TwitterRegina Carter turns her jazz violin down home with her new album “Southern Comfort.”
Jazz violinist Regina Carter. (Courtesy of the Artist)
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 Lomax. To “Miner’s Child” and “Shoe-Rye.” “See See Rider” and “I’m Going Home.” This hour On Point: violinist Regina Carter goes back with her new album “Southern Comfort.”
– Tom Ashbrook
Guests
Regina Carter, jazz violinist. Her latest album, “Southern Comfort,” was released in March 2014. Other albums include “Reverse Thread,” “I’ll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey” and “Motor City Moments.” (@Regina_Carter)
From Tom’s Reading List
Hartford Courant: Violinist Regina Carter Follows Ancestral Trails — “Pulling together bits and pieces of data, Carter gradually got a sense of what life was like for her grandfather, who was born in Georgia in 1893 and later moved to Alabama. Parts of the story were harder to fill in. ‘Unfortunately, a lot of African-Americans [in her extended family] had to go through some stuff that was so ugly that they didn’t want to talk about it,’ Carter said. ‘In some cases they burned information. There were so many roadblocks.'”
PopMatters: Regina Carter, ‘Southern Comfort’ — “The phrase ‘Southern comfort’ evokes many clichés of the South whether it’s the hospitality, slower, lazier pace of life, or those traditional, and core values. Sure what is perceived can be blatant misconception, but more often than not, “Southern” carries certain associations and assumptions. On her latest LP,Southern Comfort, prodigiously gifted violinist Regina Carter seeks to represent that Southern comfort musically. ”
NPR Music: Regina Carter’s Jazz Genealogy — “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.”
Hear Two Live Tracks From Regina Carter’s Visit To The On Point Studio
Playlist
Producer’s Note: Regina Carter is currently on tour promoting her new album, Southern Comfort. If you’re in the Boston area, she will be performing at Cambridge’s Sanders Theatre on Friday, October 17, and at Providence, Rhode Island’s FirstWorks on Saturday, October. 18.
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