Biography

Trying to fit Regina Carter into a neatly defined musical category is pointless. She enjoys performing many styles of music—jazz, R&B, Latin, classical, blues, country, pop, African, and on and on. In each she explores the power of music through the voice of the violin.

A recipient of the MacArthur “genius” award and a Doris Duke Artist Award, Regina has been widely hailed for her mastery of her instrument and her drive to expand its possibilities. In 2018 she was nominated for a Grammy for Best Improvised Solo for “Some of That Sunshine,” the title track on vocalist Karrin Allyson’s album. Besides performing, Regina is artistic director of the Geri Allen Jazz Camp, a unique summer immersion program sponsored by NJPAC for aspiring women jazz professionals. She is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and is artist in residence at the Oakland University School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Past positions have included resident artist for San Francisco Performances and resident artistic director for SFJAZZ.

Born in Detroit, Regina began studying violin at the age of four using the Suzuki method. She attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit, and her training continued at the New England Conservatory of Music and at Oakland University in Michigan for jazz. She taught violin in public schools in Detroit and on a U.S. military base in Germany. She first gained attention with Straight Ahead, an all-female jazz quintet that celebrated its 25-year reunion at the 2018 Detroit Jazz Festival. She also recorded and toured for six years with The String Trio of New York.

In 1995 Regina released her self-titled solo debut on Atlantic Records. Three more albums followed in rapid succession: Something for Grace (1997), Rhythms of the Heart (1999), and Motor City Moments (2000), all on Verve. Traveling to Genoa, Italy, and making history by being the first nonclassical violinist to play Niccolò Paganini’s Il Cannone (“The Cannon”), the legendary violin built by Giuseppe Guarneri in 1743, inspired her next effort, Paganini: After a Dream (Verve, 2003). I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (Verve, 2006) became a powerful and heartfelt tribute to her late mother. The connection to family, history, and tradition continued in Reverse Thread (E1 Music, 2010), Southern Comfort (Sony Masterworks, 2014), drawing ties between her own African heritage and her family’s history and Ella: Accentuate the Positive (OKeh, 2017), celebrating the music and spirit of her inspiration, musical legend Ella Fitzgerald. Regina’s most recent release, Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground, is a politically charged fourteen-track collection which strives to illuminate the power of democracy and serve as a beacon of hope during these unprecedented times.

Regina also can be heard on such albums as Arturo O’Farrill’s Fandango at the Wall: A Soundtrack for the United States, Mexico and Beyond; Stefon Harris’s Sonic Creed; John Beasley’s MONK’estra, volume 2; and James Carter’s Caribbean Rhapsody, along with Eddie Palmieri's Listen Here!, which won a 2005 Grammy award for best Latin Jazz album, and the Grammy-nominated Freefall with Kenny Barron.

She has performed at numerous jazz festivals, including Monterey, Newport, Detroit, New Orleans, Atlanta, Bern, Montreux, Miami, Rochester, Montreal, Mid-Atlantic (Washington, DC), PDX (Portland, Oregon), Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain), and North Sea (Rotterdam, the Netherlands). Among the orchestras she has appeared with are the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, the Atlanta Symphony, the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Portland Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. Particularly thrilling was her participation in the 2017 International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert in Havana, Cuba.

A winner of multiple readers’ and critics’ poll awards from DownBeat, JazzTimes, and other publications, Regina tours with her own group and has appeared frequently as a guest soloist, including with such performers as Kenny Barron, the late bassist Ray Brown, Mary J. Blige, the late Aretha Franklin, Rhiannon Giddens, Billy Joel, Dolly Parton, Omara Portuondo, and Sweet Honey In The Rock.

Regina has twice been a Pulitzer Prize jurist and has served as a Film and Music panelist for the Kresge Artist Fellowships. She received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Albion College in 2006.

Along with performing, recording, teaching, and mentoring, Regina is passionate about bringing music into nursing homes and hospice settings and being a comfort to the actively dying. As part of that commitment, she trained to be a hospice volunteer at Hospice of New Jersey, in Bloomfield.

Regina lives in Maywood, New Jersey, with her husband, drummer Alvester Garnett.