically, singer Mavis Staples and violinist Regina Carter were appearing on Symphony Center's jazz series, but no single genre or mode of expression really could contain their musical interests. Sharing a double-bill, they took on a vast swath of musical culture in America reaching back in time, from the civil rights anthems Staples dispatched with fire to the old Appalachian folk tunes Carter played as if born to that era. The spirit of folkloric American song filled this night, inspiring the audience to get up on its feet more than once, as if to lay claim to a music that truly does belong to all of us. Violinist Carter – a musical free-thinker who won a MacArthur Fellowship in 2006 – opened the evening and established its historic template, drawing from the ethereal repertoire on her new Southern Comfort album. To prepare to make it, Carter researched the field recordings of John Work III, Alan Lomax and other intrepid souls who long ago took their bulky old equipment into rural settings and captured songs and manners of singing and playing that otherwise would have been lost. READ THE FULL Chicago Tribune ARTICLE.

On her new album, Southern Comfort, acclaimed jazz violinist Regina Carter travels back in time to the life of her paternal grandfather, a coal miner based in Bradford, Alabama.

While he passed away long before she was born, Carter, a Detroit native who currently lives in Maywood, New Jersey, has many memories of summers spent with her grandmother in their old house. Her father was one of 14 children, including two sets of twins, and cousins aplenty were also always around.

"It was extremely rural living," says Carter. "It was very different than my life in Detroit but (I have) a lot of fond memories (of) being with family. That's so important for me. Especially as an adult, and as a middle-aged adult now, all of that is really important because this is the age where I find that I've lost and am losing several family members and also friends. And so I start not to take life for granted and just to realize all of this information is important for me to help have an impact on me. Who am I? From where do I come? Who are some of the people that helped make me who I am today? What are the struggles they went through so that I can have the things that I have today? "Also, it makes me proud and it gives me an extra push on those days where maybe I don't feel like doing anything or I start to question what it is I'm supposed to be doing while I'm here," she says. READ THE FULL North Shore News INTERVIEW.

YOU CAN TRACE Regina Carter's DNA in her music-and for once we're not talking in metaphorical terms. For the past decade she's been exploring her heritage through sound and science, in the process assembling one of the most intriguing discographies of any contemporary jazz artist. READ THE FULL straight.com REVIEW

The Great Migration that saw some 6 million African-Americans leave the rural South for urban destinations in the North and West wasn't always a one way journey. Many of the black children brought up in cities like Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles ended up spending vacations with family back in the South, which is how Regina Carter came by her recollections of warm and molasses-slow Alabama summer.

Born in Detroit in 1966, the celebrated jazz violinist had 13 aunts and uncles on her father's side of the family, and she got to know some of them and her grandmother on summer visits. Her new blues- and folk-steeped album Southern Comfort (Sony Masterworks) is a highly evocative musical journey into her Alabama roots, with several detours along the way. Pick up this week's copy of The Oakland Tribune to read the full article.

Congratulations to the winners of the 18th annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards for Music and Recording and congratulations to Crossover Media Artist - Regina Carter winnin for ‘Violinist/Violist/Cellist of the Year.'

Violinist Regina Carter has used her instrument to investigate Motown, African Folk and Classical Folk as well as straightahead jazz. This time out, she reaches back into the songbook of her grandfather's era, with material that reaches to folk music of the deep south. She brings together Adam Rogers- Marvin Sewell/g as well as Chris Lightcap-Jesse Murphy, Will Holshouser/acc, ALvester Garnett/dr as the foundational team  to create a mood that lets you feel the red dirt, stilted mugginess and homespun unpretentiousness of Alabama. READ FULL Jazz Weekly REVIEW.

Jazz violin isn't a crowded field, but Regina Carter remains a standout regardless. After exploring African music with the lauded "Reverse Thread" in 2010, Carter turns toward her roots in Americana and folk for Southern Comfort, and the results are just as arresting. Mingling swift, sawing runs with guitar and accordion, Carter delivers fresh takes on rootsy classics including "Hickory Wind," "Honky Tonkin'" and a funky, electronics-dusted "Trampin'." -Ricardo DeAratanha

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 upcoming debut Southern Comfort (Sony Music Masterworks), in which she explores the folk music of the South.  The album coincides with an international tour, and serviced to both Non-Comm Triple A and Jazz, RC's Southern Comfort has broken CMJ-Jazz Top 10 coming in this week at #7.

Jazz violinist Regina Carter remembers taking baths in a tin pail on the front porch of her grandmother's home in Alabama, where she spent several childhood summers. Wanting to better understand her roots, she went digging in Ancestry.com and learned her paternal grandfather was a coal miner. That discovery inspired Carter to take up the family tradition in a new way: With her violin serving as pickax and shovel, she's mined the music of her grandfather's time to wonderful effect. "I thought it would be interesting to record some of the music that would have been popular or happening during his lifetime, growing up in Alabama and the different places he lived and worked," Carter told NPR. For research, she raided the field recordings of renowned ethnomusicologists Alan Lomax and John Wesley Work III, housed at the Library of Congress. The precious metals and gems Carter excavated are assembled on her newest album, Southern Comfort, which begins appropriately enough with the traditional "Miner's Child." Carter digs into the minor motif with ease and grit which, together with plaintiff guitar picking, quickly conjures up a vista of hills dotted with worn-out workers. A few bars into the song, however, swirling cymbals and a driving bass make clear that this project is no museum-style reenactment of the past. READ THE FULL World Magazine REVIEW

Renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter's latest album, called Southern Comfort, started out as an exploration of her family tree -- an attempt to discover and interpret the folk songs that her grandfather, a coal miner in Alabama, perhaps would have heard during his lifetime.  What resulted, however, is a deep and expansive look at how the Appalachians' blend of Irish and Scottish settlers, Native Americans and slaves combined to create the music that we today know as traditional Americana -- and, how that music has continued to evolve and inspire artists throughout our nation's history.  After visiting the Library of Congress and listening to field recordings made by John Wesley Work III and Alan Lomax, Carter -- who has previously explored the jazz standards of her mother's youth and the music of the African diaspora -- narrowed down the pieces that caught her ear. The resulting album includes Cajun fiddle tunes like "Blues de Basile," gospel hymns like "I'm Going Home," and even a few more contemporary songs, like Hank Williams' "Honky Tonkin'." All performed, of course, in Carter's signature imaginative -- and always swinging -- style.

If one were to view the history of American music as a collection of rivers, there would be many points where tributaries cross. Jazz violinist Regina Carter has mapped out Southern Comfort as an exploration of these waterways, visiting the traditions of African-American Appalachian string bands, blues, and Cajun music where they crisscross with folk and country. She takes the traditions to some unusual places. "Miner's Child" shows how naturally a Scotch-hinted bluegrass melody can flow over African-inspired rhythms, while "Trampin'" draws a line from rural blues to city funk with throbbing bass and drums. Hank Williams Sr.'s "Honky Tonkin'" takes a trip to N'awlins with some of that city's stirring march rhythms, and Gram Parsons' "Hickory Wind" is as sophisticatedly elegiac as a Bach fugue. The album's closer medley, "Death Have Mercy/Breakaway," is a tour de force that weaves together many strands to form a tapestry: Hints of melody from the British Isles, rhythms from the Caribbean and West Africa, lilt from the Cajun South, and persuasive swing from uptown Saturday night all come together. Throughout her career, Carter has always been eclectic in her approach, straddling jazz's mainstream and avant-garde zones - along with the European classical tradition - with equal ease. Comfort demonstrates that she shines in other aspects of American music, as well. (Sony Masterworks)

The violinist Regina Carter was born and raised in Detroit, and the texture of that city's jazz culture, past and present, has been a steadfast if often subtle presence in her music. On "Southern Comfort," her bracing new album, she turns her focus to a chapter in her family history that preceded the Great Migration, when her paternal grandfather was a coal miner in Alabama. The result is a meditation on American roots music with barely a whiff of the musty carpetbag, and more than a hint of personal investment. READ THE FULL New York Times REVIEW
 

Regina Carter is a finalist nominees for the 2014 JJA Jazz Awards. 

Nominees in most categories were chosen by the votes of the Professional Journalist Members of the Jazz Journalists Association. Nominations were made on the basis of work done in calendar year 2013, 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 and Best Shortform Video of the Year categories; committees of JJA Members chose the nominees in those categories from among the submissions. NOMINEES FOR JAZZ MUSIC AWARDS 1) LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN JAZZ Muhal Richard Abrams Herbie Hancock Phil Woods Randy Weston    2) MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR Craig Taborn Dave Douglas Gregory Porter Matt Wilson Wadada Leo Smith Wayne Shorter
  3) UP AND COMING ARTIST OF THE YEAR Cecile McLorin Salvant Jonathan Finlayson Warren Wolf Matt Mitchell   4) COMPOSER OF THE YEAR Darcy James Argue Maria Schneider Wayne Shorter
  5) ARRANGER OF THE YEAR Darcy James Argue Gil Goldstein Maria Schneider   6) RECORD OF THE YEAR Without a Net (Blue Note) Wayne Shorter Quartet WomanChild (Mack Avenue) Cecile McLorin Salvant Chants (ECM) Craig Taborn Trio   7) HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE YEAR Jack DeJohnette Special Edition Boxed Set (ECM) Miles Live in Europe 1969 (Columbia Legacy) Clifford Jordan Complete Strata East Recordings (Mosaic)   8) RECORD LABEL/PLATFORM OF THE YEAR ECM Mack Avenue Motema Music Pi Recordings   9) LARGE ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR  Darcy James Argue Secret Society Maria Schneider Orchestra Mingus Big Band   10) MIDSIZE ENSEMBLE  Jamie Baum Septet Steve Coleman & Five Elements Wayne Shorter Quartet   11) TRIO OR DUO Craig Taborn Trio Randy Weston-Billy Harper Vijay Iyer Trio   12) MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR Andy Bey Gregory Porter Kurt Elling   13) FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR Cecile McLorin Salvant  DeeDee Bridgewater Tierney Sutton   14) TRUMPETER OF THE YEAR  Dave Douglas Kirk Knuffke Terence Blanchard Wynton Marsalis   15) TROMBONIST OF THE YEAR  Roswell Rudd Steve Turre Wycliffe Gordon   16) MULTI-REEDS PLAYER OF THE YEAR Anthony Braxton James Carter Joe Lovano Scott Robinson    17) ALTO SAXOPHONIST OF THE YEAR Lee Konitz Miguel Zenon Rudresh Mahanthappa Tim Berne   18) TENOR SAXOPHONIST OF THE YEAR (Sonny Rollins named Emeritus, Beyond Voting in 2013) Chris Potter Joe Lovano Wayne Shorter   19) BARITONE SAXOPHONIST OF THE YEAR Gary Smulyan Mats Gustafsson  Ronnie Cuber
  20) SOPRANO SAXOPHONIST OF THE YEAR Dave Liebman Jane Ira Bloom Wayne Shorter   21) FLUTIST OF THE YEAR Charles Lloyd Jamie Baum Nicole Mitchell   22) CLARINETIST OF THE YEAR Anat Cohen Ben Goldberg Ken Peplowski   23) GUITARIST OF THE YEAR Bill Frisell Mary Halvorson Pat Metheny   24) PIANIST OF THE YEAR Craig Taborn Keith Jarrett Matthew Shipp   25) KEYBOARDS PLAYER OF THE YEAR Dr. Lonnie Smith Gary Versace Joey DeFrancesco    26) BASSIST OF THE YEAR Christian McBride Dave Holland William Parker   27) VIOLINIST/VIOLIST/CELLIST OF THE YEAR Eric Friedlander Jenny Scheinman Regina Carter   28) PERCUSSIONIST OF THE YEAR Adam Rudolph Dan Weiss Kahil El'Zabar Pedrito Martinez   29) MALLETS INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR Gary Burton Jason Adasiewicz Warren Wolf   30) TRAPS DRUMMER OF THE YEAR Eric Harland Jack DeJohnette Matt Wilson   31) PLAYER OF INSTRUMENTS RARE IN JAZZ Bela Fleck (banjo) Gary Versace (accordion) Gregoire Maret (harmonica) Scott Robinson (winds, reeds, Theremin)   32) ELECTRONICS PLAYER DJ Logic George E. Lewis Jason Lindner Rob Mazurek

Jazz violinist Regina Carter grew up in Detroit, but as a child she spent summers in Alabama, where her paternal grandmother lived. Her grandfather died before she was born, and recently she began researching his side of the family. One revelation that sparked her interest: Her dad's dad had been a coal miner. "I thought it would be interesting to record some of the music that would have been popular or happening during his lifetime, growing up in Alabama and the different places he lived and worked," Carter says. "So I went to the Library of Congress, to the Lomax collection, and also John Work III. Just some amazing music that I found." Carter immersed herself in the field recordings of Alan Lomax and John Wesley Work III, looking for music that might have infused the lives of her father's family. What she heard became the basis of her latest album, Southern Comfort. It's a sequel of sorts to 2010's Reverse Thread, an exploration of her African ancestry. "I really wanted, with all of these pieces, to keep the rawness that I heard, and the beauty - because the beauty was in the rawness," she says. "And not to over-decorate them, if you will; to let that beauty come through." Regina Carter discussed the making of Southern Comfort with NPR's Melissa Block. Click the audio link to hear more of their conversation - as well as the music. LISTEN TO THE NPR: All Things Considered INTERVIEW Regina Carter performs a Tiny Desk Concert

Regina Carter, considered to be one of the foremost violinist Innovativators of our time, releases her Sony Music Masterworks debut album 'Southern Comfort' TODAY!! March 4. As a result of her curiosity, and passion, this MacArthur Fellowship recipient explores the folk music of the South and release coincides with an international tour. Southern Comfort thematically connects Carter's earlier albums I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (2006), which features her mother's favorite early jazz standards; and Reverse Thread (2010) which celebrates the tradition of African music re-imagined for violin, accordion, bass, drams and kora. On her new album she explores the folk tunes her paternal grandfather, a coalminer, would have heard as he toiled in Alabama - and the project expanded to include other folk tunes of the region.  Intent on making the past, present, Regina sought out distant relatives and books about the era in which her grandfather lived.  From there, she went to the Library of Congress and the renowned collections of folklorists such as Alan Lomax and John Work III digging deep into their collected field recordings from Appalachia.  On Southern Comfort, Regina interprets her own roots through a modern lens. "When I would hear some of these field recordings, if I heard something that touched me I put it on the list," said Carter.  "I had maybe 50 tunes that I felt strongly about, and I finally forced myself to work more on those to stop myself from collecting more." The 11 tracks on Southern Comfort include Carter's interpretations of Cajun fiddle music, early gospel and coal miner's work songs in addition to some more contemporary tunes. "In the Appalachians there were Scottish and Irish descendants, slaves and Native Americans. It was a cultural hodgepodge and the music resulting from it is intoxicating.  This disc was to pay homage to my family," said Carter, "but it turned out to be so much more." The musicians on this recording bring a different mixture of backgrounds to the project, including guitarists Adam Rogers andMarvin Sewell, bassists Chris Lightcap and Jesse Murphy, accordionist Will Holshouser and drummer Alvester Garnett, who also provided arrangements.  Stefon Harris, Xavier Davis and Nate Smith also contributed arrangements, about which Carter expressed, "Each arranger brings out something musically that's unique to them which speaks to me." On being signed to Sony Music Masterworks, Carter adds, "I'm so excited to work with a label that has such history; it's the perfect place for this project. Moreover, it's wonderful to be reunited with U.S. label head Chuck Mitchell. I've provided Southern Comfort - the nurturance and comfort Chuck and SONY have provided covers a realm far greater."

Regina Carter's new CD "Southern Comfort" (Sony Music Masterworks) is of folk music popular in the Deep South during the first half of the 20th century. Awarded a 2006 MacArthur Foundation grant, Ms. Carter began this project by researching the folk music that her paternal grandfather, who worked as a coal miner in Alabama, would have heard, but then expanded her geographic range. "Southern Comfort" is the third recording of Ms. Carter's based on personal archival research. READ THE FULL Wall Street Journal ARTICLE  

Regina Carter is considered the foremost jazz violinist of her generation. A recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship (a "genius grant"). Her Violin prowess is more apparent than ever on her Sony Music Masterworks debut CD - Southern Comfort, where ms. Carter explores the folk tunes her paternal grandfather and includes other folk tunes of the region. The disc also thematically connects here earlier albums I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (2006), which features her mother's favorite early jazz standards; and Reverse Thread(2010) which celebrates the tradition of African music re-imagined for violin, accordion, bass, drams and kora. The disc makes The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's List for 'New CDs in stores this week.'

Regina Carter's impossibly varied career has spanned her time playing jazz with Straight Ahead to recording and gigging with Joe Jackson in 2012 - and she's still finding new musical territory to explore. The Detroit-born violinist and Oakland University graduate's latest album is aptly titled, taking her into a Library of Congress world of Appalachian traditional songs, spirituals, country, folk and even something that will be familiar to rock 'n' roll fans - a take on "See See Rider" modeled more on its rural roots than Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels' roaring reinvention. The gospel piece "I Moaned and I Moaned" also gets something of a rocking makeover as Carter's violin jousts with electric guitars for "Southern Comfort"'s most fleshed-out track. Carter and company lend a New Orleans flavor to her gradually building, aggressive treatment of Hank Williams' "Honky Tonkin'," and to the Cajun dance tune "Blues De Basile," while "Cornbread Crumbled in Gravy" is treated to a pretty violin-and-guitar arrangement and the Appalachian standard "Miner's Child" is driven by an urgent polyrhythm. Carter also tucks effectively into a Tex-Mex styled version of Gram Parson's "Hickory Wind," and her take on the children's song "Shoo-Rye" is both playful and provocative. It's a sweeping, down-home collection treated with otherworldly vision that expands Carter's already broad artistic résumé.

Virtuoso jazz violinist Regina Carter has signed with Sony Masterworks to launch her new album Southern Comfort in March 2014 coinciding with tour dates in the U.S. and Europe. Regina Carter draws from a diverse well of influences that include classical, jazz, Motown swing, funk, world music among others. Over a span of more than two decades, she has established herself as an enduring and creative force in jazz, thanks to a string of highly acclaimed solo and collaborative recordings, a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship and a relentless tour schedule that has taken her to all corners of the globe. On Southern Comfort, the Detroit native continues the investigation of her family history which stems from West Africa, Finland, Eastern Europe and the U.S.  Through a blend of folk songs and spirituals, she interprets her roots through a modern lens.  Carter began this journey on her 2012 album Reverse Thread which was a celebration of traditional African music re-imagined for violin, accordion, bass, drams and kora (African harp). "We're tremendously pleased to have the incomparable Regina Carter with us at Masterworks.  Her musical odyssey has been charted through a series of unforgettable recordings over the years and Southern Comfort is the latest and perhaps the most eloquent expression of her deep and profoundly enlightening musical humanity," says Chuck Mitchell, Senior Vice President, Sony Masterworks U.S.

When preeminent violinist Regina Carter made the decision to record an album primarily of African folk tunes, she created a great challenge for herself: how do you take beautiful traditional music and infuse it with a contemporary feel while remaining true to its past - and then, not compromise its beauty? Her newest release, Reverse Thread, due out on E1 Entertainment on May 18th brilliantly responds to the challenge. To achieve the uplifting and stirring result, Regina added an accordion and kora-the West African harp traditionally played by village storytellers-to her longstanding rhythm section. Kora virtuoso Yacouba Sissoko was brought on board to help recreate the spirit of passing stories from generation to generation. The result-unlike anything previously heard-is a haunting and beautiful compliment to Regina's sumptuously seductive violin. Without the support of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation, which "awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals," Reverse Thread might never have been realized. As a MacArthur Fellow - a recipient of what is commonly known as the "genius grant" - Carter was armed with the funds and the freedom to follow her muse. Regina turned to the World Music Institute in New York City, in which she found a diverse and inspirational resource for material, including ethnographic field recordings. Regina looked not just to the music, but also the accompanying sounds and nuances of everyday life from anthropological and sociological perspectives which informed the spirit of the new arrangements. "There is an immense amount of amazing music coming from all around the world, much of which is barely accessible," emphasized Regina. "Reverse Thread gave me the opportunity to explore and celebrate a tiny portion of music that moved me." Both "Hiwumbe Awumba" and "Mwana Talitambula" are based on field recordings from the Ugandan Jews, a community in eastern Uganda who although are not genetically or historically Jewish, practice the Jewish religion. Setting the inspirational tone for the album, the first track "Hiwumbe Awumba" originates from a field recording of a group singing, "God creates and then He destroys." Although the title is dark, the uplifting quality and spirit of the voice on the recording inspired Regina, and the final arrangement is a paean to the resiliency of spirit. Using the field recording of a woman singing "Mwana Talitambula" as a departure point, Regina's bass player Chris Lightcap split the melody between the violin and bass with a hypnotically emotive result. Reverse Thread also embraces music of the African Diaspora.  As but one example, "Un Aguinaldo" skillfully layers the rhythmic aspects of African music with harmonies originating in India and Puerto Rico. Through her albums, incessant touring and various guest appearances and collaborations, Regina has developed into a distinctly diverse musical personality. She has repeatedly toured throughout the world, was the first jazz artist and African American to play Niccolo Paganini's famed Guarneri "Cannon" violin, has been featured with several symphony orchestras and performed with artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Billy Joel, Kenny Barron and Mary J. Blige. With Reverse Thread, Regina takes a giant step forward by making a meaningful musical contribution on her own terms.