GONE IN A PHRASE OF AIR
Regina Carter’s projects – including Reverse Thread, Southern Comfort, and Simply Ella – have always been very personal stories, journeys of self-discovery and identity achieved by researching and understanding family and subjects that have impacted her family. In her newest project, GONE IN A PHRASE OF AIR, Regina explores areas across America where hundreds of thousands of its citizens, most often African Americans, immigrants, and the disadvantaged, witnessed their homes, businesses, and churches being demolished, all in the name of urban renewal.
Detroit, Regina’s hometown, has always attracted and been the home of many of America’s music legends. Jazz greats including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Teddy Harris Jr. performed in Black Bottom and Paradise Valley, two of the city’s predominantly black neighborhoods that were lively hubs of culture, commerce, faith, and families.
Beginning in the 1950s, however, Black Bottom and Paradise Valley were targeted for demolition, making way for highways and public housing developments as part of a nationwide urban renewal movement. Countless numbers of people were displaced, often without financial support or any regard for their well-being.
By the early 1960s, similar areas around the country – Mill Creek Valley in St. Louis; the Hayti district in Durham, North Carolina; Bronzeville in Chicago; and neighborhoods in Coos Bay, Oregon, Boston, and Lubbock, Texas, among many others – with their own musical greats, like Grady Tate and Sam Cooke, were gone, “Gone in a Phrase of Air, just as if they had never been there” (poet Leslie Reese, “Black Bottom”*).
GONE IN A PHRASE OF AIR celebrates these vanished communities and some of the music associated with them. It will reach a broad range of listeners and strike a responsive chord. Listeners who have ties to similar communities will enjoy the message and the music, and others new to these stories will discover the vibrancy and spirit of these lost places.
The program will include original music as well as music of that time, poetry, and spoken word, and the concert experience will include visual art elements as well.
For Grammy nominated artist Regina Carter, the violin isn’t simply an improvisational vehicle; it’s a passport to unexpected realms. 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. Most recently, the acclaimed violinist was awarded a Doris Duke Artist Award and in 2018 was appointed as the Director of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s All-Female Jazz Residency, a unique summer immersion program for aspiring women jazz professionals.
*“Black Bottom,” an original composition by Regina Carter, was created in 2006/2007 as a commission by Lincoln Center.
There are no tour dates listed for this artist.
HI-RES IMAGES
^ Photo Credit: Christopher Drukker
VIDEO
“See See Rider” (Embed/Download)
Ella Promo Video (Embed/Download)
BIOGRAPHY/PROGRAM NOTES
Regina Carter Long Bio: Download (doc)
Regina Carter Short Bio: Download (doc)
Simply Ella Biography/Program Notes: Download (doc)
Ella: Accentuate The Positive Press Release: Download (doc)
Educational Programs: Download (pdf)
Official Website: www.reginacarter.com
Label: Sony Music Masterworks
CURRENT RELEASE
Ella: Accentuate The Positive (OKeh Records, April 21, 2017)
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Michael Crowell
tmichael.crowell@gmail.com
QUOTES
“A talented, charismatic player who is almost single-handedly reviving interest in the violin as a jazz instrument”
The Los Angeles Times
“Ms. Carter, jazz’s leading mainstream violinist, plays with a thick, warm-molasses tone; she’s equally indebted to classical technique and folk song”
The New York Times
“Regina Carter creates music that is wonderfully listenable, probingly intelligent and, at times, breathtakingly daring…taking the listener into the future of jazz”
Time Magazine
“Her impeccable pitch, lovely grace notes and delicately bent pitches reminding listeners of why she practically has become a symbol of jazz violin in our times. Moreover, she reaffirms that music as wholly accessible and entertaining as this also can be smart and sophisticated.”
The Chicago Tribune
Please contact IMN’s Director of Marketing with any additional questions.
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Posted May 16th, 2019
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Posted Apr 4th, 2019
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Posted Feb 22nd, 2019
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Posted Dec 21st, 2018
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Posted Dec 5th, 2018
From Oakland University News OU’s World Music, Latin Jazz concerts to feature renowned violinist Regina Carter Renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter will be performing as a special guest on Friday, Nov. 30 during the World Music Concert and Saturday, Dec. 1 during the Latin Jazz Concert in Varner Recital Hall on the Oakland University campus. ‘When I was a student...
Posted Nov 26th, 2018
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Posted Nov 14th, 2018
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Posted Oct 24th, 2018
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Posted Aug 22nd, 2018
From Stereogum Ugly Beauty: The Month In Jazz ‘” July 2018 By: Phil Freeman Earlier this month, I went to Newark to meet violinist Regina Carter. She was in town to serve as artistic director of an all-female jazz residency, put together by NJPAC. She, saxophonist Tia Fuller, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, and a large faculty of teachers took students...
Posted Jul 27th, 2018
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Posted Jun 27th, 2018
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Posted Jun 13th, 2018
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Posted Apr 18th, 2018
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From The Reporter Violinist Regina Carter pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald at Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater By: Fern Brodkin One might be surprised that an instrumentalist would find a vocalist to be so inspirational and influential. But just as Carter was inspired by classical master violinists Itzhak Perlman and Yehudi Menuhin (she took master classes from both) and jazz violinists...
Posted Mar 15th, 2018
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Posted Mar 2nd, 2018
From The Chicago Tribune Violinist Performs Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald By: Annie Alleman 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. “I’ve been a huge fan of Ella since I was a kid,” [Carter] said. “There were so many records...
Posted Feb 22nd, 2018
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Posted Feb 2nd, 2018
From Amazon Music Best Jazz Songs of 2017 By: Amazon’s Music Experts International Music Network’s featured artists Jazzmeia Horn, Hudson, Chris Thile, Brad Mehldau, Mark Guiliana, and Regina Carter all are featured on Amazon’s ‘Best Jazz Songs of 2017’ playlist. To see playlist click here
Posted Nov 14th, 2017
From DownBeat Magazine – October 2017 Simply ELLA By: Dan Ouellette Violinist Regina Carter has spent much of 2017 promoting her 10th album, Ella: Accentuate The Positive (OKeh), which is not only a superb tribute to Ella Fitzgerald in the centennial of her birth, but also a deeply personal homage to the First Lady of Song.
Posted Sep 20th, 2017
From Billboard Common, Karriem Riggins and Esperanza Spalding Help the Detroit Jazz Festival Cross Over By: Natalie Weiner ‘I’m a Motown baby, a jazz baby’“a music baby,’ Regina Carter told the crowd at the Detroit Jazz Festival last Sunday, a hometown hero in the midst of one of the most star-studded jazz line-ups of the festival season (Sept. 1 to...
Posted Sep 11th, 2017
From The San Diego Tribune Violin great Regina Carter shines with jazz, classical, blues, rock, country and African music By: George Varga Regina Carter has been widely hailed as the finest violinist in jazz. But that only tells part of the story for this Detroit native, whose past collaborators range from Dolly Parton, Aretha Franklin and Joe Jackson to Cuban...
Posted Aug 14th, 2017
From Huffpost She Plays Musical Instruments By: Jill Tietjen 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...
Posted Aug 7th, 2017
From DownBeat Brownie’s Legacy In Good Hands at Hometown Fest By: Eugene Holley Jr. Danilo Pérez, Somi and Regina Carter headlined the 29th edition of the DuPont Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, which ran from June 21’“24 in Rodney Square in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. The fest showcased the global musical inventions and dimensions of musicians from three continents ‘“from the French...
Posted Jun 28th, 2017
From Chicago Tribune Review: Regina Carter, collective celebrate jazz greats Ella and Miles in novel ways By: Howard Reich The best musical tributes look forward, not back, illuminating how a jazz musician’s life impacted what was yet to come. To varying degrees, the homages to singer Ella Fitzgerald and trumpeter Miles Davis that played Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center on...
Posted May 7th, 2017
From WBEZ 91.5 Chicago Jazz Violinist Regina Carter Pays Tribute To Ella Fitzgerald By: Jason Marck As musicians and music fans alike honor Ella Fitzgerald on the centenary of her birth, internationally acclaimed jazz violinist Regina Carter is paying tribute to the ‘First Lady of Song’ on her new album Ella: Accentuate The Positive. ‘The first time I put on...
Posted May 4th, 2017
From The Chicago Tribune Violinist Regina Carter explores the beauty of Ella By: Howard Reich Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday ‘” on April 25 ‘” has come and gone, but the celebration continues, as well it should. The next major tribute comes in an unexpected form, not from a jazz singer but from the multifaceted violinist Regina Carter. Carter’s new recording,...
Posted May 3rd, 2017
From NY Observer The Best In Jazz By: Ron Hart Regina Carter, The Jazz Standard, May 18-21 2017 marks the 100th year since the birth of the mighty, mighty Ella Fitzgerald, undoubtedly the greatest vocal interpreter of jazz who ever sang into a microphone. And violinist Regina Carter has been beautifully translating her heroine’s unmistakable scatting skills for strings since she...
Posted Apr 30th, 2017
From Downbeat Magazine Ella: Accentuate The Positive – Regina Carter By: Frank Alkyer Violinist Regina Carter is at the top of her art here on this fantastic tribute to Ella Fitzgerald on the occasion of her 100th anniversary. Carter shows she is in full command of her talents from the downbeat of the opening tune “Accentuate The Positive,” a very...
Posted Apr 30th, 2017
From Jazz Weekly Regina Carter: Ella-Accentuate the Positive By: George W. Harris 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...
Posted Apr 24th, 2017
From Black Grooves Regina Carter – “Ella: Accentuate the Positive” By: Allie Martin Jazz violinist Regina Carter’s newest album, Ella: Accentuate the Positive, is an ode to the music of Ella Fitzgerald in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the singer’s birth. Featuring nine arrangements of Fitzgerald’s songs, this album puts Carter’s imagination on full display. This is not her...
Posted Apr 6th, 2017
From JazzTimes JT Track Premiere: ‘Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive’ On April 21, OKeh Records/Sony Music Masterworks will release Ella: Accentuate the Positive, jazz violinist Regina Carter’s new album celebrating the music of Ella Fitzgerald, and marking the 100th centennial of Fitzgerald’s birth. For this project, Carter selected songs both familiar and from deeper in Fitzgerald’s catalog, envisioned through a lens of...
Posted Mar 24th, 2017
From DC Metro Theater Arts Review: Regina Carter: ‘Simply Ella’ at The Kennedy Center By: Robert Michael Oliver Regina Carter and her violin: a human voice has never sounded so true. 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...
Posted Feb 20th, 2017
From WBUR Jazz Violinist Regina Carter Celebrates The Legacy Of Ella Fitzgerald By: Alison Bruzek and Meghna Chakrabarti Jazz violinist Regina Carter’s new album, “Ella: Accentuate the Positive,” was inspired by musical legend Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday. She joins us to talk about a few of the tracks. Regina Carter will be performing Friday, February 10 at the Sanders Theatre...
Posted Feb 10th, 2017
From KBIA Regina Carter: The KBIA Interview By: Trevor Harris 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...
Posted Jan 15th, 2017
From The Guardian by John Fordham 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...
Posted May 2nd, 2016
From State of the Arts NJ Watch this wonderful interview with Regina Carter from her recent performance at the South Orange Performing Arts Center in New Jersey!
Posted Mar 25th, 2016
From Knoxville Mercury Regina Carter Offers New Perspectives on Jazz Tradition By: Matthew Everett When Regina Carter decided she wanted to switch from classical music to jazz, in the mid 1980s, she faced a dilemma. She was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, but the school didn’t have a jazz program. So she transferred to Oakland...
Posted Jan 21st, 2016
VH1 Save The Music Ambassador Regina Carter speaks on the importance of music education and performs on American Graduate Day. Watch the video below!
Posted Oct 16th, 2015
From The Chicago Tribune A glorious, jazzy day in Hyde Park By: Howard Reich Regina Carter and Xavier Davis: 11:08 p.m., Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. Violinist Carter opens with a buoyant account of a very old tune, “I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love With Me,” her impeccable pitch, lovely grace notes and delicately bent pitches reminding listeners of why she...
Posted Oct 6th, 2015
From KPLU 88.5 Versatile Violinist Regina Carter’s Jazz Port Townsend Concert | Jazz Northwest for September 13 By: Jim Wilke 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 and kplu.org on Sunday September 13 at 2 PM Pacific,...
Posted Sep 14th, 2015
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...
Posted Jun 25th, 2015
Regina Carter was recently featured on KVIE Artist Showcase — “discover how renowned violinist Regina Carter unlocks the past with every note” in the video here.
Posted Feb 5th, 2015
From The Chicago Tribune For Chicago jazz lovers, it was a very good year By: Howard Reich Chicago jazz listeners heard great sounds in 2014, including: Regina Carter, Oct. 24, the University of Chicago’s Logan Center for the Arts: Magical sounds usually emerge when Carter picks up her violin, but this performance shed particular light on her stylistic versatility. The...
Posted Dec 22nd, 2014
From AARP 14 Best Music Releases in 2014 By: John Murph From Neil Young and Bob Dylan to Prince and Dianne Reeves. See who else made our cut… Dianne Reeves Beautiful Life (Concord) The heralded jazz singer offers spellbinding makeovers of pop and soul gems, including Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ and Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Want You.’ What could be more divine?...
Posted Dec 10th, 2014
From Jazz Journal Review: Regina Carter/Jazz Ahmed Fred Grand enjoys violinist Regina Carter’s hoedown jazz and Yazz Ahmed’s Arab-influenced trumpet playing on the penultimate night of the EFG London Jazz Festival Many years ago Wayne Horvitz’s quartet Sweeter Than The Day, Robin Holcomb’s quirky vocal albums, Buell Neidlinger’s Buellgrass project and even the folksier side of Julius Hemphill convinced me...
Posted Nov 26th, 2014
From The Chicago Tribune From jazz to tango, Regina Carter transcends genre By: Howard Reich There’s something uniquely moving about hearing folkloric music played at the highest concert level. When that happens, listeners encounter the songs of everyday life played with a technical virtuosity and tonal sheen they richly deserve but rarely receive. This was the thrust of violinist Regina...
Posted Oct 28th, 2014
From The California Aggie Regina Carter to take Mondavi Center stage By: Chloe Catajan The wonder of music is its ability to combine creativity, passion and history into one collective sound. Jazz violinist Regina Carter showcases this phenomenon in her latest album, Southern Comfort, which explores and honors popular music during her grandfather’s days as a coalminer in Alabama. Carter...
Posted Oct 24th, 2014
From The Arts Fuse Fuse Concert Review: Violinist Regina Carter’s Ancestral Magic By: Jon Garelick Regina Carter is a virtuoso who favors form over firepower. In their Celebrity Series of Boston show at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge on Friday night, the violinist and her band showed off plenty of nimble chops, but they weren’t looking to burn the Sanders crowd...
Posted Oct 22nd, 2014
From WBUR Regina Carter’s Jazz Goes Almost Everywhere By: Tom Ashbrook Regina Carter made her name as a jazz violinist out of Detroit. And just kept going. To the violin’s history with Paganini. To her family history, with the American songbook, then the sound of Africa, and now, to her grandfather’s music. The Alabama coal miner. The tapes of Alan...
Posted Oct 17th, 2014
From The Phoenix The spark of inspiration A conversation with Regina Carter By: Johnette Rodriguez 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...
Posted Oct 16th, 2014
From The Providence Journal Renowned violinist gives offbeat lesson at Barrington High School By: Andy Smith Violinist Regina Carter listened carefully Tuesday afternoon while the jazz ensemble at Barrington High School played a blues song called ‘The Subtle Sermon.’ When the music stopped, Carter applauded, said a few words of praise ‘” then turned to the 25 students assembled in...
Posted Oct 15th, 2014
From Centre Daily Times ‘Southern Comfort’: Regina Carter’s musical career mirrors personal journey By: Kecia Bal If people look deeper ‘” or listen closer ‘” they may discover shared roots tangled among the soulful songs of the American South. That’s one of the messages behind Regina Carter’s recent albums ‘” and one she hopes audiences at the Center for the...
Posted Oct 13th, 2014
From The Boston Globe Regina Carter pursues ancestral strains By: Jon Garelick About 10 minutes into my phone conversation with violinist Regina Carter, we’re interrupted by the loud blast of a train whistle on her end of the line in Maywood, N.J. ‘Petticoat Junction!’ says Carter with a hearty laugh. We wait for the second blast before Carter continues. ‘Luckily,...
Posted Sep 6th, 2014
From The Chicago Tribune Digging deeply into our musical roots By: Howard Reich …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...
Posted Apr 19th, 2014
Southern Comfort Rider: Download (pdf)
Quartet Rider: Download (pdf)
Simply Ella Rider: Download (pdf)
VIDEO / COMPOSER’S NOTES / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Considered the foremost jazz violinist of her generation, Regina Carter transcends genre in a symphony program that draws influences not only from jazz, but blues, roots, and classical idioms as well. The centerpiece of this collection is a piece entitled 4 Sisters composed by David Schiff to honor four legendary vocalists: Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. In a breathtaking performance of 4 Sisters with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Regina “announced her charismatic presence by painting the air with swing” (Detroit Free Press). This piece is for solo violin and orchestra. Regina also has charts for jazz quartet plus orchestra, including a selection of jazz standards and classical pieces made effortlessly cohesive by Regina’s unique tone and signature style. Regina brings her curiosity, passion, and quest for beauty to every stop taken on her full musical journey — just a few of many reasons she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (a “genius grant”).
Scored for large orchestra with triple winds.
In this intimate offering, described as a “simpatico merging of two great musical minds and four talented hands” by Twin Cities Pioneer Press, violinist Regina Carter and pianist Xavier Davis have an electric connection on stage. Hailed as the foremost jazz violinist of her generation, Regina Carter’s quest for beauty combined with her passion for excellence did not escape the attention of the MacArthur Foundation, awarding her a prestigious “genius grant” fellowship. Regina has a very special musical relationship with Xavier Davis, and she has performed on-and-off with Davis since 2004. Featured on more than 50 albums and known as one of the most accomplished jazz pianists in the world, Davis is considered a virtuoso in his own regard. Coming together for a series of performances in 2018 and 2019, the Regina Carter & Xavier Davis duo program is a “near-telepathic” experience, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press, as the two extremely accomplished musicians complement each other with their respective talents.
Sony Masterworks recording artist 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.” Regina’s recent release, Ella: Accentuate the Positive, and 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 describes her visceral connection to Ella’s music:
“Growing up in Detroit, there was always music playing in our home. While there was a variety of music I enjoyed, there were a few recordings and artists I found consistently captivating. Ella Fitzgerald was one of these exceptions. To this very day, whenever I hear an Ella recording it grabs me at my core. I’m entranced by her voice, her melodic improvisations and the passion and artfulness with which Ella sings a song. She helps me understand a song by providing a window to its essence. In a word, Ella is sublime, and she is at the top of my go-to list when learning a jazz tune. Perhaps Jimmy Rowles said it best, “Music comes out of her. When [Ella] walks down the street…she leaves notes.” I’m so excited to celebrate Ella Fitzgerald, an artist who has meant so much to all the notes in my musical life.”
VIRTUAL OFFERINGS:
Available for real-time livestreamed or pre-recorded unique concerts from home studio or local venue. Quartet or Duo performances available. Concert and conversation. Concert can be packaged with live Meet & Greet, or virtual workshops. Open to traveling by ground within a few hours of NYC to pre-record or real-time livestream concerts at your venue when safety, local conditions, and budget permit.