In her surprisingly original improvisations
Regina Carter makes her violin laugh and cry at the same time. The American musician from Detroit has been around for quite some time in the worldwide music business. She arranged compositions of Django Reinhardt, assisted artists like Cassandra Wilson, Ray Brown and Wynton Marsalis and performed with pop stars including Dolly Parton, Billy Joel and Mary J. Blige. In 2001 she recorded the duet-CD
Freefall with pianist Kenny Barron. And on her latest album dating from 2003,
Paganini: After A Dream, she played Nicolo Paganini’s legendary violin, The Cannon. Carter’s styles of playing breaks down conventions. The classically trained jazz violinist, who started out in the all-girl jazz quartet Straight Ahead before she chose to become a solo artist, has always refused to be pigeon-holed as a representative of one music style. This year she will perform with her quintet: clarinet player Greg Tardy, pianist Xavier Davis, bassist Matthew Parrish and drummer Alvester Garnett.
