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Regina Carter Quintet at the Jazz Bakery |
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Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor
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Friday, 11 November 2005 |
 Photo by Howard A. Gitelson
In what was already shaping up to be a
stellar career, Regina Carter hit a new high in 2001 when she became
the first jazz musician invited to Genoa to play the legendary
Paganini violin, known as the Cannon. After this first encounter –in
which she was to play only classical repertoire and not (heavens no!)
“real” jazz, she returned to Italy in late 2002 with her quintet
to record Paganini: After the Dream, a set of classically
rooted music with not-so-subtle jazz elements. Once more in November
she played the Cannon, this time at Alice Tully Hall in New York. “By
the third time it was more comfortable,” she noted, despite the
police escort and security that probably rivaled that assigned to Air
Force One. For obvious reasons, the Cannon is not part of Regina
Carter’s American tours. Yet with her quintet, she will
nevertheless bring everything from Debussy to Bossa Nova to Billie
Holiday when she takes the stage at the Jazz Bakery in LA, November
22-23/25-27.
The Detroit native did not start out
studying classical violin, but ultimately Carter studied both
classical and African American Music and absorbed a wide range of
influences from R & B to East Indian to Latin. "I followed
a more non-traditional route. I initially learned by ear, then later
learned to read, then learned theory. I think that kind of experience
has freed my playing up a lot more, so I'm not stuck on the page,”
she said. Performing with an equally diverse range of musicians from
Aretha Franklin to Danilo Perez to the Minnesota Orchestra, she
gained national attention for her solos on Wynton Marsalis's Blood
on the Fields tour in 1997 and Cassandra Wilson's Travelin' Miles
concert at New York's Lincoln Center in 1998. But the most
challenging and perhaps satisfying project has been the music which
has grown from that initial experience in Genoa.
Joining Carter at the Jazz Bakery will
be her current quintet, including pianist Xavier Davis, bassist
Matthew Parrish, drummer Alvester Garnett, and percussionist Steve
Kroom.
The Jazz Bakery is located at 3233
Helms Ave. in Culver City; sets at 8 and 10 pm; visit
www.jazzbakery.com
for reservations and full schedule.
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008
